S'pore woman cancels restaurant dinner due to family death, allegedly charged S$400 cancellation fee

A Singapore woman booked a dinner for two at a local restaurant, but an unexpected loss in the family forced her to cancel the day before.

The woman, L, told Mothership she appealed to the restaurant to waive the cancellation fee.

L shared that she booked a table for two on Valentine's Day at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

However, on Feb. 13, a close relative of hers unexpectedly passed away.

As such, she had to cancel her reservation and contacted the restaurant to request a waiver of the cancellation fee.

"In the midst of my grief, I reached out to [the restaurant] to cancel on compassionate grounds.

Rather than a professional or empathetic response, the management strictly enforced a 72-hour policy, resulting in a S$400 cancellation fee."

In a response to Mothership, the restaurant explained their rationale behind the cancellation policy, and said that they try to be flexible but experience challenging times with customers who cancel at the last minute.

Restaurant policy

The restaurant's website states that a credit card authorisation of S$200 per diner is required to secure the reservation, and reservations open 60 days in advance.

Cancellations or modifications to reservations must be made at least 72 hours in advance; otherwise, the deposit will be forfeited.

L informed Mothership that she asked the restaurant to waive the cancellation fee, and offered to reschedule her booking for another day.

However, in a screenshot of a message provided, purportedly from the restaurant, the restaurant explained that they were not able to reschedule the booking as the "ingredients have already been procured and prepared" for that night's special menu.

It added that if L cancelled her booking, the forfeited deposit would "cover the loss of revenue and the cost of ingredients that were already purchased and prepared for [her] reservation."

The restaurant explained that their produce is specifically obtained for each guest, and some items require up to a week of preparation.

"Once prepared, these ingredients cannot be reused, and any unused items must be discarded, resulting in both wastage and additional loss," said the restaurant.

"The cancellation fee reflects only a small portion of the actual costs incurred, and we hope for your kind understanding."

She called the incident a "slap in the face" due to the restaurant's lack of flexibility.

Restaurant's explanation

In a response to Mothership, the restaurant explained that most fine-dining restaurants have such a booking policy as their operations are based on reservations. All bookings can be cancelled or modified up to 72 hours before the reservation.

Once reservations are within the 72-hour grace period, the restaurant's staff will proceed to procure and prepare the food items.

Such food items are perishable and some ingredients need a few days to prepare in advance. If a customer does not show up for their reservation, the restaurant loses revenue.

Abide by policy to be fair to all

It added that the staff also has family, and understand unforeseen circumstances can crop up.

However, they have recently experienced a spate of reservation cancellations, sometimes five or six hours before the reservation with the customers giving reasons such as accidents, funerals, missed flights, a death in the family, a sudden medical condition, and so on.

While the restaurant empathises and tries to be flexible, it did notice last-minute cancellations due to customers choosing to book several restaurants at once, and only deciding where to go at the last minute. Such customers also give emergency reasons for their cancellation.

At other times, the restaurant said, when some guests tried to back out citing a medical condition, and were informed about the cancellation charge, they turn up anyway "just fine."

"So at this point of time, it has been extremely challenging to judge which are honest cases of misfortune and fake cases.

We just have to abide by our restaurant policy to be fair and square."

Supposedly asked for move to February 15

The restaurant also shared that it had reached out to L, but she was "very upset" and wanted to move her reservation from February 14 to February 15.

However, the restaurant was fully booked on the 15th, and claimed that L became upset upon hearing that they could not set up another table for two for her.

It added that the restaurant manager tried to call L to explain in more detail, but was allegedly met with a hostile response and vulgarities, leaving him "shocked and deeply affected."

However, L refuted this and said that "no such language was used."

Google review

L also left a one-star review on Google, noting that, as the restaurant was fully booked, they could have filled her spot with someone from the waitlist.

The restaurant then responded to L's review.

They explained that they did not ask L to find a replacement date; rather, they asked her to find someone to take on her booking, as she apparently suggested cancelling it a few hours before the reservation.

The restaurant added that there was no waitlist on Valentine's Day to take over her reservation.

"By failing to show up for your reservation, revenue will be lost. And a cancellation fee of $200 per pax will occur. This is to offset the wasted perishables that were prepared for your reservation," said the restaurant.

The restaurant also alleged that L cursed at their staff members over the phone, although as stated, she denied this.

"As much as we want to show compassion to you, you have to acknowledge compassion to us as well."

Top photos via Canva