My experience with restaurants is that if one is too popular, just wait a little while. Eventually the mob's attention will turn to the next heretofore-undiscovered gem, and you'll find it's much easier to finally check out the previous one.
Bot wars - The arms race of restaurant reservations in SF
161–167 of 167 posts
Re: Bot wars - The arms race of restaurant reservations in SF
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's why I stopped buying things via auctions and stick only to "buy now" solutions. Sniper bots combined with friends bumping up prices on auctions means that a typical auction is a waste of money (price bumped up) and time (you can't win with 10 sniper bots aiming for the very millisecond the auction ends). Yeah, playfield got leveled because now everybody and their dog can use snipers (hey, where's the reward fo…
>Sniper bots combined with friends bumping up prices on auctions means that a typical auction is a waste of money This doesn't make sense, really. You enter the price you're willing to pay in an auction; what everyone else bids is irrelevant to you. If you are getting outbid, it's because someone is willing to spend more money on the item, bot or not. Don't bid low trying to get a deal. Bid what you are willing to pa…
If I wanted to I could just as well buy the item in a shop. The entire point of an auction is to get a good deal.
Re: Bot wars - The arms race of restaurant reservations in SF
#163If an establishment wants to give non-techies the opportunity to attend, yet remain "accessible" to those without piles of money, there are a few solutions. 1. Don't take reservations. My favourite restaurant operates on this basis. On a Friday or Saturday night you will queue for up to an hour for a table. If you prefer to avoid peak hour, there is rarely any queue for lunch. I've eaten there over 100 times and I st…
If I can't be sure to get a table/ticket I may come, but I am not bringing a date or a friend and risking ruining our evening.
Re: Bot wars - The arms race of restaurant reservations in SF
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are some places in D.C. that require a credit card to make a reservation and charge for no-shows and people are FURIOUS about it.
On the flip side, I made my first reservation through opentable a few weeks ago, and I was surprised when they DIDN'T ask for any cc info. Granted I was new to the experience, but the first thing that crossed my mind was I could not show up and it wouldn't be a big deal. Feel like if they market this move a little better, they could convince their loyal customers that this will allow them a better chance at getting r…
Only very popular restaurants require a CC on OpenTable. One of the nice things about OT is that it's very easy to cancel (one click) which I suspect also helps restaurants maximize their yield, since they don't have to keep a table open for a reservation that never shows up. Taking a CC may discourage some people from making a reservation so if you're not already at capacity, it may not be a good play.
Re: Bot wars - The arms race of restaurant reservations in SF
#165The website is unreadable on a mobile device. I can't zoom out.
It's a truth universally acknowledged, that a restaurant in possession of a good name, must be in want of a good web designer.
Re: Bot wars - The arms race of restaurant reservations in SF
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the flip side, I made my first reservation through opentable a few weeks ago, and I was surprised when they DIDN'T ask for any cc info. Granted I was new to the experience, but the first thing that crossed my mind was I could not show up and it wouldn't be a big deal. Feel like if they market this move a little better, they could convince their loyal customers that this will allow them a better chance at getting r…
Only very popular restaurants require a CC on OpenTable. One of the nice things about OT is that it's very easy to cancel (one click) which I suspect also helps restaurants maximize their yield, since they don't have to keep a table open for a reservation that never shows up. Taking a CC may discourage some people from making a reservation so if you're not already at capacity, it may not be a good play.
Sounds logical that only very popular restaurants would require a CC. Me having to take out my credit card is probably a friction most restaurants want to avoid.
Re: Bot wars - The arms race of restaurant reservations in SF
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you ban bots with out implementing an arcane, clunky, painful, expensive manual system? PS: your answer isn't allowed to be captcha.
You don't. I'd much rather suffer through a captcha than have the tickets/reservations sell out in seconds.
Perhaps the reason your answer is not allowed to be "captcha" is that there are numerous services that provide manual captcha answers for bots.