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This doesn't seem like an unsolvable problem, they'd just have to bite one of a number of bullets to verify that the person who made the reservation is the pers

This doesn't seem like an unsolvable problem, they'd just have to bite one of a number of bullets to verify that the person who made the reservation is the person who showed up to the restaurant: restaurants insisting on strict identity verification for the reservation systems they use, or a rule that says the name on your credit card or driver's license must match the name of the person who made the reservation in order to be seated. People would naturally complain, but if the reservations are going for up to $300, I assume the restaurants have some leverage. Or just go back to telephone reservations. If you hear the same voice calling over and over, you tell them there aren't any more reservations available. Imperfect, yes, but cheap.

dfxm12 3y ago
they'd just have to bite one of a number of bullets to verify that the person who made the reservation is the person who showed up to the restaurant Once someone shows up for a reservation, it's too late to really do anything about it. No restaurant is going to turn away money like that. Popular enough spots may have a line at the door, but you also don't want to risk a commotion turning away hungry people with money and some evidence of a reservation. Plus, fine dining places like some of these are as much about the atmosphere and service as the meal. Being treated with such suspicion would put a bad taste in my mouth before my first bite of food...
- karaterobot 3y ago
  I can see that argument. If it wrecks these reservation scammers, it'd be better in the long run. But maybe restaurants aren't in the position (or of the mindset) to play a game of chicken like that (chicken is no game at a restaurant...) But in general, the restaurants which are most affected by this scheme are the ones who are likely in the best position to do something about it. They may lose some customers who bought fraudulent reservations, which seems like not much of a loss. They may also lose some people who get mad about being questioned. But, in the long run, I think they'd win more fans among people who couldn't go to the restaurant at all when all the reservations were scooped up by bots.
  - SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
    Exactly. It almost feels like a non problem. You only have this problem when your restaurant is in such high demand that it’s worthwhile to be targeted by bots. If your restaurant is in such high demand, you have several tools at your disposal and the wherewithal to police reservations much more than some other less in demand restaurant. But those less in demand restaurants will never have this problem in the first place. And like you said, if you’re that in demand, you can afford to lose a few customers
    - autoexec 3y ago
      > . You only have this problem when your restaurant is in such high demand that it’s worthwhile to be targeted by bots. Why wouldn't bots buy up every table in every restaurant everywhere no matter how busy they normally are? It costs basically nothing. That way you'll be forced to pay money to some app just to get a table anywhere. Restaurants that don't want to be exploited this way will have to either stop accepting reservations or spend a bunch of time and money fighting bots.
      - SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
        No incentive to do so? I can’t speak to the motivations or lack thereof, I can only say (as someone who eats out fairly frequently) that this is a non issue for all but the most in demand restaurants. In my metro area of 1.2 million I can count the restaurants that have had issues with this on one hand.

dfxm12 3y ago

they'd just have to bite one of a number of bullets to verify that the person who made the reservation is the person who showed up to the restaurant Once someone shows up for a reservation, it's too late to really do anything about it. No restaurant is going to turn away money like that. Popular enough spots may have a line at the door, but you also don't want to risk a commotion turning away hungry people with money and some evidence of a reservation. Plus, fine dining places like some of these are as much about the atmosphere and service as the meal. Being treated with such suspicion would put a bad taste in my mouth before my first bite of food...

karaterobot 3y ago
I can see that argument. If it wrecks these reservation scammers, it'd be better in the long run. But maybe restaurants aren't in the position (or of the mindset) to play a game of chicken like that (chicken is no game at a restaurant...) But in general, the restaurants which are most affected by this scheme are the ones who are likely in the best position to do something about it. They may lose some customers who bought fraudulent reservations, which seems like not much of a loss. They may also lose some people who get mad about being questioned. But, in the long run, I think they'd win more fans among people who couldn't go to the restaurant at all when all the reservations were scooped up by bots.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
  Exactly. It almost feels like a non problem. You only have this problem when your restaurant is in such high demand that it’s worthwhile to be targeted by bots. If your restaurant is in such high demand, you have several tools at your disposal and the wherewithal to police reservations much more than some other less in demand restaurant. But those less in demand restaurants will never have this problem in the first place. And like you said, if you’re that in demand, you can afford to lose a few customers
  - autoexec 3y ago
    > . You only have this problem when your restaurant is in such high demand that it’s worthwhile to be targeted by bots. Why wouldn't bots buy up every table in every restaurant everywhere no matter how busy they normally are? It costs basically nothing. That way you'll be forced to pay money to some app just to get a table anywhere. Restaurants that don't want to be exploited this way will have to either stop accepting reservations or spend a bunch of time and money fighting bots.
    - SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
      No incentive to do so? I can’t speak to the motivations or lack thereof, I can only say (as someone who eats out fairly frequently) that this is a non issue for all but the most in demand restaurants. In my metro area of 1.2 million I can count the restaurants that have had issues with this on one hand.