If you reserve a hotel room with a credit card and you skip showing up, you have to pay.

That's because there's a cost to the hotel for keeping the room vacant.

So why doesn't the same standard apply to those who skip on restaurant reservations?

This week, CBC News reporter Tanya Fletcher reported that some in the industry are getting agitated about the number of diners who fail to show up after booking a table.

The owner of PiDGiN, Brandon Grossutti, told Fletcher that 20 of the 100 reservations were no-shows on Valentine's Day, costing him around $3,000 in lost business.

That's to say nothing of the tips that would go to the servers.

In this era of cellphones and social media, it's inexcusable not to contact the business to cancel a restaurant reservation.

No-shows are inconsiderate boors.

It's too bad that their appalling behaviour will eventually force the rest of us to have to turn over credit card numbers to get a reservation.

In this era of bad manners, restaurateurs really have no choice, particularly on busy nights like Valentine's Day.

Some restaurants don't accept reservations, but they tend to be the busiest places. There are also costs associated with online booking systems.

But many of the little guys aren't in a position turn away potential business by rejecting reservations outright.

It's a brutally competitive industry, particularly for individual operators going up against the chains.

They simply can't afford to leave tables vacant, given their lease rates, taxes, and payroll, food, and beverage costs.