Philadelphia City Council wants to crack down on restaurant reservations

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Getting a table at one of Philadelphia's hottest restaurants is already difficult to score.

Now, an app that allows the resale of restaurant reservations is facing legislation by Philadelphia City Council, which could curb its operations.

The Troubleshooters first told you about Appointment Trader last year.

The app's founder, Jonas Frey, is doubling down and defending his platform, saying it only helps restaurants and diners.

But supporters of this new bill say the third-party reservation app is predatory and the city needs to proactively protect against it.

Appointment Trader lets you buy or bid on reservations you want and sell a reservation you either can't make any longer or don't want.

"We have pretty strong guardrails in place that people can't just upload a whole bunch of reservations and sell them," said Frey. "Most of our revenue is actually people requesting a reservation and somebody then filling it for them."

But the restaurant industry worries that the platform boxes out real diners.

"If it worked that way, peer to peer every single time, it might work," said James Smith, who is the owner of Corio.

"But unfortunately, what we've seen in other cities is that it just ends up eating the reservations online. It's not a guarantee of a person actually showing up."

Legislation in seven states is targeting the app, and now a bill in Philadelphia City Council is looking to regulate it.

"We want these reservations available to anybody, and it really should not be a pay-to-play," said Ben Fileccia with the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.

"And part of the legislation allows that any restaurant who wants to use Appointment Trader as another way to capture reservations can. We are just saying that they have to be authorized. It has to be an opt-in," he said.

But Frey says that isn't fair for his platform, or for diners, who often end up paying cancellation fees.

"If the customer is responsible financially for the reservation, how is it the restaurant's reservation at that moment?" Frey questioned. "It's the customer's reservation, not the restaurant's."

Appointment Trader does offer a free partnership program to restaurants.

But again, supporters of this new bill say opting into it should be required, especially before Philadelphia hosts The Michelin Guide next month and FIFA, the All-Star game, and America's 250th birthday next summer.