When I tell you NO I’m not being rude.

Last night an older couple waltzed in at 5:30. I asked if they had reservations and they confirmed they did.

Smith. Party of 2. 5:30. At the bar.

I look. There is no reservation for the Smiths.

I double check. I ask for the phone number because maybe they have the wrong date. I ask if they have the text we send to confirm. They don’t have their phones.

They never have their phones.

I explain I don’t have the reservation. They insist they made it.

I ask all the questions. Did you get a text. Did you give your credit card. Did you hit submit. Did you get reminders.

They always insist that they did.

Of course they did not.

The iPad doesn’t lie. (Perhaps that’s the title of my posts).

I explain I can only seat them on the patio.

They insist I seat them at the bar.

Unfortunately that is not in the cards. The bar is booked. It’s Saturday night. At 5:30. I won’t have an open seat till around 8:00.

I tell them this and ask if they’d like to come back at 8:00 or sit on the patio. They take the patio.

I book them in and send them to the patio.

End of story.

Except.

When you book a reservation with our system, you are asked to complete a survey after your meal is marked done by us on the iPad.

They completed the survey.

They complimented the service. The food. The ambience.

They did not compliment the host. I challenged them on their reservation and this made them uncomfortable. I should have been nicer. Especially because they are older and live on the most expensive street in town.

The truth is. I only told them no. At no time did they accept that the mistake was theirs. It was only my problem to fix.

We accommodated them. But it was not enough. I don’t know how to make it enough. Meanwhile, family after family after family come through and love everything about the experience including the maitre d, the host, the dining room manager at the front door.

Remind me to tell you sometime about how they respond when it’s not a middle aged man at the door.

I really really really don’t want to say no.

To quote a bartender.

Service is my life.

I love, love, love to make it work.

But sometimes the answer is no.

Last night.

The answer was. No.