French restaurant leaves customers fuming as it introduces fines for this very common dining mistake - so are you guilty of it?
Olivier Vincent, chef and manager of at L'îlot, a 20-seat eatery in Amboise, had grown increasingly frustrated with patrons constantly arriving with parties that either exceeded or fell short of the number of people they had booked for.
Disgruntled by what he described as a 'weekly' problem, the chef announced that those showing up with a different-sized group to their reservation would be fined.
In a post shared to Facebook last week, he stated that those who don't abide by the rule would be charged €15 (£12.75) per head.
On Wednesday, he wrote: 'The restaurant L'îlot announces a change. From now on, if you do not come with the number of guests for which you reserved, you will be charged 15 euros per missing or additional person. Thank you for your understanding.'
'We're here because we need to make people responsible,' he lamented.
Under the new rules, a party of nine with two no-shows would face a €30 surcharge in addition to the bill for their food and drink.
According to the chef, the issue had been ongoing, but reached its final straw after one customer exchanged several messages trying to change the booking, reported the French paper, ici.
'After about ten emails with one person, she told us there would be eight, then nine, and finally, they arrived at seven without warning, without apology,' Olivier told the outlet.
Expressing his frustration, Vincent emphasised the need to have the correct numbers on a booking, insisting customers who have 'their phones on them 24/7' only need to 'call to say if we will be less, or more, or that we are not coming'.
'If we are here, it is to work. It is not to have tables, not to have customers. We organise ourselves so that everything is serene. We have staff,' he continued.
'We work with fresh products. We do not pay employees and suppliers with Monopoly tickets. My restaurant is a business.'
The venue, described on Google as serving 'inventive gourmet plates' in a 'down-to-earth restaurant with an open kitchen', has a respectable 4.7 stars on review sites.
Customers have praised the 'intimate' setting, a feature that Vincent emphasised is one of the reasons it must keep strictly to it's booking numbers.
Responding to the Facebook post, which was viewed more than 27,000 times in the first 24 hours, several expressed their irritation at the new rules.
A translated response from one read: 'A bit of a limiting business practice if there are only one or two people missing from a large table. Emergencies exist.
Responding to the Facebook post, which was viewed more than 27,000 times in the first 24 hours, several expressed their irritation at the new rules
'You're not going to get great publicity for yourself. Even if abuses exist, you are going a bit far. Imagine an on-call doctor who can't join their family for dinner, or someone who has a family emergency.'
A second furiously wrote: 'A last-minute unforeseen event... Getting left outside the restaurant (it's happened to me before)... Well, I might as well go somewhere else then. It seems pretty counterproductive to me.'
'Keep it up, restaurateurs in France...and soon your customers just won't come anymore...besides, why go to a restaurant in France to pay an exorbitant price for something that isn't good,' another said.
Though some keenly agreed that it was a matter of 'respect' to call restaurants to let them know of a changed booking.
'I totally agree with you! It takes 2 minutes to notify someone of a change,' one wrote, while another agreed, saying people weren't aware of the hassle for the chef who prepares the meals.'
It is common for restaurants in France to charge patrons who fail to arrive for their bookings at all, but l'Îlot is among the first to fine for unannounced changes to party size.
MailOnline has reached out to L'îlot for comment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
11 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK's Senior reports 10% rise in profit on civil aerospace and defence demand
Aug 4 (Reuters) - British engineering firm Senior (SNR.L), opens new tab reported a 10% rise in first-half adjusted operating profit on Monday, helped by its aerospace division on robust civil aerospace and defence demand. Rising air travel demand, driven by growing disposable income along with increased defence spending amid heightened geopolitical tensions, has benefited firms like Senior, a key supplier to Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab and Airbus ( opens new tab. The company reported an adjusted operating profit of 31.2 million pounds ($265,760.00) for the half-year ended June 30, compared with 28.3 million pounds a year ago. Senior reiterated its expectations for 2025 and said trading had been in line with expectation. ($1 = 0.7526 pounds)
The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
Transfer news live: Man Utd battle Newcastle for Sesko, Liverpool's Isak bid, Son to leave Spurs
Newcastle United remain in the headlines due to the interest in striker Alexander Isak. The 25-year-old has been trying to force a move away from the club amid ongoing interest from Liverpool but Newcastle are holding out for a massive fee having rejected Liverpool 's first bid. Manager Eddie Howe says the situation is 'far from ideal'. Nevertheless the club are searching for a potential replacement and have made a bid fo RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko which was deemed not good enough by the German side. To make matters worse, Manchester United, who are hopeful of securing a No.9 of their own, are willing to match the bid with improved add ons meaning the two clubs will battle it out over the closing days of the window. Elsewhere, Tottenham captain Son Heung-Min is set to leave north London after a decade with the club, announcing the news in an emotional press conference ahead of the pre-season friendly against Newcastle in his native South Korea while Arsenal are aiming to bolster their forward line by signing Crystal Palace 's Eberechi Eze. Palace want a fee in excess of £60m which is the amount of Eze's release clause but the Gunners are running out of time to trigger it. Tottenham captain Son Heung Min to leave club for 'fresh challenge' Tottenham captain Son Heung Min has revealed he will leave the club this summer. Son has spent the last decade at Spurs and achieved his goal of silverware in May when he helped the Premier League team to Europa League success with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. It ended a 17-year trophy drought for the club. Tottenham captain Son Heung Min to leave club for 'fresh challenge' Son had been at Spurs for a decade and led them to Europa League glory last season to end a long trophy drought Mike Jones4 August 2025 07:22 Good morning! Welcome to The Independent's Mike Jones4 August 2025 07:21 Lookman wants to depart Atalanta over 'broken promises' Forward Ademola Lookman said on Sunday he had put in a formal transfer request at Atalanta after facing poor treatment at the Italian club. England-born Nigeria international Lookman was Atalanta's second-highest scorer in Serie A last season, netting 15 goals. Italian media reports have linked the former Everton, Fulham and Leicester City player with a move to Inter Milan. Atalanta did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Lookman, who joined Atalanta in 2022 on a four-year contract, wrote in a letter shared on social media that he had agreed with the club ownership that he would be allowed to move if there was a fair offer. "Despite now receiving an offer in alignment to what I believe had been discussed sadly the club are blocking the opportunity for reasons I do not understand," he wrote. "After many months of broken promises and what I feel has been poor treatment towards me as both a human being and as a professional footballer, sadly I feel I have no choice but to speak out... I can confirm I have now handed in a formal transfer request." Flo Clifford4 August 2025 07:10 Bannan commits to Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan has signed a new contract with the troubled Championship club. The 35-year-old midfielder, whose previous deal had expired, has committed to the Owls just two days after players and staff at Hillsborough had not received their wages on time for the third successive month. The club has not disclosed the details of Bannan's new deal. The Scot said he had received interest from other clubs and that his daughter's reaction to the prospect of ending his decade-long stay with the Owls had helped shape his decision. Bannan said: "This club is a big part of me and my family, who are with me here today as I'm signing. "They will always stand by me with whatever decision I make and I've decided to stay. "With the season getting closer, this last week has been tough because there was interest from elsewhere and I had a lot to think about. "We had a lot of conversations as a family and when I told my daughter Elsie that I might be leaving she started crying. "Then last night when I told her I was staying she started crying again. I asked her why and she said they are just happy tears." Flo Clifford4 August 2025 06:10 Amorim 'really happy' with Hojlund Of under pressure forward Rasmus Hojlund, who has been the subject of interest in the transfer market, Ruben Amorim recently said: 'The important thing is that people focus on the goals and we suffer a lot because of the lack of goals. But I think not just the goals, but the way he (Hojlund) connects the play. "Every time we have to kick the ball, we are kicking the ball when we are more pressed. The ability for him to hold the defender and to connect in the support is helping us a lot to play better. And we are playing better because he is playing better. "I am really happy with Rasmus. I don't know what is going to happen until the end of the market. The important thing is that the strikers that are here are working really well, are improving, are helping the team and that is the most important thing.' Flo Clifford4 August 2025 05:10 Sesko saga reaches critical decision Newcastle have submitted an offer for RB Leipzig, according to reports, and Manchester United are prepared to wait and see what Benjamin Sesko wants. If Sesko wants to go to Old Trafford, and gives the green light, United will then submit an offer, writes Fabrizio Romano. They are not prepared to enter talks with the club only to be snubbed by the player further down the line. Flo Clifford4 August 2025 04:12 Liverpool still have eyes for Guehi Liverpool retain an interest in Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, though they do not agree with Palace's valuation for the defender. The England international is out of contract next summer but Palace currently value him at £40m. Flo Clifford4 August 2025 03:12 West Ham capture Wilson West Ham have signed Callum Wilson on a one-year contract following his release by Newcastle. The 33-year-old former Bournemouth striker scored 49 goals in 130 appearances in five years for the Magpies. Wilson said: 'I'm excited to be joining a massive football club like West Ham.' Flo Clifford4 August 2025 02:11 Newcastle to look at Watkins & Wissa if Isak leaves Newcastle will look at Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins if given encouragement that a deal can be done, according to the Daily Mail. Watkins would be available for around £60m, though Newcastle would likely try to reduce that fee. While the signing could act as a replacement for Alexander Isak, the club are also still targeting Brentford forward Yoane Wissa, who is reportedly valued at £50m too. Flo Clifford4 August 2025 01:11 Gyokores debut and what it showed A debut defeat and an outing that was underwhelming but left the sense he was underused may matter little. When it comes to competitive games, Viktor Gyokeres 's Arsenal bow will come at Old Trafford against Manchester United on 17 August. But as he donned their No 14 shirt for the first time in a game, Arsenal at least showed the need for Gyokeres, the forward who scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting CP. The first north London derby staged outside the United Kingdom yielded a 1-0 loss to Tottenham, with Arsenal registering a lone shot on target, which Kai Havertz directed at Guglielmo Vicario. Gyokeres was limited to the last 20 minutes, including stoppage time, as Arsenal were largely toothless. The argument that they needed a specialist goalscorer is scarcely new, but perhaps it was underlined when they spent an initial £55m to acquire one.
Reuters
41 minutes ago
- Reuters
Brexit's parallels with Trump tariffs tell a tale
LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - In figuring out why the U.S. tariff shock hasn't sent the economy or financial world into a tailspin, Britain's exit from the European Union trade bloc provides something of a playbook - and without a particularly happy ending. Aside from vast differences in economic scale and global reach, the two episodes bear some comparison in how they upended years of deeply integrated free trade and possibly in how business, the economy at large and financial markets reacted. The 2016 Brexit referendum and Trump's tariffs this year were each widely billed as economic shocks that would send the financial world into paroxysms. They didn't, at least not at the outset. To be sure, both were followed by dramatic downward lurches in the two countries' respective currencies. But, to some extent, the steep drop in sterling after the referendum vote and the dollar's plunge on President Donald Trump's tariff plan this year helped offset some of the wider impact - at least on stock markets that are loaded with global firms with outsized foreign revenue. More broadly, however, the difficulty in isolating their immediate net impact means no "big bang" economic crisis unfolds to prove critics right - even if their enduring legacy turns out to be a slow burn of economic potential and lost output, often obscured by multiple other crosswinds. In Britain's case, the seismic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic distorted any attempt to easily assess Brexit when it actually happened. Tortuous negotiations with the EU meant the UK's departure eventually occurred on the eve of the health crisis in 2020 and the new trade rules did not come into force until a year later. But in the four years between the referendum surprise and the pandemic, the UK economy never entered a recession nor recorded a negative quarterly GDP print - confounding pro-EU supporters at the time and bolstering the Brexit lobby. Emerging from the twin hits, however, the economy has almost flatlined since. FTSE 100 stocks, helped by the weaker pound, kept pace with the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and world indexes for about a year after the referendum before chronic underperformance set in. Since 2018, the UK market has lagged MSCI's all-country index by some 35%. What's more, it's taken more than eight years for the pound's effective exchange rate to recover its pre-referendum levels. Few mainstream economists now doubt that Brexit has taken a serious toll on the UK economy - even if blame for that gets sprayed in multiple directions - and oceans of ink have been spilled trying to disentangle the precise impacts. One academic study, opens new tab by a number of Bank of England economists earlier this year concluded that uncertainty following the referendum resulted in little change in goods exports and imports before the exit was finalized. But after the new rules hit, UK imports fell 3% and overall exports fell 6.4%, largely because of the 13% hit in exports to the EU. While this slump seems relatively modest compared to the official forecasts of the longer-term hit, opens new tab, the pain has been borne disproportionately by small businesses. Additionally, these findings exclude the Brexit hit to services and London's finance sector, which registered a much bigger economic dent. And the cumulative damage to London and the service sector, opens new tab over the next 10 years continues to worry the City. The U.S. tariff story is of a completely different order, of course, as it will reverberate across the world economy. But there are some parallels, not least in certain aspects of the market reactions and the initial resilience. Economists estimate that the tariffs could lop anywhere from 0.5% to 1.0% off U.S. GDP over time. That's a $150-$300 billion hit, which, though painful, would not be an instant crisis for an economy that's growing at a roughly 2% annualized rate, where imported goods represent just 11% of GDP and where tech and AI trends are generating considerable tailwinds. But as former White House economic adviser Jason Furman pointed out in a New York Times essay last week, the tariff damage is likely not a one-off hit. The loss of 0.5% of GDP, he argued, is "the equivalent of every household in America taking around $1,000 and lighting it on fire - then doing it again every year. Forever." In the end, the main point of the British comparison is to show how extreme partisan arguments on the pros or cons of such giant economic policy changes don't necessarily get resolved cleanly in adaptive, hardy and hyper-complex modern economies. The upshot is there's rarely a big crash to prove a point. And that in itself is unnerving if politically-motivated policies then appear workable on the surface and resist instant pushback - only to act as a drain on the economy over a protracted period. Many observers reasonably argue that sovereign democratic politics should always trump economic conventions and even directions. But do people eventually notice when it goes wrong? The latest YouGov opinion poll, opens new tab shows 56% of Britons now think it was wrong to leave the EU - some nine years after their narrow vote to leave. The jury on Trump's tariffs is still out. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters -- Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn. Plus, sign up for my weekday newsletter, Morning Bid U.S.
