concierge reviw-Sapphire Preferred-very happy (got dinner reservations I couldn't get myself)

I should have known better, but I invited 9 people to dinner without making reservations. I called the restaurant we had agreed on the night before (Tuesday for a Wednesday dinner) and was told - we aren't taking any more reservaions (this is even before I had a chance to say 9 poeple). Yikes. So, I decided to make this a test of the concierge service. They were busy so it took about 17 minutes to get through to the actual concierge. I told Jack, the concierge, the restaurant name, number of people and time we wanted. He put me on hold and got back on the line a few minutes later saying that he had spoken with the manager and secured a reservation as requested. An email was sent moments later confirming the reesrvation. Last night we went to dinner. Our table was reserved, the food and service were excellent.

I was very happy with the concierge service. I live in a smallish town not a big city (thus the reason we only have one decent resturant), so I wasn't sure if they would be able to help, but they really did save the day.

I've been meaning to try the concierge. Thanks for the review

That is great. Thanks for sharing!

Has been using Amex Concierge, but will give them a try. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the info!

I wonder why a restaurant in a small town would offer reservations to a Chase concierge but not someone local who might quite likely be good for repeat business?

I never really understood the concierge service. I mean, I can understand asking someone to take care of something you don't have time for, like an assistant, but this idea of getting you in to places you couldn't otherwise makes no sense. Was there really no space? Did it just magically appear? Are they turning away business regularly just because there's a chance that a Chase representative might call that night?

Thanks for the info - I'll need to check the concierge service

Does the restaurant get any kickback in return? This might be the reason....

I have never heard of any kick back for a restaurant.

Kick-back from what... the 3%-ish the merchant pays to VISA for the dinner bill charged to the card? I can't really see that be the reason.

You mean the "kickback" of getting a customer that appears more affluent than the typical walk-in customer? And in this case, nine of them? Yeah, I could see how they would be interested in "kickbacks" of that sort.

What was the cost of using the concierge? Great story, if the cost is worth it, I may start using the concierge more often.

I'm sure no cost.

Who is Sapphire Preferred using for the concierge service? I assumed it was VIPdesk or something similar that i've found relatively worthless in the past. Would love to learn otherwise!

There was no cost. I believe they used the VIP visa service, since the reservation was listed as Visa VIP.