OpenTable

Got a confirmation but the restaurant didn't get it. They showed be all of their on-line reservation requests and I wasn't on it. Happened once before but the restaurant wasn't busy so it wasn't a big deal. Last night it was a big deal because the restaurant was packed. What was supposed to be an intimate dinner with my wife turned out to be side-by-side at the bar in front of a baseball game on TV. I'll never use OpenTable again.

We wrote a review on Open Table (copied below) and have made multiple calls to find out why it has not been published. They cannot explain it and our review remains unpublished. It appears that their loyalty is solely to the restaurant owner. At this point I question the veracity of even the positive reviews. Our review is corroborated by similar experiences of other diners that wrote reviews that were published on TripAdvisor. So our experience was not unique and should be made known to unsuspecting diners that are considering choosing this restaurant to spend their hard earned money.

Here is what we posted on OpenTable. I do not see any reason why it would be rejected...
PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW! We booked at dream cafe through OpenTable and were seated at 8:00 pm on 9/26/15. After waiting almost 2 hours for our entrees that never came we only had an appetizer and small salad as part of the 4 course prix fixe menu. We had to leave at 9:50 because we had pre purchased movie tickets. The chef/owner started yelling at us from the "kitchen" so my husband went to talk to him to see what his issue was, at which time he started verbally accosting us with expletives and said "he doesn't care that we didn't get our food and we should never come back". He was yelling loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear. If I were another guest and heard this treatment of another diner I would never return. We later discovered that he cancelled our OpenTable reservation 20 minutes after we left so that we would not earn our points. We paid our check which is date and time stamped so clearly not a cancellation. We checked reviews on TripAdvisor and discovered he has done this before. It is just unbelievable. As for the chef/owner's threat to never return... he has NOTHING to worry about. We have no intentions of EVER returning. If he continues to treat his guests this way and the way others have noted in their negative reviews on Trip Advisor, the future of this restaurant looks a bit bleak.

I have been a member since your program started and this new award system is awful. I don't mind doing it on line, but honestly... where are all the restaurants I frequent? They are definitely not on the list. This is highly unacceptable. You are now telling us what restaurants we should dine at? OR you are going to give a $50 gift card for a $100 award on Amazon! REALLY! I can delete Open Table and call the restaurants directly for that!

Open Table used to be so convenient, as with one click you could claim your $20 rewards card and use it anywhere. Now you get an electronic version, and you have to "activate" it for the specific restaurant you want to go to, so it takes planning. And it has to be done from a desktop. So spontaneity is out the door. But the CLINCHER is that only a fraction of the restaurants that you can book on Open Table now accept gift card. Open Table doesn't bother explaining that to customers, so you have to waste time muddling through it. Terrible transition to a new system, and they make the customer bear the burden. I'll book right through the restaurant where possible now.

I found a restaurant in the UK that I booked for my parents trip and wedding anniversary. The only way to book and pay was through open table. I needed to cancel this due to changes which I should have had 14 days to do. Unfortunately the no one answered the UK number and the correspondence with Open Tables and service was extremely poor. Rather then understand my situation we went back and forth on multiple occasions until finally someone came to me and said I could not cancel because I had activated the voucher (no idea what this even means, as only received it via email with receipt - if this is activation than on that premises nothing can be cancelled). After all this I had another person come back to me with the same information I provided originally saying I could cancel. What a mess. Would not recommend using this site for bookings or gift vouchers again

I have been using Opentable for lunch and dinner reservations for a few years now. When my boss recently received an $80 cheque for the 'points' she had gained I was curious as sto why I hadn't received anything. I checked the website, and it turns out you are ONLY eligible for points if you initiate the booking from the opentable website, rather than finding the restaurant and following the reservation link to make the opentable booking. Feeling a tad ripped off!

I booked La Dolce Vite restaurant in Lamberhurst on 25th July for 3 people and it was confirmed by email. When we arrived at the restaurant they denied they had a booking and did not even know what Open Table was. They are clearly not a member of Open Table and the whole thing was a disaster- at the last minute we had to drive around looking for a table on a Saturday night with a 10 year old. I will not use Open Table again: it is absolutely a con.

It is a tradition that we eat at a tapas restaurant when visiting Chicago. Over the years we've eaten an many. This year we came across the BEST tapas restaurant ever! The restaurant is named Nia and is located on the west side of highway 94 on the west loop.
This is a small family owned restaurant that really cares about the food that is served. The atmosphere is calming, elegant and inviting. The service is outstanding! The best part is the food served; the food is very fresh and presented elegantly. The flavor is fantastic; the combination of ingredients and spices are outstanding. I highly recommend this restaurant.
We will definitely be going back. A 5 star restaurant all the way!

Here in Portland with my son and decided to try Ned ludd! S for dinner I made the reservation for 5 so my son and I were the first to arrive with no one else in site at that time but we're told
We can't come in for 5 minutes when it's 5 so we stay outside. When they let us in we discovered no one really was interested in US, the customer ( we are still the only ones there) management and waiter were rude. I ordered many items from the menu most were OK some were not. I SPENT A LOT OF MONEY AND LEFT VERY DISAPOINTED. I WILL NEVER GO BACK. I THINK THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT WITHOUT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE THE foodEXPERIENCE IS WORTHLESS.

I had my sister visiting us from London for a short weekend this weekend. We live in Lower Manhattan and had a very nice lunch and decided to skip dessert to go to iLl Laboratorio del gelato for dessert as we thought it would be a great downtown experience for her.

When we arrived, the ticketing system did not wort (broken as we could not get any tickets from the machine) so we just waited in line at the same time so excited to walked around to see what the shop had to offer, then when a server (she was very unfriendly etc) was available we asked to try the gelato and she accused us of jumped the queue (there was no one behind us at all and very unfriendly with recommendations etc even the customers next to us felt sorry for us and told us that we did not clearly jumped the queue!.). My sister basically lost her interest in trying this gelato and this server just made the whole experience hard to sell.

I live in downtown and always love to promote downtown foods and restaurants. I am so embarrassed to show this shop to visitors as downtown has a great reputations for friendly service and un conventional flavor. I have to say both have failed. I am a cook and i am picky with what i suggest most of times. I will never suggest this shop to any of my clients and friends again in the future. Please get your staffs trained as it will not sell if your staffs are unfriendly and inefficient. There are many others places we could try and we really do not take the attitude from your staffs. A huge disappointment.

For those who want or have a passion for Exceptional food the *CELLAR DOOR* REHOBOTH BEACH is where you will find it. All the food is made from scratch right down to the dressing on your salad. A must try is the GUMBO followed by the vegan tower which in my opinion you will never find anywhere else. A must have is there home made desserts, the gelato is out of this world, on the night I was there I had the hurricane flavor *unbelievable* and again made from scratch. Most restaurants rush you just to turn tables to make a buck, the cellar door however takes you and your food serious, so if you want to relax, unwind and really enjoy what you are eating then you must experience the cellar door. Thank you CHEF MANUEL for food to remember. Toni

Tried to change the reservation but there were no options. Place was empty anyway but them I got an email saying I was a no show. The only thing that's a no show is the apps usability.

Our party of 15 went there for Mother's Day dinner, as we wanted to treat 4 moms all at once and thought it would be a beautiful location for dinner, which it was, but the food was extremely pricey for what you got, and the portion size was SMALL. The seafood chowder was served in large bowl with about 1/2 a ladle of soup... terrible portion size, but tasted good. The men, after spending about $50 per person (and we were trying to be conservative by not ordering alcohol and just getting a nice meal) were still hungry. Also the service was very in-attentive... prbably because they automatically get their 15%, and we were not drinking alcohol. Probably won't go back... so many other great restaurants that will give better value and experience.