Fake Reservations At Chicago Restaurants Blamed On App Staffer

CHICAGO, IL — A "rogue" employee for the restaurant reservation app OpenTable is being blamed for hundreds of false reservations at 45 Chicago restaurants in recent months, the company revealed this week. In an open apology on the app's website Monday, OpenTable CEO Christa Quarles said the staffer used a competitor's platform to make the fake reservations.

"We quickly investigated, confirmed this employee had acted alone and terminated the employee within 48 hours," she wrote, adding that the individual wasn't a manager and didn't work in sales.

The affected restaurants were informed of the phony reservations last week, Quarles said. The San Francisco-based company intends to reimburse those businesses for any lost revenue caused by the employee's actions, she added.

"This behavior goes against everything we stand for," wrote Quarles, who said the company is committed to raising awareness of the detrimental effect no-shows have on restaurants. "Our culture and values at OpenTable are founded on the principle of integrity, and that absolutely encompasses how we embrace competition in the marketplace. The only reason we exist is to help restaurants grow. When they succeed, we succeed. "

But some of the Chicago restaurateurs affected by the sabatoge aren't convinced by OpenTable's explanation. Tavern of the Park's Peter de Castro told the Chicago Sun-Times that he believes the scam was connected to his restaurant's decision over the summer to begin using another reservation app, Reserve, instead of OpenTable. Although she doesn't clearly state it in her written apology, Quarles does imply that Reserve was the competing app the ex-employee had used to make the bogus reservations.

"What incentive did this 'rogue' employee have?" de Castro said. "He wasn't in sales, he didn't get bonuses. It just doesn't make sense that this employee would do this out of spite."

The restaurant in the Loop noticed an increase in no-shows in December and during Valentine's Day, the Sun-Times reports. While he didn't have an exact dollar amount on lost revenue, de Castro said business decreased 5 percent in December and 2 percent in February, the report added.

He said wait staff and other employees who work on tips are the people hurt most by the fake reservations, the report stated. De Castro said he would like to talk to the "rogue" ex-employee — someone OpenTable has not identified — to learn the reasons behind running the scam, the report added.

Go to OpenTable's website to read CEO Christa Quarles' full open apology.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times

Image via OpenTable