With the OPP advising motorists not to travel at various times last Friday, Laurie Soper says she couldn’t believe what she was hearing when she tried to cancel a reservation at Restaurant Sainte-Marie.
Soper and Kelly-May Vallee wanted to celebrate their friend Karen Lacroix’s 65th birthday in style.
When discussing how they turn a fun meal out into a very special occasion, they settled on the restaurant’s hut-like domes to enjoy a unique experience.
Soper says she called at before noon to say they wouldn’t be able to make it to the restaurant given road conditions and a less than favourable weather forecast. She says she initially was speaking with a woman, but once she mentioned the word ‘cancellation’, she was transferred to a man, whose name she couldn’t recall.
“He said ‘I’m sorry you won’t be getting a refund,’” Soper says. “I was told it’s like having Leafs tickets. He had no compassion or grace."
In fact, some local establishments and entertainment facilities opted to close due to Friday’s massive storm that led to dozens of accidents, including a major pileup on Highway 11 and three deaths on area roads over a 24-hour period.
On its website for the ‘Dining under the Stars’ experience, the restaurant outlines that all sales are final and non-transferable with guests charged $60 per adult with the amount due at time of booking.
Adds Soper: “I did know it was non-refundable, but I thought they would consider the extenuating circumstances. Roads were closing."
Soper says she also wonders about the restaurant's logic in adhering so closely to the cancellation policy during a major weather event, especially in an area with a relatively small population.
She says it isn't her intention to "trash" the restaurant, but wants the community to be aware of its decision not to offer refunds during an unpredictable Canadian winter.
"It's disappointing," says Soper, who works part-time at the Villa Care Centre in Midland and had suggested to a couple of residents that they could all try out the Sainte-Marie dining experience at a later date.
"I won't be going there now."
But Chris Grant, who runs the restaurant with his wife Tammie, says the dining experience is closer to an event than a regular restaurant meal due to its limited seating and the fact it's a seasonal offering.
"We warn people three times on the phone," Grant says of how it's stressed repeatedly that the reservations are not refundable or transferable to another time or date.
"It is Canada and weather does happen. It's like any ticketed event. We do have that policy and we try to stick to that; otherwise it'd be a big stink all the time."
As an example, Grant says somebody buying tickets for a play or sporting event in Toronto can't expect a refund if they have difficulty getting to the venue.
He says other places offering similar experiences like Hockley Valley Resort or JW Marriott in Rosseau charge close to $160 per person and again that fee is non-refundable.
"We have the reservation policy simply to make people come and show up," he says, noting that even for a larger group, the restaurant only charges a fee for two people to cover the cost of diesel needed for generators used to heat and light the domes as well as staff wages.
"So if you don't show up, all that stuff is covered. We don't have that in the restaurant. In the restaurant, if you don't show up, you don't show up. There's no extra things to do."
However, Grant says they allow guests who find they cannot attend for whatever reason can pass their reservation along to friends or relatives.
"She (Soper) called at 11 a.m. and had a 4 p.m. slot," says Grant, noting that meant they wouldn't be able to fill the vacancy with other diners and points out that Soper did receive a refund.
"If we had had to close, it would have been a full refund for everyone."
Soper, however, says she has yet to receive any kind of refund.
On this particular Friday night, Grant notes that they still had 57 people who dined in the domes, adding that the OPP warnings about dangerous driving conditions "did drop off" at about 3 p.m. So far this week, they've welcomed 320 diners to the domes.
But Vallee says she too was taken aback by the strict enforcement of the policy.
“The friend whose birthday it is lives out in Lafontaine,” she says. “We were unable to move our reservation, we had to cancel and we lost the money that had to be prepaid for this reservation.
“I will be thinking twice or not at all to reserve at this establishment.”
But another local diner had a decidedly different experience.
Linda Lewis says the Library Restaurant called her to say they would be cancelling reservations for Friday evening due to the weather.
“The owner had called Friday afternoon to say they were closing the restaurant due to bad weather and we could choose to be reimbursed or choose another night,” Lewis says.
Adds Soper: "That's the kind of customer service you would expect."