Table for two? That'll be £400 thanks to 'scalper' touts muscling in on high
Ticket touts have long been a depressing feature of rock concerts and football matches... now they're using robot technology to beat you to a table at London's top restaurants.
The touts buy up reservations then sell them on to desperate diners for eye-watering fees.
Thanks to the now widespread use of online booking platforms, fine dining spots across the capital are being block-booked by so-called 'scalpers'.
A website called Appointment Trader allows customers to bid on the bookings, where last night £403 would have secured a table for two at Notting Hill's Core by Clare Smyth on May 17, while a slot at Mayfair's Novikov would have cost £220.
Core by Clare Smyth in Notting Hill is among top restaurants where bookings are being bought up by touts to sell them online for extortionate fees
A reservation for two last night at the River Cafe was on offer for £284, and £256 would bag a May booking at Gymkhana in Mayfair.
These staggering sums only pay for the booking and often cost more than the bill itself.
The lucrative business is made possible with simple software that uses bots to scour thousands of restaurants online and book vacancies on websites such as OpenTable, Resy and Tock.
Online reservation platforms have made block-bookings easier, with touts using fake names and contact details so they can sell them on without restaurants being aware
Touts are booking as many tables as possible using fake names, email addresses and phone numbers so that they can trade the bookings for small fortunes on Appointment Trader.
Restaurants will often be completely unaware that their customers are securing tables in this manner and are powerless to stop it without resorting to telephone-only bookings, which is likely to cost them sales.
James Chiavarini, who runs Il Portico in Kensington, told The Times he found the practice 'a little bit depressing' as 'restaurants are fundamentally a human-driven business'.
Related articles
Analysis: Larson enters conversation with Verstappen as best drivers in the world
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ask almost any hardcore motorsports fan who the best driver in the world is righ2024-05-21The 15 revolutionary tiny tweaks that can turbocharge your health
When it comes to living a healthier life, the expert consensus is that small changes to daily habits2024-05-21Analysis: Kyle Larson settling in quickly as preparation continues for Indianapolis 500 debut
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Larson said all the right things after completing 43 laps around Indiana2024-05-21British woman, 38, 'is raped by 20
Police in Majorca have arrested an Italian man on suspicion of raping a British woman on a beach nea2024-05-21Brazil replaces injured goalkeeper Ederson in Copa America squad
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil coach Dorival Júnior has replaced injured goalkeeper Ederson with Sao P2024-05-21The Sky added plenty of star power in the WNBA draft with Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese
CHICAGO (AP) — Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese took South Carolina and LSU to the highest heights an2024-05-21
atest comment