There was once a time when you had to call a restaurant on the phone to book a reservation.
You might spend five minutes going through the whole process only to be told no tables were available.
The internet and apps like Resy made all of this much more simple.
Photo: Gisela Schober (Getty Images)
Then the bots came…
In New York City, landing a reservation at a hot new restaurant has become a nightmare.
Think of it as Stubhub for restaurants.
Hopefully, this mess is now coming to an end.
Earlier this month, New York legislators passed theRestaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act.
I understand if this sounds like a problem for rich people.
In many cases, it is.
Still, I believe most people like to treat themselves to a fancy dinner on a birthday or anniversary.
Its all part of a societal ill thats making our overall culture exclusive to the highest bidder.
In fact, this situation appears to have harmed restaurants.
Meanwhile, it will lose as many as 100 reservations to bot-driven cancellations and no shows.
About a year ago, we had to bring in two extra reservationists, Zhou said.
Its their job to audit the books every day and fill them with legit reservations.
Bloombergs report argues that NYCs hottest dining reservations will stay impossible to score.
The idea is that supply and demand are phantom forces that do not care about your mortal regulations.
No law ever eliminates a problem entirely.
He admitted that if the law passes, hell probably stop doing it.
Until then, I wouldnt say theres a reason for me to stop, he said.
Why dont we have laws guaranteeing our rights to privacy or data portability?
Why cant we ban planned obsolescence or dark patterns?
Well, this stuff just doesnt annoy rich people, I guess.
We just have to try.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
