This is to the two teenaged guys who decided to leave without paying for their meal:
You think that was funny or something? You know what though, I remember faces and if you come back again your asses are gone, unless you’re coming back to pay for your meals! Oh how clever, take off while your other 2 friends are out back with me ACTUALLY PAYING their bills and getting them to cover for you (or lying to them as well), they told me you were gone to the bathroom. Right after they paid I waited for you. When you didn’t come out of the bathroom, I went in there. Oh! You’re gone! You’re lucky I have reasonable managers who didn’t get me to pay for it out of my own fucking pocket, you douchy little fuckers!
—Hope someone steals your iPod/X-box/anything you value, dipshits!
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2009.
i don’t understand why all restaurants haven’t adopted the “pay at the front as you leave” thing
yes, sadly, rotten apples spoil the barrel but is it really too difficult to pay as you’re heading out the door? why can’t one person at the host(ess) desk or whatever, have the sole job of swiping visas and collecting cash to avoid exactly this scenario?
F7: What would be there to stop people from just walking right by said person? Unless you stick a bouncer at the door to keep people from leaving, but I hardly think that’s the image most restaurants are going for…
I have had adults do this to me, which is worse, as they added several bottles of wine to the bill (which was already considerable since they decided to experience it all with appetizers, entrees and deserts). I refused to cover it, as I felt that it was not my job to follow them to the bathroom. Although, it is my experience that most people are honest, and this rarely occurred.
Then then smoking ban doesn’t help. “I’m going out for a cigarette”. But they don’t smoke, servers are busy and the majority of people are honest and don’t rip off restaurants. So asking smokers to pay before going out for a smoke is like saying you’re a thief.
I was guilty of this once – I actually left without paying. Was driving half-way across town before I realized. I felt like the biggest bag of shit ever and made a beeline back to the resto to pay. The poor guy working, he was pissy – and rightfully so. I completely forgot to pay – honestly – and I made it right. Too bad other people can’t be so honest 🙁
Just a question, how do you forget to pay for your food??
“”The poor guy working, he was pissy – and rightfully so.””
?
Why was he ‘rightfully so’ “pissy”?
He should have been glad, (and not surprised, it’s happened to us all)…
Believe it or not, we thankfully still don’t have laws against forgetting to pay, or forgetting your wallet for that matter, as long as the situation is rectified asap. In fact, an IOU promissary note is sufficient in the rare case this happens to you, no matter how “pissy” the staff gets.
If you forget your wallet, don’t be intimidated into calling your son/daughter/neighbour to come all the way downtown to pay your bill…write out a signed IOU, with full address/phone number and if you remember it, your DL number (easy in NS…it’s your b-day and a few letters of your name, memorize it NOW)…
…leave this with the manager, and come back the next day (or two)…if they try to physically restrain you..that’s assault, get ready for a year’s worth of free meals from this dump…
I’ve had it up to here with “pissy” wait staff…shut your pie-holes and bring me my fucking cheese sandwich.
I’m guessing ustwess was drunk at the time… 🙂
When you grow up and start to dine out more, and not just at the golden arches, you will see that it is very possible to forget to pay a tab/bill.
First, you need a life where you travel a lot, are busy and often in a hurry.
Add to that a restaurant (like many in Europe) where the drinks are paid for at the bar in real time, and the food is tabbed by a seperate server…
It’s a very common occurance, and a quality restaurant will give the custormer the benefit of the doubt…King of Donair and you and your Saint Mary’s friends…erm…maybe not so much…
Yes, I drive drunk ALL the time… joking! I was sober.
An IOU has no legal standing, Frosty.
A restaurant has the right to demand and expect full payment at time of sale.
Wrong (again) Matthew.
At least you’re consistant.
A restaurant, gas bar etc etc, where you have made use of the product or service beforehand, and then realized you have not brought your wallet, may have a POLICY of not accepting checks (another type of IOU), but if you have every intention of paying the bill forthwith, and indicate that with a promissary note (IOU) you have not broken any laws under the Canadian Criminal code.
What did you think? That you really HAD to wash dishes?
LMAO
I wonder if Matthew realizes that all a cheque is, is an IOU, until such time as it clears.
A place I used to go to in Birmingham, England, would require all people leaving to have a receipt. Wasn’t any hassle at all.
Irving Oil or any gas station doesn’t have to accept a written IOU, they can (and have) report it as gas theft or a driveaway if you fail to pay for the product dispensed. Don’t forget that many business force their employees to pay for what basically amounts to theft by the customer. Simple way for the honest folks to avoid this headache is to look in their wallet for cash or plastic before ordering 🙂
Then there are the outright cheaters like the 3 guys at the Pogue 6 to 8 weeks ago who tried to walk out as the female server demanded payment then pulled a knife on the doorman as he also made verbal efforts to get payment.
I see that the eff word is well-tolerated at The Coast.
oh, oh…hold your ears (or cover your eyes), Oceanlady…you just opened a can of worms.
HKM on HRM: I did not say I was opposed to the use of the eff word. It is a sometimes used part of my vocabulary. I was merely surprised to see it’s use in a public forum.
Bro Tim…money is just a promise to pay, backed by the government of the country that issued the currency. Seeing as there is no longer a gold standard…money is just like a check. Only we have to believe the government is good for it (or actually we are…seeing as they get all their money out of our pockets !)
Oh god, how dense.
An IOU is not a promissory note nor is it a cheque.
A promissory note, referred to as a note payable in accounting, or commonly, just a “note” is a contract where one party (the maker or issuer) makes an unconditional promise in writing to pay a sum of money to the other (the payee), either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms. They differ from IOUs in that they contain a specific promise to pay, rather than simply acknowledging that a debt exists.
There ya go Frosty. Always glad to educate.
I’d love to follow Frosty around shopping.
“Yes sir that will be $10 for the shirt”
“Here’s an IOU!!!”
Well Matthew, I think if you forgot your wallet whilst shopping for a ten dollar shirt, you could try just replacing it on the rack?
If you had turned off the “Ellen” show in the background, put your glasses back on and read my post a little more carefully, you would see that I said an “IOU”, with the addition of full name and address, and the intent to come back the “next day (or two)…
…if it helps you with your juvenile sophistry, I will add the caveat to not just tell the manager you’ll be back in the next day or two…but write that down as well. Thusly turning an IOU into a promissary note, and keeping you (and your Wiki definition, lol) happy?
Bro’ Tim…correct. But armed with google and WIKI, Matthew will continue to quibble until the proverbial cows come home, LMAO…
But my point remains as it always was, correct. If you forget your wallet after purchasing and having “consumed” a good or service, an IOU will stand until payment is made.
Let Matthew wash dishes (guffaw), the rest of us can come back the next day…
When I was 18 and had my first chequing account, I went to a restaurant and went to pay by cheque, which was refused (I was a dumb kid in the navy). I told the owner I would be back next weekend to settle (banks weren’t open on the weekends and ATMs were non-existant). When I went back and paid, I think I gave the poor guy a heart attack.
Sorry Frosty for offending you with definitions.
There is no requirement for the owner of the restaurant to accept your magical IOU. He can ask the police to arrest you, something I’m sure you’re far too familiar with.
Of course he can, and probably will, accept the promise to pay, but your point remains as it always was, wrong.
Oh, and “sophisty” and ” caveat”?
I guess that word-a-day calendar you got a for x-mas is really working out for you.