Better Keep That Reservation

There appears to be a trend in restaurants to add a little punishment to their customer experience, in the form of penalties of up to $75 if your party doesn't show up for its reservation. The customer performance angle on this is, of course, preventing no-shows, which in the restaurant trade can run up to 20% of reservations taken. It's a method similar to what doctors and dentists do these days. See the WSJ 3/14/12, D1.