How long ago did this incident occur?
I don't know, but he's told the story 77 times in this thread and instead of worrying about $10 he should start saving for the carpel tunnel treatments he is gonna need after this, LOL.
Seriously...it's not that big a deal, folks. The same folks generally claim that DDP has "ruined everything" dining-wise anyway, so if the food sucks now because of DDP, and you can't bear the thought of losing $10 anyway if you don't show, so I guess maybe Disney sit-down just may not be the option for them.
That said, yes, charging $10 for an infant who wouldn't have paid anyway is ridiculous and I would never have paid it. Lebeau, did you speak to anyone else? Did you talk to guest services? It's blatantly idiotic to be charged a "no show" fee for what would have been a free meal for the infant, and although you shouldn't have to "fight" it, that's exactly what you should have done. If you were here saying, "I went to guest services, I spoke to management, and they said yup, I had to pay," I'd be right there with you. Heck, if guest services didn't fix it, I would have simply called my credit card company and disputed the charge.
Your ONE bad experience, which you have made well, WELL known, is not an indicator of how things will work with this NEW system. Since the number of restaurants requiring this is expanding so, and Disney is well-known for giving it's employees (oh, I forget the exact wording) "empowering" them to assist with things like this, we have no idea what policies and exceptions will be in place. As someone who has answered phones similarly before, I can tell you that the people on the phone immediately get a gut reaction when someone is genuinely cancelling because of unforeseen circumstances and when they are just trying to get out of something.
While what happened to you is patently ridiculous, the fact you paid it is your own decision and you did nothing to bring this ridiculous thing to the attention of people who could have helped you. I'm sorry to be that harsh but this has become the "Lebeau is screaming mad about $10 and didn't stand up for himself" thread, when actually for most this is a really good change. It adds some inconvenience to the front end, but if people just go to the dang ressies they make, it should work most of the time. And no more "Disney Moms" booking four ressies at one restaurant at one time. That alone should alleviate some of the issues.
This is a good thing, IMO, and you don't have to agree - but it's not all about you and your one bad experience that you just accepted and didn't do anything to rectify.