Showbiz sisters Sam and Billie Faiers were left fuming after a celebhaunt restaurant gave their table away when they arrived late for a reservation - and it has sparked a feverish debate about just how late IS acceptable to arrive for a booking.
The reality TV star sisters, who first found fame on TOWIE, opened up about the situation on their podcast, The Sam & Bille Show, deciding to "name and shame" the venue involved as luxurious restaurant Sexy Fish in London, which is planning to open its first Manchester restaurant later this year.
Pregnant Sam, 31, and Billie, 32, explained that they were out in the capital last month, to celebrate their mum Suzie's 53rd birthday and were looking forward to enjoying a meal out and overnight hotel stay, reports The Mirror. During the chat, they added that they felt the management had a "terrible attitude" when they asked for another table after sitting at the bar for nearly an hour.
READ MORE: Woman left fuming after her takeaway was 20 hours late
Sam explained: "I booked mum’s dinner on this concierge app, so we’ve walked into the restaurant and we were 15 minutes late, no, 20 minutes late, we had our reservation, got to the restaurant 20 minutes late, walked in, just the three of us."
Telling how the hostess at the door informed them their table was no longer available, Sam recalled being told: "Umm there is a 15 minute grace period, we’ve given your table away."
Pointing out that The Mummy Diaries stars were not a fan of how they were spoken to, she asked Billie: "Don't you think it was just the attitude instantly towards the three of us?"
Billie joined in: "Also, from that kind of restaurant you do not expect that kind of service. You’d expect something like ‘I’m really sorry, you're a little bit over the waiting period for your table, could you have a drink at the bar? We will try and sort something out,' it was like 'we’ve given your table away you're 5 minutes over your grace period.'"
Sam sharing how she was not aware of the timeline to arrive, added: "First of all, I was like 'sorry I didn’t know there was a grace period I booked it through a concierge company who is well very well known, you’ll know them, you have my credit card details. It was like come on, we are 5 minutes later than this grace period, that we didn’t know about."
The MEN has asked Sexy Fish for comment about the incident and the reservation policy. The company is run by Caprice Holdings, which also runs The Ivy restaurant group, and is in the midst of planning its first northern Sexy Fish restaurant at the former Armani store on Spinningfields.
Many who have read about the sisters' complaints on our sister site have had their say on the issue of arriving late for a reservation.
Commenting on the story on Facebook, Klare Urquhart said: "Restaurants are very clear now that your table will be given away if you are late.
"Maybe a courtesy call to them to advise you were on your way may have helped. Too many no shows for booked tables these days so I believe the restaurant has every right to give your table away to a walk in customer."
Pauline Jorge said: "Why shouldn't they give the table away, I had a restaurant for 25 years, and 15 mins is acceptable, not 20 mins when there are bills and staff to pay. How do they know that they will turn up! Sorry name of the game!"
Ellie Hirst added: "Isn't it common knowledge most restaurant posh or not, have a 15 minute grace period... Sounds like they think they'll be treated differently!"
Lisa Hockley said: "Maybe if they had the common courtesy to call the restaurant and let them know they were running late this would have all been avoided. As far as the 15 minute grace period goes, this is common practice, especially in London. So I would be very surprised if they didn’t know about this."
Former TOWIE star Sam also talked in the podcast about how post-covid there are no walk-in tables available in London, with Billie adding that spontaneity has gone out the window. Pregnant Sam then went on to continue the restaurant saga as she shared: "So we was like 'ok we will stand at the bar', we were there for nearly an hour.
"It was like they forgot about us!" Billie replied. Sam confirmed: "They totally forgot about us!"
The pair then said that finally, the manager spoke to them but that they "didn’t want to be helpful." Sam said: "I think as a manager of such a well known, huge establishment in London the way he dealt with the situation was terrible, bearing in mind we sat there for an hour, it was like computer says no."
Billie later added: "It was busy, there was a lot of tables being cleared but they could have squeezed us in apart from a small bar stool." Sam then outed the venue as she blurted out: "I think we should name and shame Sexy Fish."
The sisters went on to say they saved their night out by walking out - and getting a table at Park Chinois Chinese which led to them having a lovely night out by all accounts.
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