I use the restaurant reservation service OpenTable when I want to go out to eat. I find it to be an easy and pleasant tool. The mobile app is excellent and the  restaurant selections include most places I would want to eat plus it leaves rooms for discovery. Everything is collected in one place. This is what I want in an experience and as a consumer of eating out.

Early this week I was unable to make one of my reservations, so I went to the site to change the date. I was still planning on going to the restaurant, I just wasn’t going to be able to make it that night. I went to the OpenTable web site and THOUGHT I changed the reservation. I got an email after the fact saying I was a no show.

Receiving a ‘no show’ email was fine. However, from my perspective, I was not a no show. I merely changed my reservation date. So I went back to the site and made a new reservation for the new date. I thought I was done but then I received a second email:

The issues here:

• I’m told I’ve done something wrong when I didn’t. (It was actually a glitch in the web site.)
• The email subject line says ‘Inquiry’ but I have no way to respond.
• The restaurant seems to want to know WHY but doesn’t give me any way to communicate with them via the service.
• I’m being warned that I better not do it again or I won’t get to be an OpenTable member anymore.
• Now I’m irritated with BOTH the service and the restaurant.

The service accused me of bad behavior and is scolding me. I’m not sure what they want to come from this kind of communication. It doesn’t seem to help any of the parties involved.