Latest news with #Croke
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers advance bill aimed at curbing third-party restaurant reservations
SPRINGFIELD — A bill heading to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk is aimed at protecting local restaurants from third-party vendors that buy and resell reservations, which proponents say can lead to costly no-shows and consumer fraud. If the measure is signed into law by Pritzker, Illinois would join states including New York and Florida in attempting to bar third-party reservation services from listing, advertising, promoting or selling reservations without a written agreement with the restaurant. The measure, which the House passed last week without any no votes after an earlier overwhelming show of support in the Senate, opens the third-party vendors to litigation and provides for civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. According to Rep. Margaret Croke, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the bill in the House, the third-party vendors hurt restaurants by grabbing reservations at popular places, sometimes using automated bots, as soon as they are released on platforms such as Open Table that have an agreement with the restaurant. That makes reservations on the site the restaurant is working with look unavailable when they're actually being sold on another platform. Restaurants plan their nights based on the number of bookings and staff accordingly, but the third-party reservations are often no shows, Croke said. 'They're booked so the restaurant thinks they got the reservation, but maybe someone didn't buy it on the third party,' Croke said. 'They have no way of knowing that the reservation was purchased because now the third party is technically the holder of that reservation.' Third-party reservation platforms often charge high fees to secure a table, Croke said, adding that she found one vendor selling a reservation for the Ralph Lauren restaurant in Chicago for $700. 'It was ridiculous,' Croke said. 'I thought, 'You're taking something that is free, something that everyone should be able to enjoy and pricing it up.' None of that money is going to the restaurant.' While no opposition was formally filed against the bill in Illinois, the founder of one third-party vendor, Appointment Trader, said his platform does not use automated bots. 'It's just a clearinghouse to transfer an appointment,' said Jonas Frey, who acknowledged receiving many 'cease-and-desist' letters from restaurant owners. 'We don't sell any reservations. We literally do not source reservations. We do not list reservations, and we also do not sell them. It is 100% user-based.' Users can make reservations, upload them to Appointment Trader and resell them, Frey said. The company takes a 20-30% cut of the selling price. If a user exceeds a set limit on the number of reservations that go unsold, their account is banned. According to Frey, the company's 'no-show' rate was less than 1% across the last 50,000 reservations they recently acquired on the platform. But Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, which worked with Croke on the bill, said the third-party reservation operations have been a rising problem for restaurants since the pandemic. The bill requires a written agreement between restaurants and reservation platforms, which allows restaurants to have more control over their costs and expected reservation numbers, he said. 'This is a major win for restaurants, as it cuts down on a number of double bookings or phantom reservations,' Toia said. Croke said the bill could also give people more opportunities to get a seat at popular restaurants, where customers are often deterred with the thinking, 'I don't even want to try that restaurant because I know they're always booked.' 'When you are walking down the street and thinking about trying something, it's such a disincentive to see a bunch of people waiting because the restaurant thinks they have reservations so they can't take walk-ins,' Croke said.
Chicago Tribune
28-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Lawmakers advance bill aimed at curbing third-party restaurant reservations
A bill heading to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk is aimed at protecting local restaurants from third-party vendors that buy and resell reservations, which proponents say can lead to costly no-shows and consumer fraud. If the measure is signed into law by Pritzker, Illinois would join states including New York and Florida in attempting to bar third-party reservation services from listing, advertising, promoting or selling reservations without a written agreement with the restaurant. The measure, which the House passed last week without any no votes after an earlier overwhelming show of support in the Senate, opens the third-party vendors to litigation and provides for civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. According to Rep. Margaret Croke, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the bill in the House, the third-party vendors hurt restaurants by grabbing reservations at popular places, sometimes using automated bots, as soon as they are released on platforms such as Open Table that have an agreement with the restaurant. That makes reservations on the site the restaurant is working with look unavailable when they're actually being sold on another platform. Restaurants plan their nights based on the number of bookings and staff accordingly, but the third-party reservations are often no shows, Croke said. 'They're booked so the restaurant thinks they got the reservation, but maybe someone didn't buy it on the third party,' Croke said. 'They have no way of knowing that the reservation was purchased because now the third party is technically the holder of that reservation.' Third-party reservation platforms often charge high fees to secure a table, Croke said, adding that she found one vendor selling a reservation for the Ralph Lauren restaurant in Chicago for $700. 'It was ridiculous,' Croke said. 'I thought, 'You're taking something that is free, something that everyone should be able to enjoy and pricing it up.' None of that money is going to the restaurant.' While no opposition was formally filed against the bill in Illinois, the founder of one third-party vendor, Appointment Trader, said his platform does not use automated bots. 'It's just a clearinghouse to transfer an appointment,' said Jonas Frey, who acknowledged receiving many 'cease-and-desist' letters from restaurant owners. 'We don't sell any reservations. We literally do not source reservations. We do not list reservations, and we also do not sell them. It is 100% user-based.' Users can make reservations, upload them to Appointment Trader and resell them, Frey said. The company takes a 20-30% cut of the selling price. If a user exceeds a set limit on the number of reservations that go unsold, their account is banned. According to Frey, the company's 'no-show' rate was less than 1% across the last 50,000 reservations they recently acquired on the platform. But Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, which worked with Croke on the bill, said the third-party reservation operations have been a rising problem for restaurants since the pandemic. The bill requires a written agreement between restaurants and reservation platforms, which allows restaurants to have more control over their costs and expected reservation numbers, he said. 'This is a major win for restaurants, as it cuts down on a number of double bookings or phantom reservations,' Toia said. Croke said the bill could also give people more opportunities to get a seat at popular restaurants, where customers are often deterred with the thinking, 'I don't even want to try that restaurant because I know they're always booked.' 'When you are walking down the street and thinking about trying something, it's such a disincentive to see a bunch of people waiting because the restaurant thinks they have reservations so they can't take walk-ins,' Croke said.
Miami Herald
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Cypress Bay's Brunt and Heritage's Croke are the Broward Tennis Coaches of the Year
Both American Heritage's Toby Croke and Cypress Bay's Michael Brunt have presided over two of the premier tennis programs in the state in recent years. For Croke, it had been a little bit since one of his Patriots' squads had finished the season at the top. That changed this season when American Heritage's girls secured the Class 2A team state championship. On the boys' side, Cypress Bay didn't come away with a state team title. But the Lightning maintained their standard with top performances both individually and as a team in Class 4A. As such, Croke and Brunt are the Miami Herald's Tennis Coaches of the Year for Broward County. Croke wins the Girls' Coach of the Year honors after leading the Patriots girls to their first state title since 2021 and their seventh overall. Senior Tina Liu and junior Angelina Lin led the way as a doubles team and at the top of Heritage's singles' rotation. After losing in districts to rival Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest, American Heritage bounced back with a huge team win over the Panthers in the rematch a week later to secure a regional title. Heritage carried that momentum to the state meet where it swept Orlando Lake Highland Prep and followed that with a 4-2 win over Naples Barron Collier to secure the championship. Brunt wins the Boys' Coach of the Year honors after leading Cypress Bay to the Class 4A state final four. Although the Lightning lost in the state semifinals to eventual state champion Orlando Lake Nona, Cypress Bay dominated the competition throughout the season in Broward County. The Lightning won district and regional championships led by Pablo Alunni-Cobo at the top of its singles rotation. Alunni-Cobo then teamed up with senior Rolando Torrellas and sometimes with junior Sebastian Elias to win some clutch matches throughout the season.
Western Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Western Telegraph
Senedd calls for ban on strip-searching of children
Rhian Croke, of the Children's Legal Centre Wales, warned strip search is a violation of children's rights as she called for less invasive alternatives such as body scanners. Dr Croke said: 'Instead of traumatising and degrading children including those who may be involved in offending… children should be treated as children first with dignity and respect. 'In Wales, strip search is contrary to the nation's commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Wales-only legislation that promotes children's rights…. 'Wales should take the lead on ending the practice of strip search and instead invest in alternative technologies, so children have their rights protected.' She stressed: 'Children in contact with the police may have already experienced layers upon layers of trauma, to then inflict a strip search on a child is completely inappropriate.' Dr Croke, who holds a PhD in law, pointed out that in most cases nothing illegal was found during searches conducted in custody, 'yet the degrading practice continues.' In a briefing for Senedd members, jointly prepared with fellow campaigner Saqib Deshmukh, she expressed concerns about 'totally inadequate' monitoring of incidents of strip searches. Warning of a failure in transparency and accountability, Dr Croke said freedom of information (FoI) requests revealed discrepancies and contradictions in the data reported by police. A total of 5,428 strip searches of children were undertaken in Wales in two years to 2023, mostly for drugs and weapons, with six cases involving under 13s, according to one review. 85 involved a more thorough or intimate search beyond removing a coat, jacket or gloves. South Wales, Dyfed Powys, and Gwent Police refused to provide any data on child strip search cross-referenced by ethnicity in response to FoI requests, according to the briefing. Concerns first came to light in 2020 when a schoolgirl in London was wrongly accused of having drugs and strip searched while on her period without an appropriate adult present. During a legal case, the girl said: 'I don't know if I'm going to feel normal again. But I do know this can't happen to anyone else, ever again.' In another case involving the Met police, an autistic girl, 15, was handcuffed, pinned down and searched, with her underwear cut off in front of male officers, after 20 hours in custody. She was so traumatised she tried to kill herself within weeks, her mother said. Senedd members discussed the issue during a social justice committee meeting on May 12. Lord Timpson – the UK minister responsible for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending – is scheduled to give evidence at the committee's next meeting on May 19.
South Wales Argus
14-05-2025
- Politics
- South Wales Argus
Senedd calls for ban on strip-searching of children
Rhian Croke, of the Children's Legal Centre Wales, warned strip search is a violation of children's rights as she called for less invasive alternatives such as body scanners. Dr Croke said: 'Instead of traumatising and degrading children including those who may be involved in offending… children should be treated as children first with dignity and respect. 'In Wales, strip search is contrary to the nation's commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Wales-only legislation that promotes children's rights…. 'Wales should take the lead on ending the practice of strip search and instead invest in alternative technologies, so children have their rights protected.' She stressed: 'Children in contact with the police may have already experienced layers upon layers of trauma, to then inflict a strip search on a child is completely inappropriate.' Dr Croke, who holds a PhD in law, pointed out that in most cases nothing illegal was found during searches conducted in custody, 'yet the degrading practice continues.' In a briefing for Senedd members, jointly prepared with fellow campaigner Saqib Deshmukh, she expressed concerns about 'totally inadequate' monitoring of incidents of strip searches. Warning of a failure in transparency and accountability, Dr Croke said freedom of information (FoI) requests revealed discrepancies and contradictions in the data reported by police. A total of 5,428 strip searches of children were undertaken in Wales in two years to 2023, mostly for drugs and weapons, with six cases involving under 13s, according to one review. 85 involved a more thorough or intimate search beyond removing a coat, jacket or gloves. South Wales, Dyfed Powys, and Gwent Police refused to provide any data on child strip search cross-referenced by ethnicity in response to FoI requests, according to the briefing. Concerns first came to light in 2020 when a schoolgirl in London was wrongly accused of having drugs and strip searched while on her period without an appropriate adult present. During a legal case, the girl said: 'I don't know if I'm going to feel normal again. But I do know this can't happen to anyone else, ever again.' In another case involving the Met police, an autistic girl, 15, was handcuffed, pinned down and searched, with her underwear cut off in front of male officers, after 20 hours in custody. She was so traumatised she tried to kill herself within weeks, her mother said. Senedd members discussed the issue during a social justice committee meeting on May 12. Lord Timpson – the UK minister responsible for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending – is scheduled to give evidence at the committee's next meeting on May 19.
