According to Fitzpatrick, no-show rates across the restaurant industry often exceed 20%, so restaurants tend to overbook reservations to account for the dropoff. He says it’s common for diners to make multiple reservations at different restaurants for one night because there aren’t any repercussions for no-shows, but it leaves other diners stuck at the bar waiting for a table to open up.
Tock requires diners to make a deposit when making a reservation to ensure they show up. According to Fitzpatrick, restaurants on Tock have reduced no-shows to less than 1%.
“It’s a common practice to make multiple reservations for the same night. Because there are no repercussions for no-showing a reservation, squatters often make multiple reservations for the same night and only show up to one. Tock solves this scenario. The industry term for people that do this sort of thing is ’dirtbag,’ said Fitzpatrick via email.