Kevin Barrett 
A restaurant shared the name, mobile number, and email address of a diner because she did not show up after booking a table.
A day later, on Twitter, the owner apologized for doing so.
The restaurant in question is Bully’s, which is in Cardiff. The owner’s name is Russell Bullimore. He shared the details of customer Emily Quinlan; he was apparently “frustrated” because she did not turn up for a table reservation.
He may have apologized, but he would later go on to thank a Twitter user who described Emily as a “selfish cow”.
The owner claims that he tried to get in touch with Emily Quinlan, but was unsuccessful at doing so. Emily has claimed that she could not make her table reservation as the result of an emergency.
Emily added that she only booked a table for two; therefore, she did not think that she would cost Bully’s very much money by failing to make the reservation.
She wrote that she intends to pass what happened on to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The owner’s complete lack of decorum and professionalism, she said, has already cost him a lot of business.
Following Emily’s comments, Bullimore apologized via the restaurant’s Twitter account. He said that the tweet was “fueled by emotion”, adding that the restaurant is not a chain restaurant—it is an independent.
After the apology, however, the restaurant seemed to like a comment from a Twitter user that described Emily as a “selfish cow”.
The restaurant would later tweet “I haven’t met you, but thanks”.
Prior to his apology, Bullimore stated that he simply “thinks and does things”.
He said that you take bookings and try to call people back; sometimes you get them, but sometimes you do not.
He added that if he does not get people on their landline, he tries their mobile, and they will often answer. They’ll claim they cancelled or make up an excuse; sometimes, they will just hang up.
Bullimore said that he loses roughly 12 people a week who book; that is about 40 GBP per person. That can add up to about 50,000 GBP in a year. He claimed that he recently called a table of six, and they said they cancelled “on Wednesday”.
He said he knows every person who has called, and he thanks those who cancel for calling him in time. He claims that there are more “no-show” calls listed on his phone than those from actual friends.
In regard to the personal details he shared, he said it is merely a mobile number and a name—if a person is involved in a car accident and a photo is taken of a license plate, they can be identified from that.
Bullimore claims that he gets cold calls “all the time” because his details are “out there”.
Bully’s may be in the midst of controversy right now as a result of the owner’s actions, but it is a pretty reputable spot. In 2014-2015, it was actually awarded AA Restaurant of the Year.
According to Bullimore, it recently had eight diners not show up for dinner service. There was a table of two and a table of six.
No-shows are becoming a big problem, Bullimore said, but he is not sure what to do. He does not want to have to start taking money from people prior to their sitting down; he only wants people to pay for food. However, he said, he will likely have to invest in a way of getting credit card details for deposits.
In regard to the people who do not show up for table reservations, he wonders how many of them actually have a “life problem”.
Cancelling a reservation, he says, is “common courtesy”. He believes many no-shows have a hangover, can’t be bothered, or have gone to another establishment.
He said that people used to be “more courteous” to one another.
Unsurprisingly, social media has not been kind to Bullimore or his restaurant as a result of the incident with Emily Quinlan.
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