On multiple occasions, I have walked into an empty business (restaurant, nail salon, etc.) and been asked if I had a reservation, as though I would need one.
One time, when visiting my brother at his college, he and I went out to dinner. We went to eat at 5:00 (the same time most octogenarians do), so the restaurant was completely deserted. When we arrived, the host asked us if we had a reservation. When we said no, he huffed, and scrutinized his seating chart as if to find a place to put us (despite the fact that there were over forty empty tables in eyesight).
Recently, I went into a nice (albeit empty) waxing salon on a weekday afternoon.
I walked in at 1:21 PM.
"Do you have a reservation?"
--"Sorry, no"
"Ok, let me check the next available appointment. How is 1:30?"
--"That's fine!"
They take down my contact information, which lasted until 1:24 PM.
At 1:25 PM, the girl came out to get me.
I couldn't believe that they went through a whole show of telling me I would have to wait 9 minutes (the horror!) when in fact it turned out to be less than one minute of waiting time.
I believe that businesses play this reservation game because it promotes exclusivity and desire (see previous post on FOMO), but really, it just makes them look pretty ridiculous.
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