Dine and Dashers - What should be done to stamp it out.?

Nothing new in 'dining and dashing, except the name. As long as there have been restaurants, people have been eating and running. It just needs observant and quick witted staff. who will proffer the bill and obstruct the way out, at any sign of running without paying.

Urmstongran

Card details up front. Or pay upon ordering food and drink.
Either works. I’ve eaten at both types of places where they do this. No problem.

At a local garden centre you have to pay when ordering the food.
Presumably if the card didn't work then no food would be prepared.

At a local pub a couple ordered three courses, ate everything then said it was awful and left without paying. Presumably they do this regularly at different venues.

Its horrendous behaviour. I dont see it as any different to snatching someones bag on the street. I will never forget talking to the owner of our lovely local Italian restaurant on Christmas day during covid , he was the picture of worry and despair. The difficulties of the hospitality industry are bad enough without this type of behaviour.

Regrettably, if you are the kind of person ie a thief, who does this, you are unlikely to be embarrassed or ashamed when your face is plastered all over social media.

Some years ago, (pre Covid) DH and I were eating in a local gastro pub when a younger couple complained about their meals - most of which they’d eaten. They were quite loud and eventually the Manager agreed to waive the bill.
A month or so later, the same thing happened in another place and we realised it was the same couple. Then they pulled the same trick in our local place, so DH mentioned to the staff that we’d seen them do the same in other places. Unfortunately, due to the attention they were drawing to themselves and the probability of adverse social media, the Manager reluctantly agreed to supply their meals free of charge.

DD was recently horrified to see an acquaintance of hers being outed on social media for running out of manicurists and hairdressers without paying. This was a repeated occurrence! What a stupid woman. Her name was plastered all over local social media. She tried to laugh it off but...

I remember reading about two hotel guests who'd walked off with practically the entire contents of the room. The owner subsequently put their images up on social media, and then she got a visit from the police asking her to take those down as it was causing the thieves previous guests distress

Blimey how embarrassing! Imagine your neighbours knowing. Oh the shame.

There has been few incidents of this happening in the area I live , the family were 4 adults 2 older children and a toddler,they had ordered all the dearest food on the menu , multiple desserts and loads of soft drinks and when they went to pay the women " have the wrong card" left one of the children in the restaurant while she went to get the proper care and he then run out, the restaurant put a a media campaign with CCTV photos and the 2_adults have been arrested apparently they have done the same thing in a few restaurants in the area. The photos on social media were very clear so everyone who knows them and their families will know what they have done. They were also named once they were arrested.

Card details up front. Or pay upon ordering food and drink.
Either works. I’ve eaten at both types of places where they do this. No problem.

Being asked to pay up front is the only real, immediate answer I can think of - as TerriBull says, what happens if someone pays a deposit but can't pay the balance?

Yes, this is an increasing trend and a great worry to restaurants already struggling. We are happy to give our car details when booking a table, but this may not be a deterrent for a determined and brazen thief. It is shocking that anyone would think this acceptable behaviour when their children are guests too.

It seems that people don't get prosecuted any more. I recently saw a video of a man openly walking out of a shop carrying a large TV and apparently nothing happened to him.. the shopkeepers and restaurant owners don't seem able to do anything as the police don't followup these cases apparently.

I think these people are Chancers. They will walk into a pub/cafe/restaurant on the off chance there is a table. I can't imagine it is a stressless scam what with cctv and mobile camera phones. If I had photos of these people, I would send them round the "socials".

The problem is it seems that their cards are often declined when it comes to settle up, so maybe a deposit would work but they would still need sufficient funds to pay the balance.

SueDonim

Take card details and/or a deposit. That would also solve the opposite problem, of no-shows at bookings made previously.

I agree with this.

I much prefer to pay upfront to the long-drawn out 'catching someone's eye to ask for the bill' at the end of a meal

SueDonim

Take card details and/or a deposit. That would also solve the opposite problem, of no-shows at bookings made previously.

Yes, I think that’s a good idea. We are always happy to give a card number or a phone number if asked for one when booking. No-shows can mean quite a loss to a restaurant.

I'm just wondering though if the particular card had insufficient funds to support the spending once it was time to settle up, then what would happen? I believe one such person went to the counter with her card and it was rejected so she made the excuse "I'll just go to the cash machine down the road to draw some money out" and then did a runner.

Pay when your food is ordered?

Take card details and/or a deposit. That would also solve the opposite problem, of no-shows at bookings made previously.