Here’s a disturbing update on the 911 Reservations story:
I got an email from Louise Maurice, who purchased a Valentine’s Day reservation at Repast restaurant from 911 Reservations for $40. That amount was charged to her credit card through the service’s PayPal account.
I also spoke to Repast’s owner, Joe Truex, who said that he spoke on the phone to a man who tried to reconfirm the reservation and expressly told him that it would not be honored.
When I spoke with Gwinnett County district attorney Danny Porter about the legality of this service, he said it was fine as long as the administrators didn’t sell a reservation they knew wouldn’t be honored.
That begs the question: Does this sound like a case of theft by deception, pure and simple?
(UPDATE: At 4:25 p.m., Maurice received an email from 911 Reservations with a refund.)
(Full disclosure: I do know both Maurice and Truex socially.)