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View Poll Results: Ever dined and dashed?
Heck yeah! I haven't paid for a meal in 2 years
1
3.13%
No way, that's stealing
21
65.63%
Once or twice
8
25.00%
One day before I die I might do this for a thrill. It would be less messy than killing a drifter
There have been a few times that I have been sitting in a resturant and the waitress just disappears for about 30 minutes and it takes every ounce of my patience to just not walk about in protest. I hear that the waitress has to pick up the cost of the meal if patrons they were waiting on get up and leave, so that stops me dead in my tracks right there.
Just wondering if anyone has ever actually done it?
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i'll admit it - a couple times while living in london we were so pissed at the continually poor service and then waiting 30 minutes after we ate to get the check we just walked
they were pretty small places and our thoughts were pretty much - they aren't paying attention to us, by not bringing a check/drinks/any communication it shows a complete lack of desire to get paid, they're british and if the they are ignoring us to the point where we can completely walk out of a 10 table place without paying it's on them
really not a thrill seeking move - just a move of frustration - i've never done it domestically
i'll admit it - a couple times while living in london we were so pissed at the continually poor service and then waiting 30 minutes after we ate to get the check we just walked
they were pretty small places and our thoughts were pretty much - they aren't paying attention to us, by not bringing a check/drinks/any communication it shows a complete lack of desire to get paid, they're british and if the they are ignoring us to the point where we can completely walk out of a 10 table place without paying it's on them
really not a thrill seeking move - just a move of frustration - i've never done it domestically
Funny story here. When my wife and I first moved here we got off the plane put our bags in a hotel and went to the pub right across the road. Sat down and waited for someone to come to us. We waited about 30 minutes and nothing. We left. About a week later someone told us that you have to go and order the food at the bar and then they bring it to you... We felt so stupid...
But MO, most places in the UK and especially the EU will not bring you a bill until you ask for it so you can talk and enjoy the people you are sitting with you... We found it strange and weird at first but the English cannot be bothered with people brining checks to them and messing up their coversation with the people at the table so they just don't. Guess it is just a cultural thing.
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You wouldn't have won if we'd beaten you.
- Yogi Berra
I hear that - only problem is they never came around to see if we wanted the bill - could be a cultural thing but i'm not of the mind to get up, hunt someone down and ask if I can pay
overall we were treated pretty well while living there and there were times when we had to ask for our bill (more so on the continent than in england)
was funny, a couple times we were out with our professors who were shocked by the service we would generally get - i think most of them just thought of us as your basic a-hole tourist and didn't realize that we lived on the same block
then again, with the lack of tipping and other such incentives, service on the whole is pretty poor there
a fun story was that we were drinking in one of the pubs and having a good time with the bartender who was up from south africa - he was making us snakebites and telling stories - basically a good guy - being americans we appreciated all that he was doing and threw a nice tip on the bill - he chases after us and pretty much brow beats us for insulting him - that he was quite well off and didn't our charity money
england can be strange at times (although all and all i loved it there)
then again, with the lack of tipping and other such incentives, service on the whole is pretty poor there
a fun story was that we were drinking in one of the pubs and having a good time with the bartender who was up from south africa - he was making us snakebites and telling stories - basically a good guy - being americans we appreciated all that he was doing and threw a nice tip on the bill - he chases after us and pretty much brow beats us for insulting him - that he was quite well off and didn't our charity money
england can be strange at times (although all and all i loved it there)
South Africans HATE that. I have had the same experience too. They get all bent out of shape. I tried to explain it but they just gave it back to me. The SA ladies take tips though (?)...
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You wouldn't have won if we'd beaten you.
- Yogi Berra
I hear that the waitress has to pick up the cost of the meal if patrons they were waiting on get up and leave, so that stops me dead in my tracks right there.
Yeah that is true. I used to work as a waiter my Sr. year in college to help pay the bills.
The way it works is that when an order is placed, it is put into the computer, sent to the kitchen and logged on the bill. At the end of the night, the waiter/waitress has to turn over the credit card reciepts and cash to meet the total bill for the night, and the rest is kept as tips.
If you "dine and dash", you are triple screwing-over the waiter/waitress. First, they are responsible for the bill to the company. Second, they lose out on a tip (which is important b/c restaraunts are allowed to pay less than minimum wage hourly). And third they have to report a percentage of the sale as taxable income to the IRS, regardless if you leave a tip or not.
That said, there are all kinds of reasons for crappy service - kitchen is backlogged, somebody calls in sick and you have to cover more tables, etc... But in any case the waiter/waitress should apologize up front for any delays. 30 mins without attention is unacceptable under the worse circumstances.
EDIT - Ryan, if you have a problem with service, the best bet is to ask to speak with a manager about it. They have authority to waive the bill for unsatisfied customers without it being logged on the waitstaff bill, and that way it hits the company directly instead of the server.
South Africans HATE that. I have had the same experience too. They get all bent out of shape. I tried to explain it but they just gave it back to me. The SA ladies take tips though (?)...
When I went to Scotland I tipped everywhere.
The response I got was "Oh you are American! How can we help you!"
In Germany, it's rude to tip "outright" by leaving money on the table. But the server will round your bill up to a "easy" to figure amount.
If your bill comes to 71.55 EU total, they will round it up to 75 EU, or maybe even 80 EU if it's a "classy" restaurant.
In Mexico, tipping male employees of a strip-club (bouncers, bartenders, the doorman) is a good way to get your ass kicked. Remember...ONLY TIP THE DANCERS IN A MEXICAN STRIP-CLUB!
When I was in Italy they were offended by tipping. I never found out why
My sis and I were encouraged not to tip in Ireland. The locals told us that if we had really great service that we could buy the bartender a pint at the end of the night. I think we bought every bartender in Limerick a pint.
I've never run the bill. I used to wait tables and, as Bob said, it really screws the worker. I've been tempted to though when I have horrible service and am waiting and waiting for the check.
Once I left the wrong copy of a credit card receipt at the table. (I took the restaurant copy.) The waitress came running out into the parking lot yelling "excuse me! Excuse me!" and told me she needed the other copy. Everyone in the restaurant thought we ran the bill because she looked in the little bill portfolio, dropped it on the table and took off running. Poor girl.
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