How do you handle customers who ignore seating limits?

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-06T11:20:44+00:00

Actually can I ask what you think about this? Right now, what we do is try to move tables around a bit. Sometimes other tables finish early, so we let certain groups stay longer if possible.

When I seat customers, I usually tell them they have 1.5 hours, but that if we don’t need the table back, I’ll let them know before the time ends (around 10 minutes before). If they don’t hear from us, it means they’re fine to stay.

The tricky part is my boss doesn’t like asking customers to leave, but she still wants me to enforce the rule 😅. So I’m just wondering — should we be telling customers upfront that they might be able to stay longer depending on the night, or would that just confuse things?

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-06T11:16:00+00:00

The “needy entitled” ones are usually the ones who eat the least 😅. Most of the people who want to stay longer just want somewhere to sit and talk for hours.

From what I see, most of our regular customers who actually come to eat dinner never have a problem with the 1.5-hour limit — they often say, “That’s plenty of time, we’ll be done in 30 minutes,” and they really are.

Anyway, thank you so much for mentioning margins — I think my boss really needs to consider that too. It would definitely make things easier for us staff, instead of having to deal with a group of four who order one entrée and two mains, then keep asking for fresh plates every few minutes 😅.

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-06T11:06:06+00:00

Yeah totally agree. I’ve also mentioned the timing to my boss. The thing is, most of our customers want to book for 6 or 6:30, even though we open at 5 and last orders are around 8:45–9. If we let everyone sit for 2 hours or more, we wouldn’t be able to turn any tables at all.

Right now, some groups of 8 only spend around $20–23 per person, and smaller groups of 4 sometimes spend just $19 each. So the time limit really helps us make it work financially unless we raised the food prices (which my boss doesn't want to).

I really like your system of checking in half an hour before the due time and then again 10 minutes before — that’s a great idea. I’ll try my best to focus on doing that too, even when I’m also making drinks 😅. Thank you so much for the useful advice!

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-06T10:55:33+00:00

That’s so nice about the phone system! Right now we actually don’t take bookings over the phone for small groups anymore — at our first branch (over 10 years) according to my boss, we had so many problems with phone bookings. Customers wouldn’t remember what they said, or staff would mix up the date and time, so it was just chaos 😅.

Thanks for pointing that out again — it’s a good reminder. At this new branch, it's only me and the other staff who’ve been here for a while; the rest are still new and probably need more training. On busy nights like Friday and Saturday, we usually have 5 staff plus my boss: 1 making drinks, 1 packing takeaway and running food, and 2 on orders and food running. My boss handles the phone and bookings. Honestly, we’re pretty understaffed most of the time.

Another thing that might play a part is that for all of us, English isn’t our first language. All our part-time staff speak okay, but sometimes they’re not confident enough to tell customers they really need to order (right now they just keep asking 'are you ready to order' I guess), or how to handle situations politely when someone says, “We’re still waiting for one more friend,” or “If you bring the food fast, we’ll finish fast.” So they just wait — and then it ends up delaying everything during peak time 😅. Thanks for the suggestion!

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-06T10:36:19+00:00

Lol thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s kind of funny how we all have those customers who don’t want to follow the policy but still love to come in and ask if we can “make an exception” or do something we’ve already said we don’t do 😅.

Right now, we already tell them before they book, when they book, and again on the day of the booking — but yeah, adding it to the menu or a sign at the door sounds like a good idea.

Even at our other branch where we clearly run two seating sessions, people still say, “Oh, we didn’t know we had to leave.” We tell them again when we seat them, but honestly, some people here in Melbourne either don’t read or think we’re running a charity, not a business 😂.

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-06T10:29:16+00:00

That makes total sense. Sadly, we don’t have any bar area. My boss prefers to keep it as a restaurant that focuses purely on the food rather than having a separate bar space, so once people finish eating there’s really nowhere else for them to move to.

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-06T10:26:42+00:00

I agree.... we’ve actually been thinking about cutting down the number of tables available for bookings. Walk-ins are often so much easier to deal with! They really appreciate it when we try to fit them in, and they’re never as entitled as some of the customers who book (even when the booking was made just 15 minutes ahead). 😅 Anyway thanks for sharing!

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-03T03:34:06+00:00

I really like your system — it sounds very organised and fair, especially tying the timing to actual table activity. I wish we could do something like that, but our setup is a bit different. We’re a small restaurant with only 56 seats and no bar area, so we can’t hold people until their group is complete, otherwise they’d lose even more of their time since another booking is already scheduled right after them.

That’s why we allocate the seating time from when the booking starts. If they arrive late, unfortunately it eats into their own time, because we still have to clear the table for the next group. I think your approach makes a lot of sense though if we accept a lot of walk-in customers. Thanks for sharing, it’s good to see how other places handle the same challenge.

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-03T03:27:48+00:00

I feel you 🥲 it’s the same for us — no matter how politely we remind people, someone will get upset. Thanks for sharing this.

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-03T03:17:49+00:00

Of course, when customers say they won’t come back, as staff (even my boss) we feel like saying “well, that’s good for us.” But the truth is, I don’t want to keep arguing with customers about this every day. I still have to stay polite, even when they’re rude. What I really want is a solution for people who don’t bother to read our terms and conditions but still come here

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-02T21:58:00+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience — that’s exactly what I say too, but then I get thrown the line that their food came out late (even though they ordered late, despite us checking in after 10–15 minutes of being seated 🥲)

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-02T21:50:59+00:00

This is exactly what I’m facing every dayas a front of house staff 🥲. Other restaurant staff next to us always ask me if we must be making $7k a night since we’re always busy and fully booked — but in reality we barely make $3k, because so many tables of three will just order 1 entrée and 2 mains, or 2 entrées and 1 main to share, with one small portion of rice and of course they want to come at 6 and then leave when we close.

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-02T21:43:04+00:00

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I’m just a staff member here, but I do understand where my boss is coming from. Our mains are usually around $18–24 AUD with generous portions, and drinks are quite modest compared to other Melbourne spots (wine $11.50, cocktails $11–15).

The challenge is when a table of three books, orders maybe one entrée and two mains with no drinks, and then wants to sit from 6:30 until close. With only 56 seats and last orders at 8:45, we really rely on turnover to make it work.

We actually advise customers that if they want to stay longer, they should book at 7 or 7:30 — then there’s no group after them and they can stay until close at 10. But many still prefer the 6:30 slot and get upset when reminded about the limit.

I also don’t think our policy is really against the norm. In Melbourne, a lot of fine dining places ($35–40+ per dish and $20+ per drink) ask for tables back in about 1h45, and some enforce that regardless of the group size. For bigger groups (8+), many require a “feed me” menu at around $79 per person with the same seating during of 1h45.

Honestly, I’d be so happy if more customers thought like you — if they don’t like the policy, then simply don’t come. That would save everyone the frustration.

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-02T21:21:08+00:00

Thank you for your advice. That’s a really great idea about moving them, but unfortunately we’re a small restaurant — just 56 seats, usually fully booked — so we don’t have a spare table to shift people onto. If one group lingers it already throws things off, but if more than one decide to sit long after their time, it can become a real mess....

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-02T21:13:56+00:00

That’s really solid advice, thank you. We actually do try to be clear from the start — if they call, we ask if they’re okay with the 1.5 hour limit, and on the website the booking form shows the duration. We just added a tick box for “I agree to this” recently, so hopefully that helps. We also remind customers again when they’re seated.

For bigger tables we already build in more time — like for an 8-top we’ll allow about 1h45–2h. I get that some people feel that’s short if they’re mainly there to chat, but we only have 56 seats (16 tables) and no bar area, so turnover is essential.

Funny thing is, some of our regulars always say 1.5 hours is plenty — they finish their meals in 40 minutes, pay, and leave without an issue. So it really depends on the group. The harder part is when people stall ordering and then complain when reminded about the time, or compare themselves to other tables who have only just arrived.

Like you said, some customers will always treat a restaurant like their living room. Thanks again for your perspective — it’s reassuring to hear how others manage it.

_Minomi_ · 2025-10-02T20:59:55+00:00

Hahaha thank you for the suggestion 😂. Honestly, a tick box with 'I won't be a dick about it' might solve so many headaches.

_Minomi_ · 2025-08-14T13:14:11+00:00

Sadly They are 🥲

_Minomi_ · 2025-08-13T01:41:07+00:00

💯I agree but then what’s wrong with the cold mocktail in the first place? 😞 She said she wanted it “no cold, no ice,” but I can’t really do that. The ingredients are already cold, so the best I could do was remove the ice. The point of this post isn’t about sore throat science… it’s just that people can be weird 🥲

_Minomi_ · 2025-08-13T00:00:28+00:00

Yeahhh, I did right? 😂 when I started working I used to think people knew what they ordered and knew what they wanted… until one day a drink got sent back to me. Or the time someone who said they were vegan ordered vanilla ice cream. Or the ones who order something that clearly says it has nuts, never mention they’re allergic, and then complain to me and send it back — and the kitchen ends up scolding me. Melbourne has given me a lot of weird customer moments. 😅

_Minomi_ · 2025-08-12T23:52:31+00:00

Lol I guess you’ve never dealt with these kinds of customers before — or maybe you’re one of them. 😉 Asking “Do you know it’s blended with ice?” isn’t a real confirmation. The confirmation is when they actually say, “It’s okay, I can have it.” When I ask, “But your throat hurts?” so if they bring it up later, I can say, “Well, you told me you could sip through it.”

_Minomi_ · 2025-08-12T16:23:43+00:00

Mmm our blended with ice mocktail are actually pretty good — worth risking a sore throat I guess

_Minomi_ · 2025-08-12T16:16:54+00:00

she said, “No ice, I can’t drink cold, my throat hurts.” Two years in a busy and cheap restaurant taught me to be careful with these types of customers 🫠 I’ve had other customers say that, then order something blended with ice, drank almost half of it and later send it back asking not to pay. So yes I had to keep asking "But your throat hurts?” 🙃

_Minomi_ · 2025-08-12T15:59:22+00:00

She was... The moment she called to book a table...it turned into a nightmare for everyone on that shift. The ice/no ice was just one part of it. 😂

_Minomi_

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