Cancellation Policy

First Table bookings

Cancellation Policy

We understand that you can't always make your First Table booking as initially planned. Our cancellation policy is designed to encourage you to make your cancellation sooner rather than later to give restaurants enough time to secure a new First Table booking.

All refunds are processed as a credit on your First Table account for you to use on a future booking and are valid for 90 days. Cash refunds are not available.

Cancel within 60 minutes of making your reservation

Made a mistake or changed your mind? No problem. Cancel within 60 minutes of making your reservation and get a 100% refund on your booking fee as a credit on your First Table account.

Cancel any day before the date of your reservation

Cancel before the day of your reservation, and you'll get a 50% refund on your booking fee as a credit on your First Table account. Additionally, if your cancelled table is successfully rebooked by another diner, we'll automatically credit the remaining 50% back to your account.*

Cancel on the day of your reservation

No refunds are provided for cancellations made on the day of your reservation. However, if your table is successfully rebooked by another diner, we'll automatically credit 100% of your booking fee back to your First Table account.*

Our fair use policy for cancellations

At First Table, we want to make sure our users have the same odds at scoring the First Table. With this in mind, First Table users are eligible for a maximum of three refunded credits in a rolling 30 day period, in keeping with our cancellation policy rules.

* Please note: We always attempt to rebook your cancelled table; however, rebooking may not always be possible due to restrictions set within the venue's reservation system. Unfortunately, we cannot determine this in advance.

Regular Table bookings

Cancellation Policy

When you use the First Table platform to book a table at any of our partner venues, you agree that you have reviewed and agree to the terms and conditions, privacy policy, and any other rules or guidelines set out by the partner venue in addition to those of First Table.

We understand that you can't always make your Regular Table booking as initially planned. Our cancellation policy is designed to encourage you to cancel sooner rather than later to give venues enough time to manage their staff and inventory.

No-shows and late cancellations can be costly to any venue's business. Kitchen and bar staff often order more to cater for their bookings, or extra front-of-house staff are rostered on in preparation for large groups. 

As a user of our website, you agree to update a reservation online or within our app, or contact the partner venue directly if you have any changes, updates or need to cancel your booking.

Cancellations

We ask our diners to give both First Table and the venue at least 24 hours notice of any reservation cancellations or amendments to help our partners manage their staff and inventory.

If you have to cancel a reservation less than 24 hours before your booking, we ask that you also contact the venue directly, in addition to cancelling your First Table or Regular Table reservation on our platform. This ensures you won’t be erroneously marked as a no-show.

You can cancel your reservation in the First Table App, or by contacting support. 

Cancellation charges

Some of our partner venues require a credit card to secure a reservation. This is due to reasons such as the size of the group, the type of menu selected, peak season, or it’s part of the venue's cancellation policy. You will see a message on our website when you go to make a booking which indicates that either: 

1. The venue requires a credit card in order to secure a reservation;
2. The venue requires a per person deposit at the time of making a reservation (which may be non-refundable if you cancel within a certain timeframe; or 
3. That the venue reserves the right to charge a cancellation fee of a certain amount in line with their cancellation policy. Their cancellation policy could be 24 - 48 hours before a booking, or longer if your reservation is for a large group.

To confirm the payment information you have provided is accurate, we may place a temporary authorization on your card at the time you provide the information. After the card details are verified, the authorization placed by First Table will be removed, usually after a few days. 

First Table has no liability for any charges made to any credit or debit card provided resulting from a failure to cancel your reservation in accordance with the cancellation policy of either First Table or First Table’s partner venues.

If you have any questions regarding a venue's cancellation policy, it’s best to contact the venue directly first to discuss with them.

No shows

Failure to arrive at a venue within 15 minutes of the reserved time may result in the venue allocating some or all of your seats to other diners. The user who made the booking may also be recorded as a “no-show” by both the venue and First Table.

To prevent no-shows being marked against your First Table profile, please make sure that you update or cancel your reservation if your plans change in a timely manner. A no-show could be in the form of the below: 

1. Not attending your reservation: If you do not attend your reservation and you have not cancelled online or within our app,  or called the venue to cancel your reservation ahead of time, we reserve the right to mark your reservation as a no-show.
2. A venue's cancellation policy: As mentioned above, some venues may explicitly have a 24-48 hour cancellation policy, of which some may take a non-refundable deposit. If you cancel a reservation inside their cancellation policy the venue will mark a no-show against your reservation in your member profile which will go towards your overall diner rating.

If you commit three or more no-shows in any 12-month period, your First Table account will be deactivated.  If you were marked as a no-show in error, please click here to dispute it. By using the First Table platform, you agree that all final no-show decisions are made by First Table at its sole discretion.

Cancel a booking

Visit your bookings admin to cancel your bookings. Please note, cash refunds are not available, the credit will be stored on your First Table account for 90 days.