A Charlottetown restaurant owner is crediting the public and the power of social media for helping her track down a family who feasted on lobster, oysters and drinks before pulling the infamous dine-and-dash.
Lisa Gale, owner of Lobster on the Wharf, said staff were surprised and disheartened when a family of four visiting from out of province skipped out on their $170 bill and tip Monday night.
“I talked to the server, and he was totally shocked. He said, ‘It was a mom and dad and two little kids. I never would’ve thought.'”
Gale said it’s not only hard on restaurants, but hard on servers who spend time waiting on customers for no tip.
“If it’s about not being able to afford it, I don’t know if you should go to a restaurant and order such a big meal,” she said.
“It’s not like they ordered a hamburger, they ordered a two-pound lobster. They took advantage of how busy the deck was.”
Staff at the Charlottetown restaurant Lobster on the Wharf were the victims of a dine-and-dash by a family of four on Monday. CBC’s Steve Bruce spoke with restaurant owner Lisa Gayle and Jordie Morgan, vice president Atlantic for Restaurants Canada, about the incident and how thefts like these can take a toll on businesses.
Gale said dining and dashing happens a few times a year, and the culprits usually get away with it. This was the first time it happened this year, and she hopes it will be the last.
Lobster on the Wharf staff were determined to find the family. They found security camera footage of them leaving, and Gale posted it to the restaurant’s Facebook page.
60,000 views
She said the post got about 600 shares and 60,000 views, and the calls started coming in. One led to the identity and phone number of the family.
“I believe they are from Ontario, they were here visiting, and when I reached out to ask why they left and didn’t pay their bill, they were more concerned with their pictures [being] on social media,” Gale said. “So I agreed if they sent me the money and paid for the meal that I would take the pictures down.”
Wednesday morning, she got an e-transfer for $170, and took down the post.
“It kind of turned into a good story with all the help from the good citizens and people looking at the post,” Gale said. “And I can’t thank them enough for helping. I never thought in a million years we’d recover that money.”
Jordi Morgan, the Atlantic vice president for Restaurants Canada, said it’s rare that customers intentionally leave without paying the bill.
But when it happens, it can hurt restaurants struggling with rising costs, fewer customers and tight margins.
“The odd $100 or $200 bill, in some cases, might be what a restaurant’s margin is for that day,” Morgan said.
“They have been squeezed, big time. Being squeezed by food prices, by higher labour costs, by lower foot traffic. You mix that all together and you get a triple whammy of bad effects impacting people’s margins.”
Morgan doesn’t think taking deposits on credit cards before a meal is the way to go.
“I think as long as it’s rare, and it’s something we don’t see developing into a trend, most restaurant operators would prefer to maintain that kind of service level they have now, where someone comes in, they’re made to feel comfortable, they have their meal, and conclude the transaction at the end of the meal.”
‘You’re going to get caught’
Charlottetown police encourage restaurants to report people who skip out on their bill.
Sgt. Melissa Craswell said it is a criminal offence that can lead to charges.
“We do what we can to try to track down people,” Craswell said. “We work with the restaurants to see how they want to deal with it.”
Restaurants will often work together to help each other find dine-and-dashers, Gale said. Sometimes it’s innocent. She’s had people who accidentally left, thinking someone else paid the bill, and came back to settle up. Some have even called the restaurant once they notice they were not charged for something.
“I think most people are good,” she said.
But Gale does have a message for anyone thinking about sneaking out without paying.
“There’s cameras everywhere now, and people have to know that. If you go out and eat, and go out and break the law, you’re going to get caught.”
This article is from from cbc.ca (CBC NEWS CANADA)
