Sydney restaurant takes $500 deposit despite being closed
A post-Christmas bottomless lunch at a popular Bondi restaurant has made social media for all the wrong reasons.
Why?
Well, the lunch never happened even after Lucy Finter, who made the booking for herself and 12 friends, put down a $500 deposit.
It turns out the restaurant was closed, even though it took the booking.
While Finter hasn’t named the restaurant, she has amassed over 200,000 views on TikTok by sharing her ordeal.
Finter booked the lunch, put down a $500 deposit and received confirmation. However, when the group turned up, the restaurant was shut.
“I just thought something had gone really wrong or something happened to the owner and they’d get back to me,” she explained.
While the group found somewhere else to dine, Finter is still out of pocket and despite messaging the venue has had no response.
“I got no response, and they still have my $500, and they aren’t replying,” she said.
Finter said she left a “messy” review on social media, but was told to email which she had already done.
“I don’t care what platform you use to communicate. Give me my $500,” she said.
Only after Finter’s TikTok post went viral, was she was contacted by the owner who said they were “looking into it.”
Having been told she would receive a refund; she is still waiting.
Finter is now living in London and said the money would come in very handy.
“I was at home visiting family from living abroad, so I definitely missed that $500. I am also thankful I hadn’t asked all my friends to transfer me when I paid the deposit because then they would have been tied up in the mess too,” she told news.com.au.
Finter finally filed a dispute with her bank and got the money back.
“I actually also didn’t file a dispute for 10 days in the hope I would get some sort of response or clarification as to why they took my money and did not open. Once filed, it was resolved really quickly,” she said.
Finter said she was left stressed from the experience.
“I think if they hadn’t taken my money, it would have been a different story, but to take $500 and then not respond to me for two weeks is incredibly unprofessional and unfair.”
Jonathan Jackson, 15th January 2025
