Strong Warning to Brokers Reselling Reservation Tickets
Brokers Profit by Transferring Reservation Tickets
If Reselling Fails, 'No-Show' Occurs
Chef Yoon Nam-no, who appeared on Netflix's 'Black and White Chef' under the nickname 'Yorihaneun Dorai,' issued a warning to brokers who book and resell restaurant reservations. On the 2nd, Yoon Nam-no posted on his social media (SNS) saying, "I'm really going crazy and about to lose it. Stop before I reveal real names and numbers," along with a photo.
Chef Yoon Nam-no, who appeared on Netflix's "Black and White Chef" under the nickname "Cooking Ddora-i," issued a warning to brokers who book and resell restaurant reservations. Photo by Yoon Nam-no Instagram
The photo he shared showed a listing on a secondhand trading site selling reservation tickets for Yoon Nam-no's restaurant 'DIPIN.' The brokers who resell the reservations preemptively secured time slots such as Friday evenings and weekends, then sold the tickets at a premium of 10,000 to 35,000 KRW each. Upon noticing this behavior, Chef Yoon Nam-no expressed his anger, saying, "I won't tolerate this anymore. I don't even accept reservations from family and acquaintances, but due to these transfer fees, I am in a very difficult situation. I will root out these brokers." He further warned, "If caught once more, I will disclose their numbers and real names through posts and stories," adding, "Defamation lawsuits? Go ahead. My customers come before any fines."
These brokers are not acting once but reserve all prime weekend lunch and dinner slots, then transfer them to ordinary people for personal profit. In fact, the situation is the same not only for Yoon Nam-no's DIPIN but also for restaurants of famous chefs like Choi Hyun-seok, David Lee, and Triple Star, who also appeared on Black and White Chef. These brokers sell reservation tickets starting from 20,000 to 30,000 KRW, going up to 70,000 or 100,000 KRW.
The photo he revealed contained a post selling reservation tickets for Yoon Nam-no's restaurant 'Dippin' on a secondhand trading site. The brokers reselling the reservation tickets secured time slots such as Friday evenings and weekends in advance, then sold the tickets at a premium of 10,000 to 35,000 won each. Yoon Nam-no Instagram
What is more problematic is that when these brokers fail to resell the reservation tickets, so-called 'no-shows' occur, where customers do not visit the restaurant despite having a reservation. A 'no-show' refers to making a reservation but not showing up, which causes severe damage to the food service industry that decides ingredient procurement and other preparations based on customer reservations. In the past, many 'chef-tainers' from JTBC's 'Please Take Care of My Refrigerator' and 'Cook Representative' have pointed out the problems caused by no-shows.
No-shows are a major headache for self-employed restaurant operators. They ruin business and cause significant financial losses due to advance ingredient preparation. Although the financial damage from no-shows is considerable, it is legally difficult to punish no-shows themselves. There are opinions that no-shows should be charged with obstruction of business, but unless it can be proven that the reservation was made with the deliberate intention to cancel from the start, obstruction of business charges cannot be established.
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