Massalla Club in Redditch

Our favourite Indian has closed, we've tried a few since but nowhere else has matched the flavour. Thought we'd give Massalla Club a go. Food arrived quickly, great portion size, pipping hot! My husband had madras and was really impressed. I had jalfrazi, the chicken was tandoori that really added to the flavour, but was lacking a bit of spice. I ordered a cheese nan, what arrived was a keema nan (i hate lamb). I called the restaurant, within 7 minutes a cheese nan had arrived, along with a kind apology. So grateful.

Went for tea on Saturday night lovely meal but must say the main meals were a bit more peppery/stronger than they used to be on the moshla special chicken and kashmiri chicken dishes

Had our first order delivered tonight. Chicken Tikka Masala & butter chicken curry. Both very bland and a sweet taste to them! Not spicey at all. Very disappointed with taste. It’s not a curry we would recommend. Just no taste other than sweetness🥴

A fantastic menu of delights, we were excited. The food looked great on appearance, though tasted a little bland. The Pathia and the Bhuna tasted almost identical except for the crunch of the onion in the Bhuna. My Persian biryani looked amazing. With the omelette top and vegetable side, the rice looked golden and appetising. However, on tasting, I was disappointed to learn that the rice was over fried and again was bland. We expected more authenticity and more flavours. When compared to Asda's Bom Bahia range of Asian cuisine, I feel this restaurant could do more. A supermarket should not be manufacturing a better quality curry, and yet they have (try before responding). Obviously, it is a popular restaurant, and the elders are great. The younger staff need more guidance and confidence on the floor. There are many curry restaurants in the area, and I'm sure they all have loyal customers, which is amazing. I'd say to the owners, see what else is out there, try other restaurants, and bring back the authenticity of a magical restaurant. A good 3 for quality of food, though 5 for amazing service by the elder staff. The average price per main was £12.00. They serve alcohol though also except you bringing your own. Free and plentiful parking.

Don’t bother. Ordered for collection. Checked food at home. Tikka main ordered for £10+ was small portion Chicken tandori was on the bone? Called to query this. Manager called back very argumentative and wouldn’t listen. Told me I was a regular customer, never been here before 😅 Definitely avoid poor service all round from management if there are any issues at all. A shame as has some good reviews so was exacting good food, but no just poor service 🫤

Called with a quiery on the food, person on phone was highly defensive and argumentative. Said they would call back within 5 mins, 10 mins later no call. We spoke with the manager when they finally called back who just wanted to argue, and come to no solution. After 20 mins, no solution and cold food. Looked very promising but will not return. Food wise: the lamb which was £10.95 came with 6-7 small pieces and some onion, more like a starter than a main. Chicken tikka starter was on a bone but nowhere on the website does it state it is on a bone.

Don’t bother. Ordered for collection. Checked food at home. Tikka main ordered for £10+ was small portion Chicken tandori was on the bone? Called to query this. Manager called back very argumentative and wouldn’t listen. Told me I was a regular customer, never been here before 😅 Definitely avoid poor service all round from management if there are any issues at all. Surprised as has a lot of excellent reviews so very disappointed…

Ordered 2 takeaways from here in the last couple of weeks (greedy I know!) Wow! Whatever is going on at this place? The food was the best I’ve had in years, better than anywhere in Redditch. So delicious. Would order from here every time now without hesitation. 5*

Very nice place and quick making and kind owner

Friends and I have made a bit of a tradition of meeting here and having a catch up every now and again. Super friendly, great food and cheap as chips. Can't ask for more, really!

Waiting over an hour for our starters, which was just about warm, barely hot. Then waited another 1.5 hours for our main, which we had to complain about the wait time, then all of a sudden we got our food. Then the owner refused to take card payment because he didn’t have a card machine, I pointed out to him there was one behind him. He then continued to say it doesn’t work and wanted cash only. 1.) if you want to come here, you need to complain about your wait time to even get your food. 2.) the owner is very rude and is a liar 3.) they also don’t like paying their fair share of tax

My friend and I went there last night lovely food couldn't fault it, very punctual service, plenty of room , not sitting on top of each other, we will be returning.

We have both eaten in and had many takeaways. We would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who asks.

Went for the first time a couple of months ago and have been back twice since, it's very good. Great food, great service, nice atmosphere - unlike some restaurants in Redditch, the tables are well spaced out so you can have a conversation without the half the restaurant hearing you.

Food was really good, piping hot and very tasty. The service on the night was 2nd to none.

The place is very nice, the food is a 10 made nicely. The owner was amazing, funny and helpful. The waiters was good mannered and respectful and nice.

First visit for me and was very impressed. Very welcoming and clean. Ordered a garlic chicken naga curry. It was very tasty and recommended by the waiter. I ordered the same meal to take out. Lovely service.will definitely be going back. I highly recommend this restaurant and plenty of parking outside too

attentive and friendly service from MIAH and his colleagues. Always a lovely visit with lovely warm food, always happy to help with the bill ect.

Amazing service with amazing food. Staff were brilliant , polite & very welcoming. Made sure we had everything, from drinks to extra salad for our liking. Suitable restaurant to go with family and friends. Will definitely recommend.

Great location, amazing food. We’ll worth a visit

Starter ok, mains food lacked meat portion and more like a tomato type pasta sauce than curry. Partners tasted like curry powder, not a nice taste. Been before its been ok but not keen to revisit based on this exlerience. Prices also high. Can get better elsewhere.

Food lacked flavour and protein. From two mains counted 5 pieces of meat. Incorrect pricing dated restraunt and suspect reciepts with squiggles and prices.that don't add up. Serving staff pleasent enough but food premises and management very poor. Won't return

Best player in town never had bad food , service is brilliant and the staff are friendly

Not he biggest portions but the food was really good

Lovely curry, good atmosphere and deserts were great too!

Been meaning to try this restaurant for years, first time tonight. Great interior, excellent greeting and service by Junu and all the staff. The food was amazing, and all our party were gutted we hadn’t tried this restaurant before now. Thanks to everyone and we can’t wait to go back, just superb - you need to give this restaurant a go, it’s worth every penny!

Best curry we have had in a while. Very tasty! Service was superb. Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Second time going and it did not disappoint...for was excellent.... friendly staff ...Will be going again

We had a very large takeaway order delivered for a house party. I ordered a dish called a Prawn Sizzler. This over-priced dish turned out to be five rubbery and over-cooked prawns drowned in a sloppy sauce – not the sizzling King Prawns I was expecting. It was the most expensive item on the menu and was listed in the “Sizzling Fusion” section, so the clue “Sizzling” was in the name – but it was basically a standard prawn curry. Costing just under £15 and containing just 5 prawns, this was very expensive and extremely disappointing. The Chicken Tikka main should have been a dry dish, but it turned out to be a few small pieces of chicken swimming in a sloppy sauce. It felt as if they were trying to bulk out the food with lots of sauce to try and justify the high prices. They did replace the prawn and chicken dishes (mainly because we had such a large order), but the replacement prawn dish was the same as the first, 5 rubbery prawns bulked out with lots of cheap sauce. I wouldn’t order from here again.

Consistently a fantastic experience. Food is always spot on. Thanks

We ordered a takeaway on Friday night, collected it on time and paid. We got it home and dished up. Upon sitting down to eat, we found that the food was tasteless. We called them immediately to tell them; it’s not fair to criticise if you don’t say anything. We were told that they had sold 100 of the same dish that evening, and that there couldn’t be a problem with it. Whilst food can be subjective, this meal was simply tasteless. He was aggressive and defensive from the first instance, all we were doing was letting them know our meal wasn’t good. We asked for replacement meals, and the person on the phone indicated that we brought the uneaten meals back for them when collecting our replacements. A little extreme, but fair enough. Upon arriving back at the ‘restaurant’ we were told to sit down, an invitation we refused. The manager inspected our meals, similar to the way an afterbirth is inspected during labour. His voice was raised, and his whole manner was aggressive. We did respond with a raised voice, purely to be heard. We asked if our meals would be long, he said not long. We asked if they had started to be cooked, which he initially said no to. When we asked for a refund instead he changed his story and said that they were nearly ready. He then came back with the meals and insisted that he’d done us a good turn by replacing our naan, poppadoms & chips even though we’d eaten most of them. Admittedly, a fair few chips had gone, but everything else was there. We’d only eaten enough to identify that the meal was bad, and who doesn’t eat the chips whilst dishing up! We offered to pay for the items he was claiming he had replaced despite being consumed, he refused. Had we been eating on-site, we’d have sent it back with the same amount gone. For completeness, the replacement meals were absolutely fine, although we had somewhat lost our appetites having left our house again to get them. There is simply no reason to accept poor quality just because it’s a takeaway, and to be honest, £33.90 is a lot of money to literally throw in the bin, we tried to resolve the situation and were met with aggression from the first moment we called back. The whole experience was frankly aggressive and confrontational, and management need to take a long, hard look at their customer service model. A business where staff are rude can’t and won’t survive.

New years eve, early sitting, great service and curry again.

Over priced under average food plenty of curry sauce but very little meat in it ,poppadoms stale and soft , would not go again unless it was the only place in the world that had food

Only marked down on atmosphere as we were 'early diners' and the only diners at that time...😁👍

We held a 60th birthday party here, and to be honest was disappointed with the service, waited way too long for drinks, also we were rushed to finish our meals and leave the table as they had a booking afterwards, we also requested they done the drinks bill separately which they failed to do which resulted in a lot of confusion afterwards and some people being out of pocket, I think they struggled throughout the evening with a large booking

Good food and friendly helpful service

Lied about prices. My wife went here with her friends and brought me a takeaway back Firstly, yes she had 3 vodka lemonades which I understand are expensive Food order for both was: Chicken Madras Chicken Kurma 1 portion of chips 1 portion of boiled rice 1 keema naan 1 garlic naan £80.05 Only reason I gave 1 star is because it wouldn't let me choose 0 stars. What a disgrace. Doesn't seem like I am the only one to complain about over charging either Chicken was dry and tasteless as well. Wouldn't have even minded paying it if it was a nice curry

Very tasty garlic chilli chicken dish on staff recommendation. Food/chicken portion was ample considering most places are reducing the amount of chicken/meat and increasing prices. 3 of us are and all of us were very happy. 10/10. We are foodies and have high standards so very happy that we are satisfied at last. Thank you masala club.

Never again , How can you not notice when you hand out stale poppadoms , the chicken wasn’t fresh, and the veg was out of date , cooked then served, you’ve been warned !

Always made to feel welcome Food is fabulous we have had takeaway from here too. Good portions and good value for money excellent choice

Food is very good and the staff are friendly.

Had a nice family meal, then the bill arrived £40 more than advertised prices - even online. I hate when a bill is so wrong it needs to be contested, so ruined an otherwise nice evening.

Went out for a family meal last night and though the food was good, the real issue came with the incorrect menu pricing and dishonest billing service. We were splitting the bill and to make matters easier I had written the dishes and prices down that I was paying for. But when we received the bill, the menu prices were not marrying up to the bill prices - e.g. £2.95 chips were instead £4.45. We asked the waiter about this, and he explained that the menus were 2 years old and showed the incorrect prices. Instead we should have looked online - but we already had and they were cheaper than both menu and bill prices. So then the waiter said there were signs up around the restaurant about the prices being different. We asked him to show us these signs - which he could not because there weren't any. We asked why didn't you just tell us about the price differences when you handed us the menus, for the sake of full disclosure. But according to the waiter, it is our fault for not knowing - his locals know about these prices, so we should too. I understand prices will increase over time, but you can't advertise one price and charge a different price on the day. People deserve an honest service and the transparency to decide what they want to order given the menu put in front of them. We found it very dishonest and the excuses we were given felt like they had slipped this past many customers before and therefore have justification for it. The waiter essentially can charge whatever he fancies on the day, with no real reference to any fixed prices. My advice for any new diners at the Massalla Club is that if you wish to eat here, just make sure to check your bill thoroughly, or ask about prices before you dine, ideally, for every single item.

Went out for a family meal last night and though the food was good, the real issue came with the incorrect menu pricing and dishonest billing service. We were splitting the bill and to make matters easier I had written the dishes and prices down that I was paying for. But when we received the bill, the menu prices were not marrying up to the bill prices - e.g. £2.95 chips were instead £4.45. We asked the waiter about this, and he explained that the menus were 2 years old and showed the incorrect prices. Instead we should have looked online - but we already had and they were cheaper than both menu and bill prices. So then the waiter said there were signs up around the restaurant about the prices being different. We asked him to show us these signs - which he could not because there weren't any. We asked why didn't you just tell us about the price differences when you handed us the menus, for the sake of full disclosure. But according to the waiter, it is our fault for not knowing - his locals know about these prices, so we should too. I understand prices will increase over time, but you can't advertise one price and charge a different price on the day. People deserve an honest service and the transparency to decide what they want to order given the menu put in front of them. We found it very dishonest and the excuses we were given felt like they had slipped this past many customers before and therefore have justification for it. The waiter essentially can charge whatever he fancies on the day, with no real reference to any fixed prices. My advice for any new diners at the Massalla Club is that if you wish to eat here, just make sure to check your bill thoroughly, or ask about prices before you dine, ideally, for every single item.

Onion pakora (Bhaji) one of the best we've had. Puri lamb, very large tasty starter. Salmon tika main ok, usually served sizzling,bit dry. Lamb Madras ok. Rogan Josh spot on , plenty of fresh tomatoes, beautiful taste. Keema nans and rice dishes all very good. Cobra one pint full next a bit too much foam. Reasonable meal overall but, unfortunately it would be nice to have a bill you could read. Preferance Candle night. More authentic.

Delicious food and excellent service as always

Absolutely lovely food thank you

Beautiful meal & evening tonight. The staff are very attentive & had a good knowledge of the many dishes to be had. This will definitely be our favourite go to for the near future. Think we will be trying many new dishes. Well done all

Great food friendly staff. Really good Indian restaurant with a good menu and really tasty food.

What can I say. Wow. I ordered my takeaway at 6.40. I was told it would be an hour then I was in the garden on the phone and my takeaway was there within 30 mins. Food was fantastic tasty and hot. Thank you.

Disgraceful service and attitude of the staff, selling cobra lager out of cans and trying to hide the fact so they can still charge £4.80,(not a full pint), plus 1hour 20min before our order was taken (22 in our party)

Food very tasty. Had a lovely mocktail.

Good service, delicious naan bread, so-so mains. Starter Chicken Tikka was clearly microwaved as were the main dishes. Disappointing given the previous good reviews.

Fabulous food and great service Red chilli dip is amazing The owner and staff Abdul will go.abobe and beyond to make experience what you want good selection of drinks

Friendly staff and excellent food

Fab food and service. Friendly staff who made us feel welcome. Will return

Was a nice evening out with friends the service was good my meal was nice enough but have had better locally to be honest, would go again with good company

The onion baji was weak and tasteless. The naan bread was small. The sauce in the curry was thin,the rice was watery. The only reason I gave a star was for the delivery. I won't be ordering from them again

Never had a bad meal here, staff are first class

We visited this restaurant with some friends. My chicken tikka was raw when cut through, when the manager came over he said “was it just the one piece” as if that was ok! There was no apology at all. Throughout the meal the service was very poor the waiting staff did not come and ask if we would like some drinks, we constantly had to try and get their attention. At the end of the meal one waiter placed the desert menu on the table, then another waiter came and took it away within a couple of seconds like a tag team! He did not ask if we wanted anything just took the menu and walked off! When the bill arrived we had been charged for items that we did not have and the staff had to amend the bill. All in all the overall experience was very poor and I would not recommend.

Very good food, reasonable prices.

Excellent selection of food and from traditional curries and chefs specialities. They can also provide a buffet too. We had the buffet on this occasion as there was live entertainment but have been dining in on the odd weekdays too... Fabulous food and service. Highly recommended.

Felt very rushed from start by waiter, infact I'd go to say quite rude. As we was told they was busy later. It's like they wanted us out of way. Take no notice of prices on menu, think they changed what they wanted at end. Not good experience... Food was average, good job had good company that's all I can say

Just been here for a meal my review is very poor service over charged on the meal menu says £8.95 but the bill states £9.95 when asked why is the bill different from was told price have gone yp and cant change the menus .... deffently wont be going back ....

Didn't book a table but we got straight in food was very nice and nice atmosphere

Hadn't visited for quite a while & must say I was very impressed! Fabulous extensive menu, tasty food & cheerful waiters. Abdul has done a great job turning this restaurant around - long may it continue

Great food. Spacious dining area.

Table booked at 7.30pm finally got meal at 10.30pm, very dissapointed with the service, the meal wasn't that good either, shan't be going again. Since when have curry's become the cost of a decent English restaurant meal....

I have used the Massalla club for a few years and always had good service and food. Last night we had a take away from there for the first time it was very disappointing , we waited nearly 2 hours for our delivery, I called twice and was told it was on the way. When the food turned up it was cold, the curries were all sauce and hardly any meat, think I'll try elsewhere in future.

Best curry I've had for ages had the Tandoori platter to share... All great and friendly staff

I would recommend it to any one we have been going to the Massalla Club for few years lwoild give 6 stars

Very nice.food was great. Friendly staff what more could you ask.

So expensive !! Bham city centre prices - £90 for the 3 of us. Wine has residue in it and made me feel sick. They charged an extra £2 on the starter because I asked for chillis in it - there was 1 tiny raw chilli cut up in the whole Starter and wasn’t even spicy. I asked for some fried mushrooms - they literally just fried mushrooms - no salt no coriander just plain mushrooms. Tiny portion = £6. Mushroom veg side dish is only £4.85. So they made up the price. We only went in there because the other places we usually go to were fully booked. It was empty in there - just 1 other table on a Friday nights after 7pm. Table cloths were dirty. Some of the food was delicious, other parts were average / tasteless All in all a total waste of £90 and I’ll never return

Food is to a very high standard, I love spicey food and they balance it perfectly. Customer service is very good. Very impressed.

My goodness, this take out food was so tasty. Beautifully spiced, well seasoned, really really enjoyed our meals. Excellent service. Efficient staff. Thankyou very much .

Authentic Indian food and reasonable prices.

didn't seem to be covid safe at all!

The food was delicious. I would go every night if I could afford it. The social distancing is good and you feel safe. I highly recommend it you won't be disappointed if you like a balti .

I've used the Massalla club quite a lot in the past- I live nearby and the food has always been excellent. However, wasn't happy with it last night (Saturdy)...our table was about 12 inches away from a table of 4, no hand sanitiser on entry (did see some on the counter as we left) and although the staff did wear masks, they were often pulled down. There was nothing in place to encourage distancing in the gents. Guess we expect different standards now. Oh..and the waiter had all the charm of Basil Fawlty. Food was still good, but we shan't be going back

Went with two good friends who were treating me for my birthday we were very pleased with the service and the food was excellent the only criticism was that there were too many people who were walking around without masks and the 10 o'clock finish time is daft because there were a gang of about 10 people who were hanging around outside but that aside the food was excellent

Really nice curry and great service

I have used this a couple of times for takeaways. Service is very friendly but the food leaves a bit to be desired. Both times the onion bhajis were rock hard, the vegetable sauce for the biryani full of frozen vegetables and tasteless, the dhansak similar, much milder than you expect for a dhansak. I won’t be returning.

Great service and friendly. COVID aware staff. Best curry in Redditch.

Food excellent , great attention to covid safety

This is the second birthday, in recent years, that I have chosen to celebrate at the Massalla. I should have learned from the first.As it was a special occasion, we all ordered starters. At the same time, we ordered our mains. The starters arrived in reasonably good time, and were very good. Oddly though, we were asked if we wanted mint yoghurt sauce - something that you would expect as a matter of course with a starter.The starters were cleared away, and we had another round of drinks. Bearing in mind that the restaurant was almost empty when we arrived, I expected the mains to come soon after, but we waited and waited. We saw at least 2 other groups of diners (who weren't even in the restaurant when we ordered our meals) get served their meals, and finish them.When I managed to attract the attention of a waiter to enquire on the whereabouts of our meal (nearly an hour since we had had our starter), he told us that the reason other people had been served before us was that we had ordered starters, and they hadn't. I had an issue with that explanation- so if we had only ordered mains, we would have been served in 20 minutes, like the later diners were? I don't see the logic. By that token, we should have expected our mains 20 minutes after our starters.My wife pointed out that they were obviously prioritising internet orders, because she could hear a constant 'pinging', such as you hear in Witherspoons. Just eat has a lot to answer for. People sitting on their arses at home are getting a better service than those actually making the effort to go out to eat at the restaurant. Shouldn't it be the other way around?I probably won't go back here for another birthday.

Visited tonight booked for 6pm. Restaurant was busy but not full. Ordered our drinks and poppadoms. Which were stale. We then waited 1hr 10minutes for the main, no waiter asking if we would like another drink. No mention of the ridiculously long wait for food. As people who ordered after us were served around us.We decided wait was too long so said we were leaving and wanted to pay the bill. Manager then tried to charge us full price For the soft drink and stale poppadoms,even though it is eat out to help out atm. When we queried the price it magically dropped £3. Avoid This place manager was quite rude with arguing about how busy they are blah blah. Won’t be back, and double check your bill!!

Visited tonight booked for 6pm. Restaurant was busy but not full. Ordered our drinks and poppadoms. Which were stale. We then waited 1hr 10minutes for the main, no waiter asking if we would like another drink. No mention of the ridiculously long wait for food. As people who ordered after us were served around us.We decided wait was too long so said we were leaving and wanted to pay the bill. Manager then tried to charge us full price For the soft drink and stale poppadoms,even though it is eat out to help out atm. When we queried the price it magically dropped £3. Avoid This place manager was quite rude with arguing about how busy they are blah blah. Won’t be back

Had great food at the Massalla Club. A really good variety of fish and seafood dishes...I especially enjoyed the monkfish tikka. Great table service and all the staff were very friendly. I especially encourage people to come and support local businesses such as this at the moment.

We had an absolutely fantastic takeaway from here on Saturday night! Delivery was within the hour. Food was hot and delicious! Exceptional! Well done massalla club

Got charged a higher price for a meal than what the menu stated, we had requested to pay a certain amount on card and after checking bank account more was taken than what we asked. Expensive and it was a mediocre curry, won't be going back.

During these mad times ( covid19), I was a bit apprehensive about eating out, our meal was excellent with great service very attentive and extremely safe

Just ordered and collected my takeaway, very professional and welcoming, always such pleasant staff, food was beautiful thank you, Penny Bunker x

Over 3 hours to eat and the bill was a work of fiction. Understaffed and failing ungracefully.We came for an early Saturday dinner and had the place to ourselves, but by the time we left it was packed with people waiting and looking lost. Especially the waiter. Food varied from OK to good, with combination dishes standing out as an unusual highlight (very good). The menu is vast (shown in full on their website) which may be making the team work harder than necessary. Mains were nice but not as novel or as varied as the menu suggests. Some meat was a little tough or gristly but not too bad. Rice portions much smaller than is typical in Indian restaurants - personally I found this OK because that's all I want, but others in my party were disappointed. Breads were good. Allergy sufferers, coeliacs and vegetarians and vegans should stay away. A big scary poster in the entrance declares that all 14 common allergens could come and get you at any time, and to ask the staff if you want to know more. Management should visit their competitors and learn how to work this part of the market with a proper allergen list.For the first 3 hours (!) we saw only one waiter. He started calm, professional and charming, but ended in near meltdown arguing and accusing customers of lying. I feel really sorry for him but it was way over the line, just not reasonable behaviour. His colleague came on shift just as we were leaving. There were a lot of mistakes with drinks, and desserts came out with more than an hour between the first and last arriving. They were nice, but half the party had long finished and just wanted to go home. Then the bill.It took about 45 minutes to get the bill, and when it arrived it was nonsense. Food was itemised and roughly right, but drinks and desserts were a flight of fancy. When queried, we got a differently wrong bill and they had no idea how they arrived at it. Caveat emptor: if you have to eat here, keep track of everything you order, double check your bill and take care you don't pay a whopping hidden extra.Maybe it's OK when it's quiet. But competition is intense in this business and there's no reason to come here again unless things change significantly.

Very nice food and good service

Table for three with excellent food and drink. Service was good but the room was a bit chilly. We would not hesitate to eat there again.

An excellent meal served to a small party. The food ordered was nicely presented. Staff were very accommodating to our requests. Will definitely visit again.

Good food well prepared and presented, pleasant helpful staff who coped well with a number of customers arriving at the same time plus dealing with take away orders.

A nice curry, nice staff. Happy to give 3 to a possible 4 stars

Absolutely amazing food. Best restaurant in Redditch. Reasonable prices, very friendly staff and nice surroundings.

First time and last time.It was a big party of people,booked in at 7.30 Didn't get our mains till 9.00 rice didn't come till 15 mins after that then chips didn't arrive until I finished the meal.My advice to the Masala club if you can't handle that many people don't book it.