Why are we so embarrassed to give a credit card as a deposit for a place in a restaurant?

The policy of depositing a credit card for a restaurant reservation has recently become more and more prevalent, even just for a couple who wants to sit down for a drink and a snack, so why do restaurants do this and why does it manage to upset us so much?

Yael Laor

07/01/2022

Friday, 07 January 2022, 11:00

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Credit card (Photo: Giphy)

Every two to three weeks, I get a WhatsApp message from an addict or acquaintance who is surprised to find out and asks to understand "If this is a new segment that restaurants have started taking a credit card as a deposit for an order?" The answer is yes and no.

this is not a completely new segment, upscale chef restaurants have been charging a deposit from credit cards (usually 50 shekels for a diner) for several good years, mainly for ordering a large table. This is, by the way, not an Israeli segment at all, in quite a few places in the world, especially in New York, it is a matter of routine. Here in the country, at first, it was only on festive and sought-after occasions like New Year's Eve or Tu B'Av, or for orders of extra large tables (6 diners or more), but see that it was good and adopted the method even more time

- Because lately it is no longer just the domain of chef restaurants or large orders. Also more casual restaurants, also an invitation from a couple who just wants to have two drinks at the bar, and have a snack, so what's a credit card? "What is your weight?" As Minister Merav Michaeli says.

This question does not remain only in my WhatsApp of course.

Social media is also a particularly charged topic, which comes up for discussion again and again in the various Facebook groups.

Here's economics reporter Dana Yarkatzi (and former Walla! Journalist) recently tweeted on her Twitter account "What is a new rank of Tel Aviv pigs? Requirement for credit card details to book places at Dalida Bar. "These are the suckers who do not understand that a place that demands it simply does not respect them."

It is not certain that the choice of words here is accurate, pigs are not the issue, the restaurants do not seek to "make a buck" on the public of idlers, but only to create a deterrent, and prevent people from breezing at the last minute.

However, 610 likes garnered the same tweet, so it seems to be a sensitive point in quite a few people.

So what makes so many people get mad about it?

More on Walla!

The local food scene - Post Corona: more focused, more modest and without manpower

To the full article

What is a new rank of Tel Aviv pigs?

Requirement for credit card details to book places at Dalida Bar.

You can not invent these things, and whoever is responsible for it - these are the suckers who do not understand that a place that demands it just does not respect them

- Dana Yarkechy (@DanaYarkechy) December 15, 2021

"Oh I forgot to cancel"

I'll start with the defense. Proper disclosure, almost a decade of coverage of the local culinary field, has created for me quite a bit of empathy and understanding for the plight of restaurateurs in the country (and no, the two-three chefs / restaurateurs you see on your TV screen, and probably earn not bad are not the majority, usually really hard here). Long before that, in my early twenties, when I worked as a hostess in restaurants, before the credit card system was introduced as a deposit, I well remember the pale faces of the restaurant owners I worked for, when a quarter of an hour before a big table was due, on Friday at 8 p.m., or Saturday at One afternoon, they suddenly call to say they are not coming, or worse - when 15 minutes pass from the time of ordering, and there is no sign of diners arriving, I call to find out what's going on, and hear the placeholder answer me while sitting in another restaurant.

Yes, the infamous double booking method, the one that spawned Facebook groups like "cancellations in restaurants between friends" to book a place in two places at the same time (sometimes even more than two), and see what more "flows" on the day of booking.

When there is a deposit of 50 shekels per person at the table, no one will do it.

True, some people find it difficult to order, and decide to give up, but the majority are probably willing to play by the new rules of the game.

The restaurateurs saw that as good, and told themselves why not introduce the method to a couple as well.

A restaurateur prepares for his evening, orders raw materials, pays the staff who come to work, why does he have to absorb last-minute cancellations?

"And if something happens?"

So why is it still so difficult for so many people with this? How is a restaurant reservation deposit actually different from ordering tickets for a movie or show, why in the case of these is the commitment easier for us?

So the first element in this story, is probably the spontaneity. Or as he wrote to me in the last comment he texted me on the subject, after I explained to him the rationale behind this "spontaneity" story. Yes, it is clear that the new and trendy restaurant has to book a place a month (at least) in advance, but somehow every exit to the restaurant, even simpler, has suddenly become a binding matter, and quite a few people have difficulty with commitment it turns out. Beyond that, going out to a restaurant is often a social affair, and once there are more friends or couples in the picture, it makes the deposit higher, and the responsibility heavier. "And if something happens at the last minute and we have to cancel?" A guarantee of 50 shekels per person for a table, becomes a considerable amount, as the table grows, and no one wants to take responsibility for it.

Plus, there seems to be something very temporary for many people in giving a host a credit card, when not actually buying anything (compared to show tickets or a movie, which is something tangible), people do not like to give a credit card as a deposit, when it is not really clear what service they are paying for.

Also, many diners, do not so much trust the other side.

Right?

Here's a personal story - a few months ago, we booked six table companies at one of the most sought after restaurants in the city, the company that booked the place by phone, gave her credit card number as a deposit, and reserved the table.

On the day of the reservation we arrived, there is no table and no reservation.

At the end they improvised a table for us, but what happened to the credit card?

I hope my friend was vigilant enough to check that it was not written in another order and charged later.

Are diners or credit cards going? (Photo: Reuters)

Here is probably also the place to mention, another topic, and sucks much more, which infuriates quite a few diners. The matter of time limitation. Here, too, the logic, for those who are willing to look at the other side of the equation (the restaurateurs) as well - is clear. They, for their part, want to maximize the number of orders they can take on a given evening, and in order for them to plan ahead, and take another order on the table (because even standing and waiting for the table we ordered we do not like), a time limit is needed.

The thing is that the restriction that until recently hovered around the two-and-a-half hour to the table, has recently been reduced, quite a bit to places for an hour and a half. And it already sucks. It is also not easy for us to arrange a babysitter (if necessary), get organized, leave the house, find parking (or get a taxi), spend a few hundred shekels, so that after an hour and a half we have to clear the table, an hour and a half is not a reasonable time to enjoy a meal .

It makes diners, not enjoy the hospitality experience, and the feeling that restaurateurs look at them as a walking credit card, now add to that the fact that they ask their number from us, even before we get to the restaurant, or even before we are asked our name - and you can understand why this thing makes you want Without a few people.

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