I’ve been using OpenTable since pretty much day one. I’ve also convinced enough restaurant operators I have gotten to know to go with it vs. other far more limited solutions. But I’m thinking it’s time for a rival. One that’s more opened, and not, um, closed.
The biggest peeve is the stupid fact that despite booking online, I always get a phone call to “confirm” I’m still planning to keep my reservation after booking via OpenTable. You see, Open (um closed) Table doesn’t pass my email address on to the restaurant. Just my phone number, unless I’ve done something somewhere to allow them to provide it. Candidly, I’d rather my email address be provided than the phone number. You see, those calls always come in when I’m in a meeting, on an airplane or busy doing something I’d rather not be interrupted.
But there’s more closed that makes me less in love with Open (closed) Table than I once was. For starters the guest reliability history isn’t shared with establishments. That means for those of us who know how to keep our commitments use there web and app based engine to manage our dining reservations. We don’t need to be called if we use Open (closed) Table properly.
In my book, Open Table may be useful, but I suspect there’s more cooking elsewhere that will have restauranteurs licking their chops.
I really wish they had APIs for the mashup crowd. Not just integration with existing restaurant management systems but a real platform. Couldn’t you see something like a Tungle+OpenTable mashup? OT+EventBrite? OT+Plancast? Their mobile app should be able to import a calendar event from Outlook or Google Calendar to see the time, place, and who is coming. I saw a brilliant airplane reservation system UI today at http://hipmunk.com, so there is definitely room for improvement in OpenTable’s user experience.
If OT isn’t surprising its users (on both sides of the reservation) with delightful improvements every quarter, an upstart should steal or redefine their business. Hard to sustain, but that’s the game.
Thanks for the hipmunk-love, Phil. We’re thrilled with all the buzz hipmunk.com has gotten since launching just a few months ago. There’s always room for UX improvements all over the web (and in meatspace) and we’d *love* to see someone improve restaurants — hell, I just wish more products/services put consumers first in their design.