BYO and no corkage

What I thought was normal is BYO in restaurants, that is bring your own drinks to the restaurant. When I have had European, Canadian and American friends over, I grab a bottle of wine to take to a restaurant - they were in disbelief. 

I had never thought much about it until I saw their reactions and realised this is not the norm overseas. The advantage is you have the ability to choose a bottle of wine you have in your cellar for the specific evening such as an aged cabernet sauvignon or shiraz.

Western Australia has strict liquor laws, a business has to apply to the government for a licence to serve alcohol, these licences are expensive and normally not granted to all but the largest restaurants. 

Even licensed restaurants allow BYO although they may charge corkage, that is a fee per bottle to open the said bottle, some restaurants charge per person for corkage but this can be open to negotiation. 

I have never returned to restaurants that have charged corkage per person after discussion have failed - even if they were a non drinking patron. A restaurateur has to ask themselves, what is this customer worth to me? For $1.50 per person, is this worth damaging a relationship that will result in no repeat business? I think not.