Dine And Dash [General]
2008 Feb 22
I have lots of friends in the food service industry, they say Dine & Dash is a sad fact of life. IMO, it is outright stealing! One of my girlfriends say that each of the wait staff at her establishment pays into a weekly D&D fund that is meant to cover these @-holes. Good idea, I suppose.
But between the D&D Fund, Tip Out and Breakage & Uniform allowances, I'm thinking that all this hurts those that are paid the least. Somethings in my opinion should just be covered off by management, afterall they can write it off as the cost of doing business.
But between the D&D Fund, Tip Out and Breakage & Uniform allowances, I'm thinking that all this hurts those that are paid the least. Somethings in my opinion should just be covered off by management, afterall they can write it off as the cost of doing business.
2008 Feb 22
This is not exactly "dine and dash", but when I worked at the Penguin on Elgin in the mid-eighties, I watched from the back as the husband of the woman who paid the bill come back to the table and take the tip and stuff it in his pocket. (All of it--and the bill had been substantial.)
I heard him tell his wife he'd forgotten his scarf.
Now, that's stealing.
I heard him tell his wife he'd forgotten his scarf.
Now, that's stealing.
2008 Feb 22
Glinda - Ok let me get this right... she paid, and left a tip. He came back to the table and pocketed the tip. You can bet these two are no longer married. LOL
I always worry (unnecessarily) when I leave the bill and the money, including tip on the table. "The Man" says not to worry, but I always try to get the server's attention so they know we've left the cash on the table. Afterall, IF God forbid someone took the money off the table, the poor server would be out their funds, and would think we stiffed them. I much prefer the extra time it takes to give the money to the server directly.
I always worry (unnecessarily) when I leave the bill and the money, including tip on the table. "The Man" says not to worry, but I always try to get the server's attention so they know we've left the cash on the table. Afterall, IF God forbid someone took the money off the table, the poor server would be out their funds, and would think we stiffed them. I much prefer the extra time it takes to give the money to the server directly.
2008 Feb 22
F&T:
In all the years I worked at serving, I only had one true Dine and Dash, and I ran out after them, and they paid me! (I was polite, and they pretended they'd forgotten. It also helped that the manager ran out with me ;-)
But I do worry about those poor servers--I know they have to make up the cash at the end of the night, and if they are short, it comes out of their own pockets.
In all the years I worked at serving, I only had one true Dine and Dash, and I ran out after them, and they paid me! (I was polite, and they pretended they'd forgotten. It also helped that the manager ran out with me ;-)
But I do worry about those poor servers--I know they have to make up the cash at the end of the night, and if they are short, it comes out of their own pockets.
2008 Feb 22
Food and think said "I always worry (unnecessarily) when I leave the bill and the money, including tip on the table. "The Man" says not to worry, but I always try to get the server's attention so they know we've left the cash on the table. Afterall, IF God forbid someone took the money off the table, the poor server would be out their funds, and would think we stiffed them. I much prefer the extra time it takes to give the money to the server directly."
I couldn't agree more and actually stayed behind once to make very sure the server got her tip. While vacationing in Toronto a few years ago I headed over to Honest Ed's for dinner one night. Ed had just downsized his famous roast beef house and revamped the menu focussing more on bistro style fare (for lack of a better word) instead of serving up his famous roast beef. There were two waiters on duty. The male waiter spent most of his time milling around "supervising" while the woman was running around trying to serve the customers with no help whatsoever. The meal was mediocre but the waitress provided wonderful service describing menu items, offering suggestions and matching wines. When I paid the bill I left her a nice tip. (I think I left her 15% to 20% tip.) During my meal I noticed the other waiter collecting the money left on the table for both the tab and the tip. I was wondering to myself if the waitress was actually getting any of her tip money. So when I finished my meal I slowly put my jacket on and lingered abit and sure enough the waiter came by to collect my money. I took the tip money back and told him I would give it to the waitress myself since she served me and with excellent service. When I gave the money to the waitress she thanked me and told me she was wondering why she wasn't getting any tips all evening. So I make sure the tip money goes to the person who served me.
I couldn't agree more and actually stayed behind once to make very sure the server got her tip. While vacationing in Toronto a few years ago I headed over to Honest Ed's for dinner one night. Ed had just downsized his famous roast beef house and revamped the menu focussing more on bistro style fare (for lack of a better word) instead of serving up his famous roast beef. There were two waiters on duty. The male waiter spent most of his time milling around "supervising" while the woman was running around trying to serve the customers with no help whatsoever. The meal was mediocre but the waitress provided wonderful service describing menu items, offering suggestions and matching wines. When I paid the bill I left her a nice tip. (I think I left her 15% to 20% tip.) During my meal I noticed the other waiter collecting the money left on the table for both the tab and the tip. I was wondering to myself if the waitress was actually getting any of her tip money. So when I finished my meal I slowly put my jacket on and lingered abit and sure enough the waiter came by to collect my money. I took the tip money back and told him I would give it to the waitress myself since she served me and with excellent service. When I gave the money to the waitress she thanked me and told me she was wondering why she wasn't getting any tips all evening. So I make sure the tip money goes to the person who served me.
2008 Feb 22
I had an incident at Eggspectations on Bank. Me and my boyfriend had eaten our bunch and gotten our bill and left a visa with the bill and we were waiting for the server to pick it up. We had had such horrible service during our meal, and after waiting 1/2 hour for him to come buy and take the money we decided to track him down and GIVE him the Visa and pay. He quickly apologized and ran off with the Visa and bill. We waited another long period and finally he came back with the bill. When we opened up the book to sign and leave tip we saw that it didn't even look like he properly processed it. There was no new paper to sign, just the bill and the Visa were in there like originally.
We thought about it and then just decided to leave. If the waiter is too busy to care about his customers and get things right he SHOULD pay out of his own pocket...
Turns out in the end when I checked my Visa bill later, that our horrible server had billed us TWICE! I called Visa and claimed I hadn't eaten at Eggspectaion at all and they removed the charges :)
We thought about it and then just decided to leave. If the waiter is too busy to care about his customers and get things right he SHOULD pay out of his own pocket...
Turns out in the end when I checked my Visa bill later, that our horrible server had billed us TWICE! I called Visa and claimed I hadn't eaten at Eggspectaion at all and they removed the charges :)
2008 Feb 23
Several years ago, I went to Robbie’s for dinner since someone had given me a gift certificate. When it came time to pay, the gift certificate and a few dollars covered the bill and tip so I just left everything on the table.
I’m backing out of my parking spot when I look out my side window and there’s my waiter standing there staring at me. This is how I learned that there are two Robbie’s in Ottawa (Robbie’s Italian Restaurant on St-Laurent and Robbie’s Spaghetti House on Walkley) . My gift certificate, which did not have an address on it, was for the other restaurant.
When I went back in to pay, the owner/manager said that this was a common mistake and that the two restaurants used to accept each other's gift certificates.
I’m backing out of my parking spot when I look out my side window and there’s my waiter standing there staring at me. This is how I learned that there are two Robbie’s in Ottawa (Robbie’s Italian Restaurant on St-Laurent and Robbie’s Spaghetti House on Walkley) . My gift certificate, which did not have an address on it, was for the other restaurant.
When I went back in to pay, the owner/manager said that this was a common mistake and that the two restaurants used to accept each other's gift certificates.
2008 Feb 23
On the very rare occasion that I've been left high and dry with no waitstaff, and no bill to pay, I put the $$ on the table and I leave. If someone pockets it... (which I do not at all wish).. it is their own fault. That being said, maybe happened to me twice or three times in my life (and I've hit a fair share of meals out...)
Captain Caper
"I was working as a waitress at the now-long-defunct Cafe des Copains in downtown Toronto..."
I always wanted to ask a wait staff if they ever been walked out on (with the customer NOT paying his bill) ? .... as in Dine and Dash.
Another Dine And Dash question.... If a couple leaves a resto (actually a taverna) after waiting foe 1:15hr for the bill, with no one around ... Does that make it a Dine and Dash ?
Happened to us on our honeymoon in Greece, 1986.
Any other Dine and Dash Stories ???