Sick? Tough luck: Restaurant demands money even though nothing was ordered!
New York City (USA) - Arrived on time, left without ordering and was still asked to pay in the end: A TikToker had to pay a cancellation fee even though he arrived at the restaurant on time.
When he and his girlfriend wanted to visit a restaurant in the US city of New York, they had to provide a credit card when making a reservation.
On the day of the appointment, they arrived about ten minutes early and were escorted to their table.
However, when they were finally seated, Sean's girlfriend became nauseous. She rushed to the restroom and stayed there for an estimated 15 minutes.
From the bathroom, she texted Sean explaining that she was afraid of throwing up and had "no appetite to eat a full meal".
The two explained the unusual situation to the waiter and eventually left the restaurant without ordering anything.
Sean Lans and his girlfriend had to pay 23 euros in a restaurant even though they didn't order anything
But a few days later came the surprise: Sean's girlfriend had the cancellation fee of around 23 euros deducted from her account.
"If you show up for your reservation at a restaurant but leave before you've ordered anything - should you still have to pay the cancellation fee?" he asked in his clip, which has now been clicked on over 238,000 times.
Shortly afterwards, they asked the restaurant what the issue was. They were told that the fee was not just for canceling. The restaurant has a minimum turnover per guest, and as the two had not ordered anything, they still had to pay around 23 euros.
"But when I read through the small print of this policy, it doesn't say anything about a minimum spend," said Sean, who wondered how "enforceable the whole thing" was.
A heated discussion broke out in the comments about which party was in the right. Some supported the restaurant, while others sided with Sean as it was an unpredictable situation and the restaurant could have shown goodwill.