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We dined recently at Gerards in Leihana, Maui.
What a disappointment! This was supposed to be an upmarket French restaurant and it was very expensive.
The waiter did not bother to introduce himself and when asked could we just start with the first course he said no we needed to commit to everything because some of the dishes took over an hour to cook.
This was not evident as the meal progressed -most of our food was pre cooked or out of a can -it was no more French than I am.
The restaurant had once been quite stately but was decidedly jaded and the whole atmosphere and ambiance was stuck in the 1960's. Gerard is stuck in a time warp but suffering from delusions of grandeur -we love dining out but this was the worst meal we have had in Hawaii and we visit Hawaii from New Zealand every year -so Gerards get a grip your restaurant and pricing is daylight robbery quite frankly you are not cool!
Judi Davidson
My wife, myself and two close friends went to Mahoganys Resturant for dinner Saturday evening. Our friends have eaten there numerous times and didn't know where the negative comments were coming from. My wife and I are new to the Cincinnati area and they suggested that we try Mohoganys Resturant and being a big fan of Opentable we read some of the comments. We were seated as soon as we arrived and the wait staff was right there. Within 23 minutes upon our arrival we were eating good food.( We had the rib, catfish and salmon dinners + deserts). Give them a second look and see if you aren't pleasantly
They are not a reliable source. Don't waste your time. My reservations for Father's day lunch weren't honored. Why bother with sending emails with "fake" confirmation numbers?! Never again!
The site is frequently down, that is, you can't use it to make reservations because it is so slow (mobile). Sometimes I have found that it lists only a few restaurants despite the fact that there are many available. Today in listing "Neighborhoods" to search by, it did not list a popular neighborhood in Boston, yet in searching by "Name" many restaurants were available for that date and time in that "missing neighborhood." The last year or so, with updates, etc. Open Table's mobile site has gone from friendly and usable to unreliable and inaccurate. Owners, restauranteurs, are you listening? If you are, let us know that you are. And find some better software engineers.
We had a reservation at NOLA Restaurant in Los Angeles, this evening, via Open Table. Just before heading out, we called to confirm their address. It was no longer Nola. Nola had closed. It it now the Bourbon Supper Club & Burlesque!
Just before going out the door, we called another restaurant and made a quick reservation. There was no time to cancel our reservation at the restaurant that no longer exists.
Now watch. Tomorrow, we'll receive one of the scolding emails they are famous for, demanding that we explain why we were a "no show:, threatening a "red check" if our explanation is insufficient!
Where the $#*! was Open Table when this restaurant CLOSED and re-opened as another, knowing that we had an upcoming reservation? These people are ridiculous and this service totally sucks!
I want compensation for our inconvenience!
Recently after years of booking reservations through OpenTable, our account was no longer a registered account. When we contacted OpenTable customer service we were told repeatedly that we were NEVER registered under our email. Having spent years in high tech, it a bit more difficult to fool my husband by trying to convince him that he really never made all of those reservations with the account and password that he has saved in his own computer password files. DO NOT give them your CC number to hold a reservation. Clearly they do not take their computer systems and clients seriously.
They draw you in with promises of "points," which have expiration dates. The so-called 1000-pt tables are routinely not available for any date or time you enter. They also make the search for such confusing. There is NO website contact information readily available. The entire experience just makes me NOT want to visit any restaurants listed. I jogged over to StubHub and was extremely happy with my experience there. Able to quickly and easily log in and order a food delivery from a local Mexican restaurant. Also got $5 off my order.
Very useful site. Have used it many times for reservations, particularly some of the busier, better places around. Never had an issue with a missed reservation or a "misunderstanding" on the part of the restaurant.
I have 4300 points on OpenTable and all of a sudden my account disappears? I ditched one reservation that is it and they close my account crazy!
I tried many times to book a reservation at Per Se with opentable. Everytime I made a reservation, opentable came back with 'no table available' even at the time showed up by opentable. To make it simple and easy, why opentable just tell people when any table will be available, instead of trying a million times and each time has no table.
Love the service of OpenTable. So easy to make reservations and get points in return. My only issue is that the latest mobile version is not quite as good as it used to be... it is a little harder to search for restaurants.
Open Table is sooooo convenient! It helps us make our restaurant selecting and reservations much simpler, and it has a huge list of great restaurants in our area, as compared to other sites that only have a few on their list. Plus, online reservations are so much quicker and easier than calling a loud restaurant where you can barely hear the person, or being put on hold forever!
On my very first ever visit to OpenTable, I attempted to book reservations at several high end New Orleans eateries: the restaurant was booked solid for that date; there were no tables for the time I specified; the restaurant's computer was down; etc.
I took me less than 10 minutes of that nonsense to pick up the phone and call each restaurant. Within 20 minutes I had booked with each restaurant on the date and at the time that I wanted.
That was my last experience with OpenTable. Over and done.
I have used this site about 5 times to make reservations. 4 of the 5 I had no problems with. The problem with one of my reservations (tho its a small problem) was saying the restraunt was booked when it wasn't. I was trying to make last minute mother's day brunch reservations because of a last minute change in plans. I had to wait until 2pm to get in anywhere. We get to the restraunt and the place almost looked deserted. Granted we were in a different state in a town I had never been in and I looked up reviews to this place and it sounded nice. The food was fantastic but we wanted like 10-11am which I could have gotten if I would have booked through the restraunt. As far as points? Had no idea they even did that!
I like this website. Have used to book dates and has worked great.
The site sucks. They steal from you literally. Those points are a lie. They conveniently don't award them or wait until too much time has elapsed to then say you are past the 14 days required to make an inquiry. They don't respond and have awful customer service. Avoid them. There are new entrants like urban spoon and seatme now available.
I hate this website. It's such a waste of time. They always block reservations from 6pm to 8pm, only to find out the restaurant isn't even booked up. Often, there are plenty of tables open but I guess restaurants want to leave the busiest times open for walk ins. I get that restaurants don't want to have to reserve tables for people who won't show up, but why does me calling you vs. submitting an online request make me more of a reliable customer? I don't get it.
While I have not faced roblems with reservations, I have just experienced an even bigger scam: they just don't send you the reward cheques! That happened twice to me within two years, so about $200 gone. Their argument: they are not responsible when a cheque gets lost in the mail. Ridiculous. They can easily make the cheque payable to the account holder or to a person who gets it as a present.
I have used opentable quite a bit and have been generally happy with the service provided. I often find that opentable tells me no tables are open, but can call the restaurant and get a table anyway - so I am not sure it is really that great, all things considered.
I recently had an experience which has made me vow not to use opentable ever again. I live in New York City and "missed" a reservation the night the storm hit. Opentable sent me an obnoxious email asking what happened and threatening to cancel my account if the behaviour continued. I couldn't have been more offended - the worst storm potentially ever to hit the East Coast hit New York and I was being dinged and threatened because I didn't show up at a restaurant.
Further, Opentable doesn't even have a "contact us" section of their website with a phone number or even an email address. The company is clearly not about the consumer - it is about making money. I won't use a company like this ever again.
I recently had a horrible experience at a restaurant which was decided upon reviewing some of the OpenTable reviews. As a VIP member of OpenTable and upon my disappointing review of the restaurant - OpenTable refused to publish my review. I would never trust their ratings again as there are strong ties between owners who choose to use this site for reservations and OpenTable. I will never rely on this site for a final decision in making a decision again!
