Pub Cancellation Charge

pinkshoes

RefluentBeans said:

Guessing most places use services like OpenTable which have their policies quite clearly laid out. The fact the OP knows of this policy would indicate that the policy is well presented and forms part of the contract. Additionally cancelling within 24 hours means that staffing is hard to change and reduce the costs to the business. Emergencies do happen, and it’s unfortunate, but the business has done nothing wrong. 

Of course the OP could ask for some of it back as credit to spend, but that’s going down the goodwill route. Likely the only route really worth pursuing. 

All of the above is true about restaurant costs, but the bottom line is that a business cannot just have a cancellation charge without it being agreed before payment. The OP says there were no terms and conditions.

So either @Arfster56 is mistaken, and has indeed clicked a box agreeing to the T&Cs without reading them (quite likely, especially as the company mentioned a 48 hour cancellation) in which case a charge can be made as per the T&Cs, or the OP is due a full refund if no T&Cs were agreed to.

As we don't know which restaurant this was and the OP has not come back, then it will remain unresolved.

RefluentBeans

pinkshoes said:

RefluentBeans said:

Guessing most places use services like OpenTable which have their policies quite clearly laid out. The fact the OP knows of this policy would indicate that the policy is well presented and forms part of the contract. Additionally cancelling within 24 hours means that staffing is hard to change and reduce the costs to the business. Emergencies do happen, and it’s unfortunate, but the business has done nothing wrong. 

Of course the OP could ask for some of it back as credit to spend, but that’s going down the goodwill route. Likely the only route really worth pursuing. 

All of the above is true about restaurant costs, but the bottom line is that a business cannot just have a cancellation charge without it being agreed before payment. The OP says there were no terms and conditions.

So either @Arfster56 is mistaken, and has indeed clicked a box agreeing to the T&Cs without reading them (quite likely, especially as the company mentioned a 48 hour cancellation) in which case a charge can be made as per the T&Cs, or the OP is due a full refund if no T&Cs were agreed to.

As we don't know which restaurant this was and the OP has not come back, then it will remain unresolved.

But the OP knew the cancellation policy before, as far as I understood it? The argument that the policy was called cancellation policy and not terms and conditions is a weak one at best. Additionally, if the OP was unaware of the cancellation policy then why did they give payment details before? To me it reads that bookings are managed by a service like OpenTable (who can charge a holding fee or cancellation fee, and act as a payment processor) who make the terms quite clear when booking. OP seems to be facing a losing battle 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

It really depends on what OP booked and what they was charged.

If a pub charges a £5 deposit for a table that is a legitimate deposit, a very small amount to hold the table (most places would probably off set this charge against the bill to avoid discouraging customers) and in the event of a no show they can keep the money.

If the amount kept was more than just a holding fee for the table this is starts to fall into an advanced payment rather than a genuine deposit and the CRA requirements on unfair terms come into play.

If you book a meal and order what you want then perhaps the pub could argue they ordered food, had extra staff, etc, etc or had an element of profit loss.

However if you simply reserve a table who says you are going to order any food? Who says you aren't going to have 1 drink each ordered from the bar? 

Without the specifics it's not really possible to say.