A group of customers failed to show up for afternoon tea at a small independent cafe – then VOID their credit card so the business owner had no way of recouping the £100 cost of the wasted food. Cocoa Cabana is an award winning chocolate shop with cafes in West Didsbury and Ancoats.

When someone books an afternoon tea on site, rather than taking a deposit, the owners take the credit card details to secure the booking. This is only charged if a party does not honor their booking or cancels within a reasonable time.

But the group of four failed to show up for a chocolate afternoon tea reservation at the Burton Road cafe in West Didsbury on July 14. They then ignored phone calls from cafe staff who were awaiting their arrival with the spread of cakes and sandwiches.

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The food ended up in the trash that night. But when the owner sought to recover the money from the credit card left with the reservation, she discovered that the cheeky individual had canceled it.

Afternoon chocolate teas, priced at £25, must be booked in advance as they are made specially to order. They include layers of homemade chocolate cakes, pastries and scones as well as a range of savory dishes.

Sharing the incident on social media, Cocoa Cabana boss Sarah Gallacher wrote: “We had booked a table of 4 for today, we only have 3 tables. We made their afternoon teas which we then had to throw away.

“They didn’t show up, they didn’t call, they didn’t answer our call and they canceled their card.”

Explaining more details of what happened, Sarah told MEN: “We used to take deposits but found that this deterred people from booking so we changed it to take card details instead. This explains when you book we need 48 hours to cancel otherwise you will be charged.

“But I think that’s what people are doing now, either putting in the wrong details when they book or canceling their card. We knew it was a valid card when they made the booking so we know they had to cancel it.

“It’s just the fact that you call people and they don’t answer. Most people are reasonable, and we’ve had people who had to cancel who said they’d come for afternoon tea instead because they know the costs involved in doing everything.”

Sarah added that the issue of customers canceling their cards appears to be an industry-wide problem. She said: “I’m sure a lot of hotel businesses are having issues similar to this right now.”

Sarah revealed the customers’ outrageous behavior in response to a tweet from Loose Women star Denise Welch earlier this month. The TV star shared her frustration with the amount of detail now required to make a restaurant reservation.

Denise wrote, “Do you remember the days when you could make a restaurant reservation without having to essentially give your financial history, bank details and the day your grandmother went into menopause!!! FFS.”

But many hotel companies have responded to Denise on Twitter to explain exactly WHY so much detail is now needed. This included Cocoa Cabana boss Sarah, who described the afternoon tea incident in her cafe.

Others included the owner of Tatton Perk cafe in Knustford who wrote: “Remember when the public were polite enough to honor a reservation and not throw restaurateurs with empty tables? A culture of contempt has taken hold in our country.

“Taking your details is surely a way to protect small businesses from loss.”

Lancashire’s award-winning pub Parkers Arms tweeted at Denise: “Oh the romantic notion that is. Sadly not a viable option for restaurants these days.”

While Tony Rodd wrote, “Can you go to any other hospitality/entertainment venue without paying for a ticket in advance? Theatre? Hotel? Festival? But in a restaurant you can show up and pay at the end. Leaving the card details so the restaurant is protected if you don’t show up seems pretty relaxed to me.”

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