Verbal abuse and threatening behaviour is now so common, they say, that waiters and waitresses have handed in their notices because of the way they are treated by customers.
And they have warned that restaurants may be forced to make customers pay for their meals upfront because of the number of people who book but do not turn up, cancel at the last minute or arrive late.
Restaurateurs are today calling on Islanders to show a little respect to their staff, especially when they are out celebrating Christmas with work colleagues or friends.
Gerald Fletcher, the head of the Jersey Hospitality Association, said: ‘Some people will book three restaurants on a Friday night and cancel two of them at the last minute. The restaurants can’t then fill the tables because they have already turned people away. It’s only natural that a business should take precaution against that type of behaviour.
‘In the UK, there’s often a credit-card booking in advance with people having to make a full payment up front. In Jersey, we tend to work on a trust basis, but that might have to change. We want to see businesses thriving not to see them losing customers.
Mr Fletcher and several other senior members described how restaurant staff are being verbally and physically abused almost on a daily basis and that some have handed in their notices because of treatment from customers.
‘If you went to a doctor’s surgery and you started shouting at a receptionist, that sort of behaviour wouldn’t be tolerated. Why should it be any different in restaurants?
‘It’s certainly not everyone who is behaving badly or acting rudely, but it is on the increase. We are by no means at crisis level, but with the festive season now upon us, we just want people to understand our position and to work with us – to show staff politeness and courtesy,’ said Mr Fletcher.
He said that JHA members were discussing requiring customers to pay in advance, to put down a deposit to secure the table or pay a cancellation charge.
Meanwhile, Robert Jones, the director of Jersey Pottery whose restaurants include include Banjo, the Crab Shack at Gorey and St Brelade and The Oyster Box, said that abusive behaviour had become a common feature.
‘I have recently had staff threatened with being punched, staff being called very inappropriate names and people waving their fingers in my face,’ he said. ‘I have also had staff come to me with letters of resignation because of their treatment and we have had a waiter punched at the Oyster Box because the oysters were the wrong colour.’
He added: ‘We have situations all the time where people don’t show up. On one Saturday, we had 30 people fail to show across our restaurants.’
Restaurateur Marcus Calvani, of the Calvani Group, which includes La Cantina and JBs, also said that he had seen staff being mistreated by customers.
‘I am constantly aware of problems and having to try to prevent situations from arising, but that extra pressure should not have to be there,’ he said.
Mr Calvani added that many Jersey restaurants were vulnerable because they relied on the trust of customers.
‘I don’t think there’s anywhere in the world where you have the power to spend hundreds of pounds without a guarantee that you are going to spend anything – and that is our position here,’ he said.
