OpenTable (that monitor thingie that the host/hostess is always typing on when you enter almost every full service restaurant) will ban any IP address or originating phone number with a history of booking false names, or that just troll reserves to fuck up a restaurant's business. Cancelling unsold reservations at the last minute does not help prevent damage to the restaurant; all fine dining places, especially, carefully stock, prep and staff according to the number of reservations. Places that have horrendous, months-long waiting lists generally don't have people milling about in the bar hoping for a cancellation. This app causes business loss. OpenTable also has a managers only tip-off screen so that fraudsters and bad behaving guests can be flagged system-wide on OT's database.
This app maker is going to get sued by OT sooner than he thinks. Considering that OpenTable is a large and massively successful company, he needs to either lawyer up, or disappear. Law enforcement will be interested, as well, because confirmed reservations are part of the legal confirmation process for proving WHERE a DUI arrestee got so drunk - which bar or restaurant kept serving them alcohol prior to their arrest? That restaurant/bar is legally liable under Dram Shop Law in many States. A tab or credit card receipt is not good enough proof alone, in many cases. Using a false name to obtain a reservation at a licensed alcohol selling establishment is illegal in most states.
