SC - paid reservations?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Mark Harris wrote:

> Here in central Ansteorra, reservations have been practically unheard of
> until recently. When I have tried to bring up the advantages of paid
> reservations, I have been shouted down real quick even for feasts as
> good and as period as Baroness Clarissa's. As it is, since no money is
> required, I think the current reservations are not much better than
> none at all, although they do give you a very rough estimate of the
> number who will be attending.

Bingo. On the other hand, if it were me, I wouldn't want it known and
widely circulated that I have a habit of making reservations and then
blowing them off, thereby inconveniencing  the stewards, cooks, etc., of
the events without which the society can't function. Among honorable
people, the honor system works rather well, in general. Dishonorable (or
at least really discourteous) people tend to be socially ostracized.
 
> What is it like in other regions/kingdoms? Do you do reservations?
> Paid or unpaid? How do you handle cancelations or refunds?

In the East, it is traditional to ask that pre-paid reservations be
made. Usually they are, and while you can just show up, you run the risk
of discovering that the friends with whom you had planned to dine all
have pre-paid reservations in, and that the on-board space is all sold
out. Some people are not bothered by this, of course, since they either
don't mind missing the feast, or they regard this as an acceptable risk,
given that they sometimes don't know what events they will be attending
until the day of the event.

When the reservations list begins to look full, the event steward or
autocrat usually begins to contact a couple of people he has reason to
believe will have to attend the event. A phone call will be made, that
goes something like, "Sir So-and-so, I understand you will be taking
Lord Such-and-such as your squire at The Everyman Generic Event next
week, but I see you have no reservation in--would you like me to hold a
space for you?"

Obviously this type of thing needs to be done discreetly and minimally.
Usually I reserve a space for myself, even when I know I won't have
chance to sit and eat. I also will usually make a couple of reservations
for Lord John, and Lady Jane, Doe, when running an event. This comes in
handy when you get the call the night before the event from the foreign
Royalty who planned to visit, but forgot to mention to you that they are
coming to your event.

If there are cancellations, or no-shows, or if no unexpected foreign
Royalty shows up, then there is often a waiting list who will be happy
to use those spaces.

Part and parcel of the reservations question is the issue of
cancellations. Ideally they should be made in advance, as far in advance
as possible, in fact. However, in an imperfect but all too real world,
they are sometimes made on the morning of the event. Frequently someone
will show up at the check-in and say that their friend, Lord or Lady
Stickinthemud, will be unable to attend, and the porter, troll, etc.,
should please feel free to sell that seat elsewhere. Sometimes event
staff will allow reservations to be transferrable, in a case where a
group has made a reservation for several people, have a cancellation,
and then wish to invite someone else in place of the person who couldn't
make it. One might argue that the people on a waiting list should have
right of first refusal in such cases. Sometimes they do, sometimes not.

Refunds for people who have cancelled are usually only given if the
reserved space can be sold to someone else. For example, if you have a
waiting list, and the people on the list ask at the troll booth if there
have been any cancellations, and they are told that there haven't been,
but that eight or ten people with reservations haven't checked in,
either, then the possibility exists that the people on the list will
decide to go to a diner en masse. The event could then end up with
several empty spaces, for which the food, etc., has already been bought
and paid for. The host group will lose that money if refunds are given
on these spaces, and generally won't go crazy trying to track these
people down to give them their refunds, unless they are specifically
requested. Most people with unused, paid reservations, won't even bother
to ask for a refund unless they have cancelled well in advance, unless
it represents a serious financial harship. On some occasions I simply
haven't deposited checks from those people who cancelled in advance, but
I don't think I've ever been asked for a refund by someone who cancelled
at the last minute, whatever the reason.

Favorite excuse for missing an event, BTW: "My dog ate my Pikestaff, so
I didn't have directions, and everybody I knew who might have the
directions, had already left for the event." From a non-dog-owner,
naturally.

Adamantius   
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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