OpenTable made your points worth less and harder to use – while imposing new expiration rules – earlier this year. That’s after devaluing their awards program three years ago.
Now 777 global mile hound points out to me another way OpenTable avoids rewarding you for your bookings through their website. There’s now a box you have to check to earn points. If you make your reservation and fail to check the box, no points. You think you’re getting your (much devalued) rewards points, but you won’t.
Oddly the same opt-in is not required when making a reservation through their mobile app. (Update: reportedly it’s required via the mobile app, too.)
My wife tells me the change to their website has been in place for at least a month. Fortunately I simply hadn’t used OpenTable rather than having missed the box, made reservations, and forfeited points. But this change seems pretty unsporting to me when their best customers are used to using the site a certain way, continue using it out of habit expecting one result, and they haven’t proactively informed customers of the change.
When I make my bookings I can no longer scroll down to the submit button and click it. I have to check a box, something I used to ignore because that was about opt-in marketing I had no interest in.
Yeah, this is becoming more commonplace. A lot of restaurants are NO longer using opentable.
Exactly. Why would a restaurant pay OpenTable when they can use Resy or their own online reservation system for much more cheaper? They are a lot cheaper because they are not paying the customer anything. Take advantage of Open Table while it exists. I started using Open Table early on, and while I don’t get as much out of it as I used to, I get a lot more out of it then Resy.
Does any other online reservation system provide a reward for using them? I just see this as a convenient service – if I get something for it, great. If not, I saved time by booking online/using the app and that’s perfectly fine with me.
In Canada this program Is a fraud. They take forever to send you a redemption voucher (nope,no plastic!). Restaurants in the program rarely accept these vouchers (although they accept the benefits of being listed on their site). And on top of that, they would take your points away without having the courtesy to give you a notice. In my book, this is called a scam.
i use it for convenience but their $10 reward after 2000 points they sent me conveniently doesn’t work and they conveniently cannot answer emails because they are conveniently too busy. I know its only $10 and barely worth emailing them but it smells like a scam or a fake so it is aggravating. open table is a convenience but don’t count on the reward working
I was scammed out of 10,000 points I earned on open table …I redeemed my points and Open Table sent A confirmation stating my points are redeemed . I have no gift card, certificate or confirmation number from open table, they will not answer my emails . simply say they are too busy,
The opt in button is just a pathetic and desperate maneuver. I only use the app when I travel now because their business practices have become so unscrupulous! Used to be my go to solution for reservations!
I just noticed this button on a recent reservation and then realized I’ve been stalled at the same reward point level for quite some time. Now I know why. What shady, unethical business practices. If they really wanted us to see this they’d add a “Are you sure you don’t want points for this reservation?” dialogue for those who fail to see / check this required box. If you’re gonna be a service that claims to offer points don’t be misleading and deceptive in awarding them.
I don’t even bother collecting the points anymore. The fact is restaurants are using a variety of these online reservation companies (Resy seeming to be very popular) and as far as I know Open Table is the only one that provides points. It was a gimmick back when they were the only online reservation company to get people to use it. They should just discontinue the awards program since most people don’t choose a restaurant based on what reservation system they use. I use whatever reservation system the restaurant I want to go to uses.