Leaving a restaurant without paying

[10 Pence Short]

jamoor said:

10 Pence Short said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

10PS - you're being obtuse! You're deliberately picking a special case. If the menu says "beef lasagne" but it's not very nice, surely that's the same as going to see a film that's rubbish. You've got what you asked for - why are you due a refund?

I'm not picking on a special case. If the food is not what you order, you shouldn't have to pay.

If you sit down in a cinema and the film ends half way through, you should get your money back.

Edited by 10 Pence Short on Sunday 6th September 11:49

U tit, in the case of a cinema, you are paying to watch the movie, if the movie sound/picture is crap then you haven't gotten what you paid for and are due a refund, you aren't paying for a good movie.

In the case of food, you are paying for food of a reasonable standard and as described, if your food arrives uncooked or is burnt to a crisp, you obviously haven't gotten what you paid for.

Um, isn't that what I said?

[IforB]

NiceCupOfTea said:

10PS - you're being obtuse! You're deliberately picking a special case. If the menu says "beef lasagne" but it's not very nice, surely that's the same as going to see a film that's rubbish. You've got what you asked for - why are you due a refund?

With restaurants, you don't have to pay the full price if it wasn't very good. You can put down what you think the meal was worth and then walk without fear of comeback.

I've never done it, but I have refused to pay for certain items when they were rubbish and I'd had to send them back, but only if the staff were ars*y about it. If a problem is dealt with properly, then that's different.

[Dyl]

10 Pence Short said:

jamoor said:

10 Pence Short said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

10PS - you're being obtuse! You're deliberately picking a special case. If the menu says "beef lasagne" but it's not very nice, surely that's the same as going to see a film that's rubbish. You've got what you asked for - why are you due a refund?

I'm not picking on a special case. If the food is not what you order, you shouldn't have to pay.

If you sit down in a cinema and the film ends half way through, you should get your money back.

Edited by 10 Pence Short on Sunday 6th September 11:49

U tit, in the case of a cinema, you are paying to watch the movie, if the movie sound/picture is crap then you haven't gotten what you paid for and are due a refund, you aren't paying for a good movie.

In the case of food, you are paying for food of a reasonable standard and as described, if your food arrives uncooked or is burnt to a crisp, you obviously haven't gotten what you paid for.

Um, isn't that what I said?

IIRC, you are entitled to a refund if you leave a film showing within the first 30mins. Or at least you are at the one nearest to me...

[BAHN-STORMA]

Blackpig2 said:

10 Pence Short said:

Steve748 said:

Report it to the police, if there is CCTV they may be able to see the car

"Sorry sir, It's a civil matter..."

Its actually classed as Bilking, same as if you did a drive off at the pumps.

Correct.

http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/crprev/crprev-bu...

Theft is still, just about, regarded as a criminal matter in the UK.

[NDA]

I thought that to avoid possible Police involvement, you pay the restaurant what you consider to be a fair value for the meal - leaving your name and address too. The restaurant would then have to prove that the meal was worth more.

If you leave without paying it's theft.

[10 Pence Short]

NDA said:

I thought that to avoid possible Police involvement, you pay the restaurant what you consider to be a fair value for the meal - leaving your name and address too. The restaurant would then have to prove that the meal was worth more.

If you leave without paying it's theft.

Absolutely.

[911DM]

BAHN-STORMA said:

Blackpig2 said:

10 Pence Short said:

Steve748 said:

Report it to the police, if there is CCTV they may be able to see the car

"Sorry sir, It's a civil matter..."

Its actually classed as Bilking, same as if you did a drive off at the pumps.

Correct.

http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/crprev/crprev-bu...

Theft is still, just about, regarded as a criminal matter in the UK.

Just about....

Problem with the UK (may well be other countries too) is that the government and police's attitude is if there are too many people committing a crime for them to investigate/arrest etc they either push through downgrading it so it's not a legal issue or they turn a blind eye.

Drugs - too many people carrying/using cannabis/cocaine etc. Result - no action by the police
Burglary - here's a crime number.
and so on.. it just snowballs.

[NiceCupOfTea]

10 Pence Short said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

10PS - you're being obtuse! You're deliberately picking a special case. If the menu says "beef lasagne" but it's not very nice, surely that's the same as going to see a film that's rubbish. You've got what you asked for - why are you due a refund?

I'm not picking on a special case. If the food is not what you order, you shouldn't have to pay.

If you sit down in a cinema and the film ends half way through, you should get your money back.

Edited by 10 Pence Short on Sunday 6th September 11:49

You said "Sirloin steak cooked to your liking" that is then NOT cooked to your liking. In that case, it's not as described. That's a special case. Most restaurant meals won't say "cooked to your liking" unless it's steak, etc. so it's a special case.

The parallel here is paying for goods/services which are "as described" but you consider them below standard.

[10 Pence Short]

NiceCupOfTea said:

10 Pence Short said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

10PS - you're being obtuse! You're deliberately picking a special case. If the menu says "beef lasagne" but it's not very nice, surely that's the same as going to see a film that's rubbish. You've got what you asked for - why are you due a refund?

I'm not picking on a special case. If the food is not what you order, you shouldn't have to pay.

If you sit down in a cinema and the film ends half way through, you should get your money back.

Edited by 10 Pence Short on Sunday 6th September 11:49

You said "Sirloin steak cooked to your liking" that is then NOT cooked to your liking. In that case, it's not as described. That's a special case. Most restaurant meals won't say "cooked to your liking" unless it's steak, etc. so it's a special case.

The parallel here is paying for goods/services which are "as described" but you consider them below standard.

I used that example because it was easy to define. The same applies if any of your food was so bad you couldn't eat it.

Either way, there is no excuse for just getting up and leaving without paying or explaining that you're not intending to pay because of a problem with the food/service.

[NiceCupOfTea]

I agree.

I just think picking on that example (even if easy to define) was a bit disingenuous! It's not a direct parallel. The film would have to be described as "with humour, romance, action, etc. to your liking"

[Monki]

Restaurant I worked at had issues with people ordering food and doing a runner once they'd finished. It's one of the reasons that we either insisted on swiping a card if they wanted a tab or took payment up front.

[Tea of Teabaggin]

I've left a restaurant without paying. 2004 In Shanghai.

We'd been to a German pub on the Thursday of the Grand Prix in Shanghai. Have to say the food was very good, yes I know it was German food and usually pretty boring. But seeing that I'd been living off Chinese food with the odd western meal to mix it up it was a welcome change. Anyway the meal on Thursday was spot on and of course the beer was fantastic and much stronger than the usual gnat's pee strength Chinese beer. So my old man and a few others decided to go back there after the race on Sunday.

We were at the bar by 5pm and promptly ordered in some beers which in Shanghai outside of happy hour were about £5 per pint. We were seated at a table and ordered our food. Anyway 45mins (and 2 beers each) later our starters had turned up. The place was fairly busy but there were still plenty of free tables even though an army of MS and Ferrari fans had invaded. It took a further hour and another 3 beers for our main course to turn up which was luke warm at best. We complained with a very sour head waitress and then the owner. We were given no assurances that warm food was going to arrive anytime soon so we got up and left without paying.

6 beers each in 3 hours and 5 of us there equalled the bar being £150 out of pocket without taking the food into account. Poor service gets penalised and I won't pay a penny if the meal is undercooked, burnt, significantly late etc.

This has happened in the USA as well where there seems to be this obligation that everyone tips regardless. I had two really awful meals in Chicago a while back and paid but didn't tip the restaurant manager was very confrontational when he challenged me on why I'd not left a tip and I told him his service was shocking.

Before anyone gets the wrong impression if I go out and the meal is good or represents what I think I should have to pay I do tip at least 10-12% which is fair enough.

[Silver993tt]

Tipping should be outlawed anyway (as it is in NZ). If the excuse for the tip is that it provides a decent wage for the staff then the onwer should be paying them a decent wage in the first place.

If it's for 'service', well that's what I expect anyway, someone to bring my food from the kitchen to my table. Why is this classed as service? Do restaurant owners give the option of collecting your own food from the kitchen?

I never tip since I expect so called 'good service' to be one of the default component in the price of the meal.

Edited by Silver993tt on Monday 7th September 09:00

[bazking69]

It's theft. It's unacceptable. End of.

I'm fed up of everyone, police included, dismissing 'petty low value theft' as worth writing off. The culprits should be tracked down and prosecuted regardless of value.

[pmanson]

My wife had a baby shower yesterday so my Dad, brother and I were kicked out to the pub for the afternoon.

Decided to sit outside, had my card swiped took the food order etc. Sat in the garden for a couple of hours and some other friends joined us. My Dad and brother left early to see my sister and nephew before they left and we stayed to finish our drinks.

Got home about 20 minutes after them and my Dad said he'd remembered that we hadn't settled the bill (beer garden is right next to the car park). I rang the pub and explained and they put the card through there and then!

Whoops!

[grumbledoak]

Silver993tt said:

Tipping should be outlawed anyway (as it is in NZ).

Rubbish. They have basically the same laws and expectations as the UK.

[Asterix]

I've threatened to walk out without paying having asked for the bill three times and waiting 20mins with no joy.

We got up and walked towards the door - bill magically appeared. I had full intention to pay but it seemed that my money wasn't wanted.

[jamoor]

Asterix said:

I've threatened to walk out without paying having asked for the bill three times and waiting 20mins with no joy.

We got up and walked towards the door - bill magically appeared. I had full intention to pay but it seemed that my money wasn't wanted.

That happened to me once too.

Maybe it's because I used a pizza express bogof so my bill for 2 was about £8.

[Tony*T3]

barmonkey said:

I work in a pub/restaurant, and tonight someone has done a bloody runner on us without paying their bill.

Ok, the bill was only about £40, but the principle of it winds me up so much. I'd left the bar for no longer than a minute, and by the time I returned they'd pissed off and were on their way out of the car park.

We know that the food was OK because all the plates came back clean, and I don't think they were short of money as they drove off in an Impreza!

So, if the tall guy and the woman whose fake tan was inspired by Easyjet's uniform are reading this, we'd like our 40 quid please.

Dont worry. If they had ordered and paid, but then done a runner without actually eating the meal, you would really be worried about how bad the food actually was.....




I've eaten and walked once. Was the most shockingly poor service ever. Main course and first round of drinks came, but then we didnt see another memeber of staff for around 40 minutes. Searched and looked for staff for 10 minutes to actually pay at the end, but gave up. It was like the 'Marie Celeste'.

It was at a resturant in a large theme park. I think there was a staff shift change half way through our meal and no one actually turned up for work.




** wouldn't recommend the Marie Celeste theme park in France for a decent meal.....

[parakitaMol.]

Asterix said:

I've threatened to walk out without paying having asked for the bill three times and waiting 20mins with no joy.

We got up and walked towards the door - bill magically appeared. I had full intention to pay but it seemed that my money wasn't wanted.

I've experienced this before, asked 3 times for the bill and been left sitting there for ages and ages. In the end I got up, handed them my mobile number and said I was happy to pay, they could call me and I'd send a cheque but was not going to wait any longer and walked out.

They never called.