Woman charged over $1000 for cancelling her restaurant booking
A woman who was charged $1020 to cancel a dinner reservation has called out the Melbourne restaurant, labelling the action a “money-hungry grab”.
The high-end restaurant in Yarraville was given more than 48 hours’ notice.
Lorida Quiambao had made a weekend booking at Navi for her birthday but fell ill that week.
Quiambao had booked a table for six people. She lashed out when the restaurant sent her an email detailing the cancellation fee and criticised the restaurant for its lack of transparency around fees.
The former hospitality worker said she'd been charged $170 per head.
She referred to Navi's cancellation policy as "almost extortion" and argued that she had given plenty of notice.
“This restaurant is basically trying to charge the max amount they could and they will probably book that table and make the money, so this is just a money hungry grab by a pretentious restaurant," she wrote.
"No restaurant or business should be allowed to charge these kind of cancellation fees as an off-handed thing. It's disgusting and not OK especially in times like this.”
Navi’s owners hit back on Instagram saying they require five days’ notice for cancellations of five or more people.
The restaurant also wrote that it refunds customers if their cancelled booking is filled by another party.
Navi's owners accused Quiambao of failing to engage with staff when they tried to reach out to her about her cancellation.
"A cancellation of five or more people can mean we lose a quarter of our patronage for an evening and for a restaurant like ours, this is heavy," Navi’s owners wrote in a statement reads.
"We always work hard to fill your spots and avoid you having to pay any fees - we’d always prefer to have faces enjoying the effort we put into our food than an empty table!"
Irit Jackson, 3rd April 2023
