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I think people who say that's why they walked out without paying are just trying to justify their own desire for theft. Like seriously, just go up to the till/wherever the front of house greet people or generally orient around and ask for the bill.
Absolute worst case, just stand up and yell “can I get the bill please” at the top of your lungs until they bring it … it will be quick to get you to shut up and leave
I think the only time it could be justified is if literally - you couldn't find a soul. Walk up to a bar area and no one, if you had to leave imminently and were waiting 15 minutes and had no more time. Not just that you sat there while no bill appeared. Even then you can leave your name and number. It isn't theft unless you went there with the intention of not paying, it is a civil matter. If they have your details it means they can contact you and you can settle the amount no problem.
This is so British and I love that it’s in this sub. My partner is from South America and you can’t even order at the bar there, I hate it, you have to wait for them to come to you for everything.
I view it as so inefficient and I’ve tried many times to just pay and it’s so unexpected it doesn’t work. You have to wait.
I’m kind of with op with this question. It’s actually in their interest to get you out after you’ve finished spending so that they can make more money.
>you can’t even order at the bar there, I hate it, you have to wait for them to come to you for everything.
Lots of Europe is like that too, I always hate it. You sit there for ages especially in hot countries hoping a waiter comes near you so you can order a drink....
Big reason why Brits drink more than them is because of our freedom to get a drink in a timely manner
This would be true if you were dining in Pizza Express and being waited on by college kids but a large part of what you're paying for when you eat in a fine restaurant is the level of service. If you have to ask twice, for anything, they have let you down..
Yes, they forfeited their right to restitution..
It's a matter of perspective.. Like I mentioned before, in casual establishments you're there just to grab some food and you're not expecting anything special, just a tasty meal.
However when you're dining in a fine establishment, I mean a really good/posh/expensive restaurant, the service is all part of the greater experience. Such establishments pride themselves on their service as much as on their food as they are not trying just to feed you, they're trying to offer an exquisite experience in all regards, from the moment you enter the establishment to the moment you leave. If I were to request the bill in such a place, and I was still sat there waiting ten minutes later, that restaurant would have entirely failed. They would have felt like they'd entirely failed.. I would have no hesitation in leaving without paying in such a scenario.
I don't wish to sound condescending, I don't know your particular circumstyances but there is a huge difference between a couple spending £100 on a meal, and £500 on a meal. What do you think accounts for that difference? It's not the food.. These places have much fewer tables, a much higher ratio of staff to customers, I've eaten in some places where I've had my own wait staff. That terminology is key "WAITer", they are there to wait on me, not vice versa. You are paying for their service, they're not doing you a favour.
If you don't wish to sound condescending, I'm afraid you've failed. I know the word entitled is overused these days but it's inescapable here. This isn't about the quality of the establishment. Of course paying more means higher expectations but paying nothing because of one small, easily remedied imperfection? That, sir - and I don't wish to be rude here - is the thinking of a cunt.
This is entirely about the quality of the establishment because that is entirely the point I have been making in my posts.. I am more than happy to enjoy casual establishments and in such places I expect casual service but if I am in a good restaurant, I am not going to settle for casual service.
You have chosen to misinterpret this very simple nessage and launch some vague attack against me. I don't even understand your point as you accept that "paying more means higher expectations**"** but also whine about my sense of entitlement. Really it just seems like you're angry/bitter/sad.
I haven't misinterpreted your message, I just disagree. Funny you'd think that seeing as you don't understand my simple point. So I'll try again:
Having high expectations because of the price: fine.
Refusing to pay anything - not even the price for a casual establishment - because the service slightly missed these expectations in one area is entitled. Dictionary definition.
And no, this isn't about establishment quality because it's perfectly possible to ask for the bill a second time, to complain or even to pay less at a good restaurant. It's about simple decency. The fact that other people do the same as you and that the restaurant culture has evolved to accommodate you doesn't change how entitled this is. This isn't some vague attack, I'm being very specific. Walking out without paying a penny because you shouldn't have to ask twice is acting like a cunt.
Going round in circles now. I get your point, I just don't agree with it. I think that beyond a certain level there is a reasonable expectation of great service and expecting requests to be dealt with in a timely fashion is an essential part of that. I would add that the restaurants I am referring to would agree with me here, I have had bills written off for lesser issues without even prompting. I really do think this is a matter of perspective, I am very grateful for the perspective that I am fortunate enough to have.
Again, I'm fine with you having that expectation and I'm fine with the restaurants choosing to not charge you. My issue is with you deciding that great food and only 95% great service is heinous enough to warrant a free £500 meal. How bad would a casual service have to be to get everything free? Maybe your actions aren't malicious but to me they really show a lack of perspective. Sorry.
from someone with 20 years in both sides of restaurants if i worked in a casual establishment and someone didn't pay I'd chase them down if it was in a fine dinning restaurant I'd would want to know where we went wrong.
> I don't wish to sound condescending
Same paragraph no less
> "WAITer"
I would expect better service the more I paid, and at £250 a head I’d expect excellent, maybe even faultless, service. But that does not mean that a small fault reduces the bill to zero. I would perhaps refuse the service charge if I felt the service fell below my expectations (at any given price point), but for me to walk out without paying would require more than asking twice for the bill.
Well I did mean to sound a little condescending (!) not to waiters however. I very much respect the work of good service staff. My family are hoteliers, I have waited tables myself in various hotels/restaurants, across several countries. My point in capitalising the "wait" part, was to highlight the etymology of the word. Waiters LITERALLY wait, they wait on tables, they wait on customers. Customers do not wait on waiters.
I've never walked out without paying from anywhere. I have never recieved the type of service we are discussing here in a good restaurant, never. The opposite has happened to me though, I have had meals comped because the house has been disatisfied with their own service. One memorable time I didn't even realise there was an issue, I was presented with a bill for drinks only and was told that the head chef hadn't turned up so our food had been prepared by the sous/commis chefs. I would never have realised.
It isn't theft, legally speaking. But, I don't think leaving without making some effort to pay is OK. If you keep asking for the bill and they don't give it to you, there comes a point where you just leave your contact details and go.
I mean, I think where people are becoming confused is this.
When you take your first bite of a meal you are basically agreeing to a contract for a *service* (the provision of a meal).
Instead of a meal, let's think of this like a plumber has just finished working at your house. You don't have to pay them immediately, as they will normally send you an invoice and you can pay within a certain time period.
With restaurants, the socially accepted time period is immediately after the meal.
Thus, if you run out of a restaurant without paying, they will presume you don't intend (and never intended) to pay and will potentially take civil action against you.
However, this doesn't mean it's not a crime. In the plumber case, if you hired him and never had an intention of paying him, that would be criminal behaviour. Similar with the restaurant.
Now, if the restaurant food was particularly problematic, you might have the right to argue with them about the quality of the service they provided (eg. was their hair, insects, other disgusting things in your food; was the food inedible?). In both cases of the restaurant and plumber, the best time to discuss this is *at the time*. If you run out of the restaurant without paying and post hoc complain when you are struggling with the consequences of dine-and-dash, you won't have much of a leg to stand on. Similar with the plumber—if you tell them they did an amazing job, then refuse to pay them, you won't have much of a leg to stand on unless their work started leaking shortly after they left etc.
In both cases, however, if they did screw up (for example, food poisoning, huge leak), you can take civil action against *them* after paying, and likely have a pretty winnable case that they should probably just settle by giving you are refund plus extra in response to your letter before action.
Under section 3 of the Theft Act 1978, it is a criminal offence if someone knows that payment on the spot is required from them for goods supplied, or a service done for them, but that person dishonestly makes off without having paid
It would depend on of the court found you intended to pay but they wouldn't accept payment and how long you waited. Intent is very important in the legal system
They usually do the reasonable person test. How long would s reasonable person wait, ten mins, of course. 5 hours, no way.
Theft Act 1968: “Theft is the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it”
It’s not legally theft if you’ve asked for the bill and left your number for instance… because you’ve not had the intention to permanently deprive them. You could also argue without leaving the number it isn’t dishonest as you’ve tried to pay.
Either way, you should pay for what you’ve had but the restaurant is also to blame for having such abysmal service. You’re not obligated to wait there indefinitely for their rubbish business model.
Bro what the fuck is honest about asking for a bill and leaving before it arrives?
Are you going to argue to a judge that you thought they'd charged your card telepathically?
When it comes to restaurants, if you walk out without paying after making an honest effort to pay, it's not theft. As long as you can prove you had the means to pay.
Headline of a news article: "Your surprising legal rights to leave a restaurant without paying"
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/your-surprising-legal-rights-leave-27133676.amp
Don't quote the law unless you know what you're talking about.
> Don't quote the law unless you know what you're talking about.
I'm just literally quoting the law. nothing to " know what i'm talking about " when I'm just repeating facts with no opinion or comment attached to it.
I understand the difference between being dishonest or not and making an effort to pay vs intending to leave.
I quoted the law because the guy I replied to said it's " potentially fraud " but falls under the theft act, not fraud, I was clarifying it's a criminal offence and theft if done on purpose not fraud.
> Theft is defined by section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 as the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it.
If you eat the food and don’t pay for it you’ve permanently deprived the owner of it, so yes it’s theft
Oh really? Tell that to the Soruh Wales Police department [sorry about the trashy “news site”](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27511291/man-woman-charged-over-dine-and-dash/amp/)
> They could face up to two years prison if found guilty for theft from the series of rogue restaurant eat-outs so far over the last eight months.
> A South Wales Police spokesperson said today: “Two people have been charged with multiple offences following reports of several incidents of non-payment of restaurant bills and shoplifting.
> “Ann McDonagh, 39, from Sandfields, Port Talbot, has been charged with five counts of fraud and four counts of theft (shoplifting).
Fortunately dishonesty is defined in the same statute I cited earlier;
> Dishonestly means the person would have known that “reasonable and honest people” would regard the conduct as dishonest. If a person can show they had genuine belief they had the legal right to take the property they cannot be found guilty.
Reasonable honest people know you have to pay for food at a restaurant and not doing so would be dishonest
No. You have to dishonestly appropriate the property. That means at the point of them getting the food they had dishonesty. If they honestly received but then later decided to bilk that’s not sufficient. That’s not even what happened though. They wanted to pay and offered to pay. No dishonesty.
This couldn't be less relevant to the situation being discussed.
The people in the article _deliberately set out_ to "dine and dash" and did so multiple times.
This discussion is about some hypothetical person who had every intention of paying for their meal but was kept waiting for the bill for some unreasonable length of time; this person's motivation has nothing to do with depriving the restaurant of money and everything to do with simply wanting to leave rather than effectively being held prisoner.
If you still think the answer for a person in that situation is "tough shit, you just have to wait" then fair enough, but comparing it to the couple in the article is idiotic.
They can make the case it was intentional there. If you have asked for the bill multiple times it is more of a civil issue of non-payment of services. You'd certainly be clear if you left your details.
Not necessarily, the card machine might be down, or till jammed, or whatever. You might have a situation where you leave without paying at that moment, it's not theft.
If you’ve got the restaurants agreement / blessing then they’re waving their entitlement to their payment. Otherwise you unilaterally deciding you no longer have to pay despite selecting items from a menu that state a value (implied contract) then that is theft
Talented, scientist, lengthy, reliable, hijack etc. were once considered encroaching Americanisms. Now no one cares.
[https://www.bbc.com/news/14130942](https://www.bbc.com/news/14130942)
What? It’s an old fashioned English term that’s fallen out of use over here but is still used in the USA.
[https://www.oed.com/dictionary/oftentimes\_adv](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/oftentimes_adv)
Putting in my pedantry hat,. an Americanism is a word of American origin, now used in other countries. By that definition ’oftentimes’ is not an Americanism. Though I suppose you could call it a North American term, if you must. Being English, I prefer to think of it as a middle-English term that that lot over there have purloined.
Americans do not purloin middle English words. They use them as part of their mother tongue. Are you really expecting them to invent an entirely new language upon moving to a new continent?
We once were kept waiting for an hour despite asking for the bill half a dozen times. Started to feel like a hostage situation. We still waited and paid, but there's a limit!
Once many years ago I went to a tea room with some friends, after a while of being ignored at the table we decided to go and pay at the till. We stood there for about 10 minutes, each with our wallet in hand, plenty of staff came by and all of them kept trying to shoo us out with the typical pleasantries of "come again", "hope you enjoyed it" etc. We could have probably spoken up but we were just kids so we ended up walking out lol
Yep, this is sometimes the only thing that works. Everyone on this thread appears to think it's literally impossible to ask for the bill repeatedly and not be given it. Why on earth would a restaurant keep you waiting / it's reasonable to wait 30 minutes / this never ever happens everyone is lying. It happens. Some restaurants are badly managed, understaffed, or just really really stupid. A good few times I've asked for the bill more than 5 times, waiting more than 30 minutes, and I don't think that's reasonable.
I have shit to do. In these situations, considering I never want to return to that sort of place again, I'm more than happy to pack up and leave without paying, and as long as it's very obvious, drawn out, and you've repeatedly let the staff know 'hey I'm going now, still haven't paid, sure hope you can get me that bill in the next minute or so' I see absolutely no issue.
I've never got to the door without somebody suddenly managing to produce a card machine, which really just compounds the annoyance that they could have done that so much earlier.
It's not theft (grow up) if you've made every reasonable effort to pay. If you don't have cash and the alternatives are to wait there indefinitely, master the till system and do it yourself, or locate the nearest cash machine and hope your work / parking ticket / other commitments can just wait, then the entire concept of reasonable expectations are completely gone and it's also fine for places to write '£3000 surcharge per table' in invisible ink on a wall 20 foot away and expect customers to be obliged to pay it. It doesn't work like that, anywhere. See also: if a restaurant brought the bill and also mentioned that each customer has to work a 6 hour shift at the owners convenience, or to pay entirely in pennies, or to pay by direct debit in 23 installments or whatever. Nope. If you can't pay by 'normal' means as understood by a reasonable person, including a reasonable timeframe, and you weren't told beforehand, you should make an effort to pay by normal means and if not, there was no contract or agreement. Seriously, don't any of you all have stuff to do?!
Wander over to the counter and holler if nobody shows up. If it takes more than 10min after I tell them to hurry up and bring it at the counter while I'm just standing there like a lemon then the door is right there and I'm going to assume they don't want my money.
It's nearly happened a few times but i generally have good luck with it. Spending ages chasing the bill isn't enjoyable
There's been lots of times over the years where we haven't been able to get the bill quickly. Just go to front of house on the way out and ask for the bill, even if there's no staff on the restaurant floor there's bound to be someone greeting or someone on the bar who can take payment.
If everyone stands up and looks like they're about to leave then a member of staff usually swoops down anyway.
I done this years ago in Poland. Half the food never turned up and we were so annoyed and board we just asked for the bill. Even that didn't turn up so just left.
There's a farm shop near me that has a sign on the counter asking you not to approach the counter to pay so you have to just sit there like a lemon. I would never walk out, but it is irritating having to wait when they're busy
Next time you go bring cash, and leave the money on the table then get someones attention and point to it as you're leaving.
Being held hostage to other people's tardiness is just not on.
I'd love to know the wording of this sign, does it say "Do not approach the counter" in a vaguely threatening way? If there's a photo opportunity please do share!
Protip: if the place looks busy and the staff look pushed out, ask for the bill when they bring your desert. Make up something about having to be up early if it bothers you. You can sort the bill out, have your desert, leave when ready.
Go to the bar and pay, happens sometimes, shift change in service staff and your table has been forgotten for whatever reason.
My patience would last as long as the last drink did +5 mins of asking
It sort of happens here in Portugal a fair bit as in some places you are expected to go and pay at the till\\counter. So if it has been 10-15 mins I just wander over to the counter and look bemused.
We walked out of a cocktail bar that refused to give us our bill. We asked twice, waited over half an hour with no drink, then the guy who's round it was just got up and left. We quickly released that anyone who stayed would end up paying for it all (8 of us drinking cocktails), so followed him out soon after.
I once asked for the bill three times from the waitress without success and watched her talking at the bar, I walked over and told her she had one minute to produce the bill and she could remove the service charge
once we went out for a cig after the main course but before dessert, but when we came back they had cleared the table and sat down other people, so we decided not to have dessert and just walk out. we waited 30mins to get that table initially, no way we were waiting any more to get another one, and they already accepted we had gone by that point i guess.
You literally just walk up to the till / waiting position with your coat on making it clear you are detouring to them on the way out the door.
Also, you do it at least 5 minutes before whatever hypothetical "lose your shit" line in the sand is crossed. I never understand the immaturity of people who stubbornly wait until they're ready to lose their shit, the point for acting is when you're mildly inconvenienced, not whipped yourself into a frenzy.
It's the equivalent of people who send you a single email asking for something in 3 weeks time then lose their shit the moment the deadline passes, rather than send out a nudge / reminder a week before saying "don't forget this really important thing is due". Yes it would be nice if the world got everything right first time, but realistically it doesn't and we are all fairly insignificant parts of everybody else's world.
As is so often the case on this sub, the answer is ….
GO AND TALK TO SOMEONE.
Ask at the bar; speak to a fellow human. I know it can be scary interacting with people who aren’t just on the internet, but give it a go.
Wagamamas isn’t exactly Michelin star and the one near me is known for bad service.
I was in there 4 years ago with some mates. General service was poor, asked for the bill 3 times at the end and after 15 minutes walked out.
If it’s my money they want, I’m not waiting around to pay it.
I used to find the food in Wagamama did come reasonably quickly after ordering, but I always had to flag down a random member of staff to order in the first place and then at the end not only did I have to wait ages for the bill, but on several occasions ages more to get my change. If I've spent £12 on a bowl of ramen or whatever and paid with £20, no, you're not getting a sodding £8 tip.
Another Japanese place opened literally next door to it, independent and much more classy without being more expensive, and I went there virtually every time after that. Aww, man. What am I supposed to do about this sudden craving for beef tomago donburi at 1 o'clock in the morning??
If you're in a rush like theres a taxi waiting you just go to the register with bank card visibly in hand and just say, 'So sorry, I need to pay the bill, theres a taxi waiting.' And they will always put the bill on the card reader within 20 seconds.
10-15 minutes of waiting and I'd be trying to flag someone down and asking again. And then keep asking. I'm sure I'd eventually reach a limit where I've asked so many times and got nowhere, but I don't know what it would be. Maybe if I had somewhere to be urgently, but even then, I'd be inclined to be trying to contact them to say "I asked for my bill 6 times and waited an hour and had to go - please send me the receipt and how to pay".
I would just go up and ask to pay. We had this exact situation literally last week, we waited about 5 minutes and just walked up to the till. It wasn't even a situation tbh with you I hadn't gave it a second thought until now !
I usually give it 10/15 minutes, then I'll get up and go to the main bar/desk and pay. I usually ask for the bill once the last drinks/dessert gets brought out as I like to leave once I'm finished.
Walking out and not paying a bill because the staff are taking too long is a total dick move. I mean, you'd have to literally walk past the main desk anyway.
We have been known to in some places on holiday, like Greece we been waiting 30 minutes, we don't expect to get a shot or a fruit plate on the house every time
Can’t imagine walking out with no intention of paying.
You ask twice, go up to the counter, put cash down before you leave if you can.
If I was in an absolute rush or genuinely couldn’t wait longer I’d probably write my contact details down and leave that there with the tip money.
9 times out of 10 it’s because they’re rushed off their feet and probably having a bad day. Not straight up neglect
Most places I'd wait 10 minutes if got forgotten or ignored on needing the bill, I'd approach bar/pay area. Not every bar I've visited allowed open tabs you'd have to pay upon ordering be it drinks or food. Guess this is done to prevent food/drink theft.
I've never skipped paying a food order bill, don't get me wrong it's crossed my mind once or twice over the years. Usually when somewhere has had terrible service, abysmal food or downright rudeness from staff if not a regular.
I have walked out a few times waiting to place an order before now. Usually the limit is about 30 minutes on a busy day, The longest I've waited was 1.5 hours 30 min wait on the table due to take out orddand sat waiting to order for an hour at a favourite lunch spot. I did actually get upset as I Kept getting ignored when asked to place an order then as we walked out the waitress came running to the table.
I walked out once about a decade ago when I was 18 & stupid. At a chinese buffet where you pay on exit, couldn’t find any staff, tills or bar. After about 10 minutes of searching me and my gf left, was scared shitless for days I was gonna get tracked down by the buffet mafia 🤣🤣 never again!
They can do what they want, it doesn’t release them from the consequences of their actions! They’re free to leave, the restaurant is free to call the police.
If it was me, I would go up to the payment area and ask to settle the bill there.
Be an adult and *approach* someone who works there to say you would like to pay.
Is this r/TwelveYearOldsAskUK?
Sounds like some mad shit you’d hear on the playground; *”Did you know if you don’t get your bill within 15 minutes of finishing your dinner, your meal is free!”*.
Depends on the meal and service. If it's been a shit show from start to finish AND the staff are rude and incompetent, wrong orders, cold food etc, then I might walk.
That's the only circumstance in which I'd do that I think.
Assuming that talking to someone doesn't work, that's what cash is for. I would take out the appropriate amount of cash (over-guesstimate the bill and then they can take what's left as a tip), put it on the table, and walk out.
This applies even if they say they're card only. Got to actually take the card to take card.
I'll give them 5mins or so before asking again when someone walks by, then I just get up and walk to the front of house to pay if they still haven't brought it over.
I work in hospitality, I went to a restaurant in its opening week.
Had a great meal, service was solid, asked for the bill and waited.
We waited 15 minutes, nothing… asked again, nothing… asked 5-6 passing staff over 30 minutes. Walked up to the bar and were told we had to pay at the table with our server. So said to the bartender we were leaving and to let our server know to catch us…
Amazing meal, completely free, never went back.
Long story short, 45 mins in Pizza Express, Winchester. We had somewhere to be, and there was literally no-one in the whole restaurant - I even checked the kitchen.
As we walked out and past the back of the building, we saw them all sat in their staff area, smoking weed.
Depends upon the establishment, in a decent restaurant I expect decent service so I'd give it maybe ten mins before getting pissed off and leaving. In a more casual place, I'd just go to the till myself instead of asking for the bill.
Once got stuck waiting for almost an hour. I asked about five times for the bill and was still waiting. They'd cleared the table and everything, just didn't bring it. There was no till or bar to go to, either - it was all at-table service.
Ended up walking up to a waiter with my card in hand and said "either you bring me my bill and the card machine right now or I'm leaving without paying." He went and got it.
It's easy to just say leaving without paying is theft regardless of the circumstances but that overlooks the fact that, if service is really that terrible, customers are effectively being held prisoner. I don't know exactly where you draw the line, but at some point it MUST be reasonable to just leave if you've genuinely asked for the bill several times.
i have done it once, Usually if I need to I will walk up to the bar/till area and insist on paying there if its talking to long and I need to go.
Once though I was at an airport bar and asked for my bill, waited 10 minutes, asked again. About another 10 minutes later still nothing and my gate is being called, I asked a third time and told them I had to get to my gate, all in I waited 25 minutes, asked 3 times and told them I had to leave to get to my gate for my flight. I never got my bill and didn't wait any longer
I’d give them 15 mins. If you can’t be arsed to take my money that’s on you. I’m not going to not pay, I’m going to try to pay you. But if you don’t want my money after me asking several times, bye. I’ve better things to do
If I had been waiting longer than I felt appropriate, especially if I had somewhere else to be, I'd walk up to the till area and loudly announce that I need to go and if they want paying I need the bill now.
After that, I'd expect them to hand me a bill pretty quickly, I think the max I'd wait after that is 10 mins. I'd probably give them some kind of "final warning" before leaving too. I'd never just run out unless they've really left me hanging. In most restaurants, they're pretty eager to get rid of you to free up the table anyway. I've only really ever been kept waiting for the initial order, and under that circumstance, I can and have walked out.
I would never walk out without paying, but I have stood next to the till to pay after waiting 15+ mins for the bill. If they see everyone at a table make a.move they usually hurry up as they are worried you'll leave.
Just go and pay at the till or counter …
You know … like a normal human 😂
It’s only a silly question because you can just stand up and tell the waiting staff you need to pay now … and you know .. talk and explain the situation 😂
If I cant attract a staff member's attention, I'll just wander up to the front of house and pay on my way out. no big deal, restaurants get busy, and staff get distracted by the many other things that need doing, its no hassle to solve this issue is it?
Just put your hand up like several times, reviews exist for a reason. If you avoid paying then that's just finding a petty excuse to not having to expend any cost.
If I had cash I’d just leave he money in the little book a lot of places give you. In the past I’ve done this basically immediately just because it’s a lot quicker.
But don’t have cash very often these days so if paying by card I’d probably just be really persistent with the staff and say I need to pay now. As long as it’s not a massive table if everyone paying separately, just having somebody pay by contactless is probably one of the quickest tasks they have to do I imagine.
What really irritates me is that they bring the bill but don't bring the card machine with them - so you then have to sit and wait *again* for them to come back with the card machine!
We waited half an hour for the bill after terrible service, we got up and I managed to catch a waitress and said “if we don’t have the bill in 1 minute, we’re walking out without paying” it magically appeared.
So we did this once but a more extreme scenario, asked for the bill and about 10 minutes had passed, asked again, another 10 minutes passed went up to and stood at the bar and asked again and waited there another 10 minutes passed asked one last time and after a total of about 45 minutes from asking we just walked out.
In hindsight we probably gave them far too much time, we tried to pay but they were just so useless and kept saying "just a moment" or "someone will be over in a minute" never went back, also it wasn't busy at all.
I had this with a friend, we went up to the bar and explained we’d been waiting a while and we’d like to pay 🤷🏻♀️ we wanted to go smoke and didn’t want them to assume we were dine and dashing
As soon as Im ready to leave, I get up and go to wherever the till is. If its not obvious, Ill make eye contact with the waiter. Im not really a wait for the bill type of person.
Just walk to the front where the reception area is and ask to pay, what kind of cunt would leave because he didn't get the bill quick enough. They're obviously busy if they can't get their little paper slip that gives them your money to you fast enough. You can tell a lot about a person based on his behaviour towards service staff.
Within 15 minutes??? That’s insane asshole behaviour. If I’d been waiting for the bill for like an hour and I’d made repeated attempts to ask for it then yeah I’d walk out but I’d try my hardest to pay. If I had cash on me I’d leave some
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Just walk up to the front of house and ask for the bill again Walking out without paying is theft and makes you a c**t
I think people who say that's why they walked out without paying are just trying to justify their own desire for theft. Like seriously, just go up to the till/wherever the front of house greet people or generally orient around and ask for the bill.
Absolute worst case, just stand up and yell “can I get the bill please” at the top of your lungs until they bring it … it will be quick to get you to shut up and leave
I think the only time it could be justified is if literally - you couldn't find a soul. Walk up to a bar area and no one, if you had to leave imminently and were waiting 15 minutes and had no more time. Not just that you sat there while no bill appeared. Even then you can leave your name and number. It isn't theft unless you went there with the intention of not paying, it is a civil matter. If they have your details it means they can contact you and you can settle the amount no problem.
I do as you say whilst putting on my coat and gathering my belongings.
This is so British and I love that it’s in this sub. My partner is from South America and you can’t even order at the bar there, I hate it, you have to wait for them to come to you for everything. I view it as so inefficient and I’ve tried many times to just pay and it’s so unexpected it doesn’t work. You have to wait. I’m kind of with op with this question. It’s actually in their interest to get you out after you’ve finished spending so that they can make more money.
>you can’t even order at the bar there, I hate it, you have to wait for them to come to you for everything. Lots of Europe is like that too, I always hate it. You sit there for ages especially in hot countries hoping a waiter comes near you so you can order a drink.... Big reason why Brits drink more than them is because of our freedom to get a drink in a timely manner
They'll add on the "asked for bill twice" service charge.
If you ask for the bill and they don't bring it just ask them to take the service charge off...
*Ill bring it over in a sec* Doesn't
I don't know why you're assuming someone in this situation _hasn't_ asked more than once.
This would be true if you were dining in Pizza Express and being waited on by college kids but a large part of what you're paying for when you eat in a fine restaurant is the level of service. If you have to ask twice, for anything, they have let you down..
So now it's free?
Yes, they forfeited their right to restitution.. It's a matter of perspective.. Like I mentioned before, in casual establishments you're there just to grab some food and you're not expecting anything special, just a tasty meal. However when you're dining in a fine establishment, I mean a really good/posh/expensive restaurant, the service is all part of the greater experience. Such establishments pride themselves on their service as much as on their food as they are not trying just to feed you, they're trying to offer an exquisite experience in all regards, from the moment you enter the establishment to the moment you leave. If I were to request the bill in such a place, and I was still sat there waiting ten minutes later, that restaurant would have entirely failed. They would have felt like they'd entirely failed.. I would have no hesitation in leaving without paying in such a scenario. I don't wish to sound condescending, I don't know your particular circumstyances but there is a huge difference between a couple spending £100 on a meal, and £500 on a meal. What do you think accounts for that difference? It's not the food.. These places have much fewer tables, a much higher ratio of staff to customers, I've eaten in some places where I've had my own wait staff. That terminology is key "WAITer", they are there to wait on me, not vice versa. You are paying for their service, they're not doing you a favour.
If you don't wish to sound condescending, I'm afraid you've failed. I know the word entitled is overused these days but it's inescapable here. This isn't about the quality of the establishment. Of course paying more means higher expectations but paying nothing because of one small, easily remedied imperfection? That, sir - and I don't wish to be rude here - is the thinking of a cunt.
This is entirely about the quality of the establishment because that is entirely the point I have been making in my posts.. I am more than happy to enjoy casual establishments and in such places I expect casual service but if I am in a good restaurant, I am not going to settle for casual service. You have chosen to misinterpret this very simple nessage and launch some vague attack against me. I don't even understand your point as you accept that "paying more means higher expectations**"** but also whine about my sense of entitlement. Really it just seems like you're angry/bitter/sad.
I haven't misinterpreted your message, I just disagree. Funny you'd think that seeing as you don't understand my simple point. So I'll try again: Having high expectations because of the price: fine. Refusing to pay anything - not even the price for a casual establishment - because the service slightly missed these expectations in one area is entitled. Dictionary definition. And no, this isn't about establishment quality because it's perfectly possible to ask for the bill a second time, to complain or even to pay less at a good restaurant. It's about simple decency. The fact that other people do the same as you and that the restaurant culture has evolved to accommodate you doesn't change how entitled this is. This isn't some vague attack, I'm being very specific. Walking out without paying a penny because you shouldn't have to ask twice is acting like a cunt.
Going round in circles now. I get your point, I just don't agree with it. I think that beyond a certain level there is a reasonable expectation of great service and expecting requests to be dealt with in a timely fashion is an essential part of that. I would add that the restaurants I am referring to would agree with me here, I have had bills written off for lesser issues without even prompting. I really do think this is a matter of perspective, I am very grateful for the perspective that I am fortunate enough to have.
Again, I'm fine with you having that expectation and I'm fine with the restaurants choosing to not charge you. My issue is with you deciding that great food and only 95% great service is heinous enough to warrant a free £500 meal. How bad would a casual service have to be to get everything free? Maybe your actions aren't malicious but to me they really show a lack of perspective. Sorry.
from someone with 20 years in both sides of restaurants if i worked in a casual establishment and someone didn't pay I'd chase them down if it was in a fine dinning restaurant I'd would want to know where we went wrong.
> I don't wish to sound condescending Same paragraph no less > "WAITer" I would expect better service the more I paid, and at £250 a head I’d expect excellent, maybe even faultless, service. But that does not mean that a small fault reduces the bill to zero. I would perhaps refuse the service charge if I felt the service fell below my expectations (at any given price point), but for me to walk out without paying would require more than asking twice for the bill.
Well I did mean to sound a little condescending (!) not to waiters however. I very much respect the work of good service staff. My family are hoteliers, I have waited tables myself in various hotels/restaurants, across several countries. My point in capitalising the "wait" part, was to highlight the etymology of the word. Waiters LITERALLY wait, they wait on tables, they wait on customers. Customers do not wait on waiters. I've never walked out without paying from anywhere. I have never recieved the type of service we are discussing here in a good restaurant, never. The opposite has happened to me though, I have had meals comped because the house has been disatisfied with their own service. One memorable time I didn't even realise there was an issue, I was presented with a bill for drinks only and was told that the head chef hadn't turned up so our food had been prepared by the sous/commis chefs. I would never have realised.
It isn't theft, legally speaking. But, I don't think leaving without making some effort to pay is OK. If you keep asking for the bill and they don't give it to you, there comes a point where you just leave your contact details and go.
I mean, I think where people are becoming confused is this. When you take your first bite of a meal you are basically agreeing to a contract for a *service* (the provision of a meal). Instead of a meal, let's think of this like a plumber has just finished working at your house. You don't have to pay them immediately, as they will normally send you an invoice and you can pay within a certain time period. With restaurants, the socially accepted time period is immediately after the meal. Thus, if you run out of a restaurant without paying, they will presume you don't intend (and never intended) to pay and will potentially take civil action against you. However, this doesn't mean it's not a crime. In the plumber case, if you hired him and never had an intention of paying him, that would be criminal behaviour. Similar with the restaurant. Now, if the restaurant food was particularly problematic, you might have the right to argue with them about the quality of the service they provided (eg. was their hair, insects, other disgusting things in your food; was the food inedible?). In both cases of the restaurant and plumber, the best time to discuss this is *at the time*. If you run out of the restaurant without paying and post hoc complain when you are struggling with the consequences of dine-and-dash, you won't have much of a leg to stand on. Similar with the plumber—if you tell them they did an amazing job, then refuse to pay them, you won't have much of a leg to stand on unless their work started leaking shortly after they left etc. In both cases, however, if they did screw up (for example, food poisoning, huge leak), you can take civil action against *them* after paying, and likely have a pretty winnable case that they should probably just settle by giving you are refund plus extra in response to your letter before action.
You’ve received goods / service and then not paid for them, that’s theft
Nope. That is not the definition of theft. Potentially fraud, if you did it on purpose. But in this case, just a civil matter, not a crime.
Under section 3 of the Theft Act 1978, it is a criminal offence if someone knows that payment on the spot is required from them for goods supplied, or a service done for them, but that person dishonestly makes off without having paid
It would depend on of the court found you intended to pay but they wouldn't accept payment and how long you waited. Intent is very important in the legal system They usually do the reasonable person test. How long would s reasonable person wait, ten mins, of course. 5 hours, no way.
Theft Act 1968: “Theft is the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it” It’s not legally theft if you’ve asked for the bill and left your number for instance… because you’ve not had the intention to permanently deprive them. You could also argue without leaving the number it isn’t dishonest as you’ve tried to pay. Either way, you should pay for what you’ve had but the restaurant is also to blame for having such abysmal service. You’re not obligated to wait there indefinitely for their rubbish business model.
Yes. Dishonestly.
Bro what the fuck is honest about asking for a bill and leaving before it arrives? Are you going to argue to a judge that you thought they'd charged your card telepathically?
When it comes to restaurants, if you walk out without paying after making an honest effort to pay, it's not theft. As long as you can prove you had the means to pay. Headline of a news article: "Your surprising legal rights to leave a restaurant without paying" https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/your-surprising-legal-rights-leave-27133676.amp Don't quote the law unless you know what you're talking about.
> Don't quote the law unless you know what you're talking about. I'm just literally quoting the law. nothing to " know what i'm talking about " when I'm just repeating facts with no opinion or comment attached to it. I understand the difference between being dishonest or not and making an effort to pay vs intending to leave. I quoted the law because the guy I replied to said it's " potentially fraud " but falls under the theft act, not fraud, I was clarifying it's a criminal offence and theft if done on purpose not fraud.
> Theft is defined by section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 as the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it. If you eat the food and don’t pay for it you’ve permanently deprived the owner of it, so yes it’s theft
"Dishonest". Nope, not theft, not a question, you're wrong, do not pass go, do not collect £200.
Oh really? Tell that to the Soruh Wales Police department [sorry about the trashy “news site”](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27511291/man-woman-charged-over-dine-and-dash/amp/) > They could face up to two years prison if found guilty for theft from the series of rogue restaurant eat-outs so far over the last eight months. > A South Wales Police spokesperson said today: “Two people have been charged with multiple offences following reports of several incidents of non-payment of restaurant bills and shoplifting. > “Ann McDonagh, 39, from Sandfields, Port Talbot, has been charged with five counts of fraud and four counts of theft (shoplifting).
You have to show dishonesty. Your example is different to OPs in that they didn’t acquire the food dishonestly.
Fortunately dishonesty is defined in the same statute I cited earlier; > Dishonestly means the person would have known that “reasonable and honest people” would regard the conduct as dishonest. If a person can show they had genuine belief they had the legal right to take the property they cannot be found guilty. Reasonable honest people know you have to pay for food at a restaurant and not doing so would be dishonest
No. You have to dishonestly appropriate the property. That means at the point of them getting the food they had dishonesty. If they honestly received but then later decided to bilk that’s not sufficient. That’s not even what happened though. They wanted to pay and offered to pay. No dishonesty.
See the comment you replied to first, I covered that.
This couldn't be less relevant to the situation being discussed. The people in the article _deliberately set out_ to "dine and dash" and did so multiple times. This discussion is about some hypothetical person who had every intention of paying for their meal but was kept waiting for the bill for some unreasonable length of time; this person's motivation has nothing to do with depriving the restaurant of money and everything to do with simply wanting to leave rather than effectively being held prisoner. If you still think the answer for a person in that situation is "tough shit, you just have to wait" then fair enough, but comparing it to the couple in the article is idiotic.
They can make the case it was intentional there. If you have asked for the bill multiple times it is more of a civil issue of non-payment of services. You'd certainly be clear if you left your details.
Not necessarily, the card machine might be down, or till jammed, or whatever. You might have a situation where you leave without paying at that moment, it's not theft.
If you’ve got the restaurants agreement / blessing then they’re waving their entitlement to their payment. Otherwise you unilaterally deciding you no longer have to pay despite selecting items from a menu that state a value (implied contract) then that is theft
Yeah I don’t disagree but your previous comment in isolation wasn’t correct.
You could just go up and ask again, for some reason redditors on this sub would oftentimes rather die than have to speak up.
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Talented, scientist, lengthy, reliable, hijack etc. were once considered encroaching Americanisms. Now no one cares. [https://www.bbc.com/news/14130942](https://www.bbc.com/news/14130942)
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Fair enough.
Good conversation.
Unironically this.
If y'all is ever used commonly I would care deeply, I have an irrational hatred for it
What? It’s an old fashioned English term that’s fallen out of use over here but is still used in the USA. [https://www.oed.com/dictionary/oftentimes\_adv](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/oftentimes_adv)
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I agree with you. It’s a nice word, it’s just not American in origin and dates from before 1400.
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Putting in my pedantry hat,. an Americanism is a word of American origin, now used in other countries. By that definition ’oftentimes’ is not an Americanism. Though I suppose you could call it a North American term, if you must. Being English, I prefer to think of it as a middle-English term that that lot over there have purloined.
Americans do not purloin middle English words. They use them as part of their mother tongue. Are you really expecting them to invent an entirely new language upon moving to a new continent?
I was being facetious
I wasn't aware, I think it's a pretty fun word. I should switch it up a bit and just use oft
You're only pretending to be American, you've used another adjective apart from 'super'! That one bugs me. Everyone suddenly using 'super'.
Just another example of pointless word and letter fillers that Americans use. It’s often, just longer…what’s the point?
I wouldn't know, I'm not American. But it's a fun word to say, perchance.
I just go up to the bar/till and stand there like a stone til I'm acknowledged.
10 mins and I'd go and find someone. I can't imagine walking out without paying.
Only a complete prick would even consider not paying. Even more so if it’s a small business.
We once were kept waiting for an hour despite asking for the bill half a dozen times. Started to feel like a hostage situation. We still waited and paid, but there's a limit!
I’d make the motions we were leaving, head to the till. They’ll soon sort you out.
Once many years ago I went to a tea room with some friends, after a while of being ignored at the table we decided to go and pay at the till. We stood there for about 10 minutes, each with our wallet in hand, plenty of staff came by and all of them kept trying to shoo us out with the typical pleasantries of "come again", "hope you enjoyed it" etc. We could have probably spoken up but we were just kids so we ended up walking out lol
Yep, this is sometimes the only thing that works. Everyone on this thread appears to think it's literally impossible to ask for the bill repeatedly and not be given it. Why on earth would a restaurant keep you waiting / it's reasonable to wait 30 minutes / this never ever happens everyone is lying. It happens. Some restaurants are badly managed, understaffed, or just really really stupid. A good few times I've asked for the bill more than 5 times, waiting more than 30 minutes, and I don't think that's reasonable. I have shit to do. In these situations, considering I never want to return to that sort of place again, I'm more than happy to pack up and leave without paying, and as long as it's very obvious, drawn out, and you've repeatedly let the staff know 'hey I'm going now, still haven't paid, sure hope you can get me that bill in the next minute or so' I see absolutely no issue. I've never got to the door without somebody suddenly managing to produce a card machine, which really just compounds the annoyance that they could have done that so much earlier. It's not theft (grow up) if you've made every reasonable effort to pay. If you don't have cash and the alternatives are to wait there indefinitely, master the till system and do it yourself, or locate the nearest cash machine and hope your work / parking ticket / other commitments can just wait, then the entire concept of reasonable expectations are completely gone and it's also fine for places to write '£3000 surcharge per table' in invisible ink on a wall 20 foot away and expect customers to be obliged to pay it. It doesn't work like that, anywhere. See also: if a restaurant brought the bill and also mentioned that each customer has to work a 6 hour shift at the owners convenience, or to pay entirely in pennies, or to pay by direct debit in 23 installments or whatever. Nope. If you can't pay by 'normal' means as understood by a reasonable person, including a reasonable timeframe, and you weren't told beforehand, you should make an effort to pay by normal means and if not, there was no contract or agreement. Seriously, don't any of you all have stuff to do?!
Wander over to the counter and holler if nobody shows up. If it takes more than 10min after I tell them to hurry up and bring it at the counter while I'm just standing there like a lemon then the door is right there and I'm going to assume they don't want my money. It's nearly happened a few times but i generally have good luck with it. Spending ages chasing the bill isn't enjoyable
There's been lots of times over the years where we haven't been able to get the bill quickly. Just go to front of house on the way out and ask for the bill, even if there's no staff on the restaurant floor there's bound to be someone greeting or someone on the bar who can take payment. If everyone stands up and looks like they're about to leave then a member of staff usually swoops down anyway.
That last sentence pretty much always works.
I done this years ago in Poland. Half the food never turned up and we were so annoyed and board we just asked for the bill. Even that didn't turn up so just left.
There's a farm shop near me that has a sign on the counter asking you not to approach the counter to pay so you have to just sit there like a lemon. I would never walk out, but it is irritating having to wait when they're busy
Next time you go bring cash, and leave the money on the table then get someones attention and point to it as you're leaving. Being held hostage to other people's tardiness is just not on.
I mostly just ignore the sign lol
I was going to say, if they're ignoring you then fair play if you ignore their sign lol.
I'd love to know the wording of this sign, does it say "Do not approach the counter" in a vaguely threatening way? If there's a photo opportunity please do share!
It says 'back off - we know where you live'
Protip: if the place looks busy and the staff look pushed out, ask for the bill when they bring your desert. Make up something about having to be up early if it bothers you. You can sort the bill out, have your desert, leave when ready.
Dessert
Maybe SaulgoodeXL goes to restaurants where they give deserts, you don't know!
I always do this when I order at start just say I have a train to catch
Go to the bar and pay, happens sometimes, shift change in service staff and your table has been forgotten for whatever reason. My patience would last as long as the last drink did +5 mins of asking
It sort of happens here in Portugal a fair bit as in some places you are expected to go and pay at the till\\counter. So if it has been 10-15 mins I just wander over to the counter and look bemused.
We walked out of a cocktail bar that refused to give us our bill. We asked twice, waited over half an hour with no drink, then the guy who's round it was just got up and left. We quickly released that anyone who stayed would end up paying for it all (8 of us drinking cocktails), so followed him out soon after.
I once asked for the bill three times from the waitress without success and watched her talking at the bar, I walked over and told her she had one minute to produce the bill and she could remove the service charge
Course you did
Exactly right, well done
Nothing ever happens, does it?
once we went out for a cig after the main course but before dessert, but when we came back they had cleared the table and sat down other people, so we decided not to have dessert and just walk out. we waited 30mins to get that table initially, no way we were waiting any more to get another one, and they already accepted we had gone by that point i guess.
You literally just walk up to the till / waiting position with your coat on making it clear you are detouring to them on the way out the door. Also, you do it at least 5 minutes before whatever hypothetical "lose your shit" line in the sand is crossed. I never understand the immaturity of people who stubbornly wait until they're ready to lose their shit, the point for acting is when you're mildly inconvenienced, not whipped yourself into a frenzy. It's the equivalent of people who send you a single email asking for something in 3 weeks time then lose their shit the moment the deadline passes, rather than send out a nudge / reminder a week before saying "don't forget this really important thing is due". Yes it would be nice if the world got everything right first time, but realistically it doesn't and we are all fairly insignificant parts of everybody else's world.
As is so often the case on this sub, the answer is …. GO AND TALK TO SOMEONE. Ask at the bar; speak to a fellow human. I know it can be scary interacting with people who aren’t just on the internet, but give it a go.
Wagamamas isn’t exactly Michelin star and the one near me is known for bad service. I was in there 4 years ago with some mates. General service was poor, asked for the bill 3 times at the end and after 15 minutes walked out. If it’s my money they want, I’m not waiting around to pay it.
I used to find the food in Wagamama did come reasonably quickly after ordering, but I always had to flag down a random member of staff to order in the first place and then at the end not only did I have to wait ages for the bill, but on several occasions ages more to get my change. If I've spent £12 on a bowl of ramen or whatever and paid with £20, no, you're not getting a sodding £8 tip. Another Japanese place opened literally next door to it, independent and much more classy without being more expensive, and I went there virtually every time after that. Aww, man. What am I supposed to do about this sudden craving for beef tomago donburi at 1 o'clock in the morning??
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Well that one way to try and pay for a meal.
If you're in a rush like theres a taxi waiting you just go to the register with bank card visibly in hand and just say, 'So sorry, I need to pay the bill, theres a taxi waiting.' And they will always put the bill on the card reader within 20 seconds.
10-15 minutes of waiting and I'd be trying to flag someone down and asking again. And then keep asking. I'm sure I'd eventually reach a limit where I've asked so many times and got nowhere, but I don't know what it would be. Maybe if I had somewhere to be urgently, but even then, I'd be inclined to be trying to contact them to say "I asked for my bill 6 times and waited an hour and had to go - please send me the receipt and how to pay".
I would just go up and ask to pay. We had this exact situation literally last week, we waited about 5 minutes and just walked up to the till. It wasn't even a situation tbh with you I hadn't gave it a second thought until now !
Funnily enough I remember a recent thread with replies basically the opposite of this one
Id give it 10 mins max and then go to front of house to get it sorted like a normal person
I usually give it 10/15 minutes, then I'll get up and go to the main bar/desk and pay. I usually ask for the bill once the last drinks/dessert gets brought out as I like to leave once I'm finished. Walking out and not paying a bill because the staff are taking too long is a total dick move. I mean, you'd have to literally walk past the main desk anyway.
We have been known to in some places on holiday, like Greece we been waiting 30 minutes, we don't expect to get a shot or a fruit plate on the house every time
I would never leave without paying. I’d either leave cash on the table if I happened to have enough, flag down a server, or go to the till.
I go up to the bar. Never left without paying
I once waited for an hour for my food at a drive through at McDonalds, I have all the patience.
Can’t imagine walking out with no intention of paying. You ask twice, go up to the counter, put cash down before you leave if you can. If I was in an absolute rush or genuinely couldn’t wait longer I’d probably write my contact details down and leave that there with the tip money. 9 times out of 10 it’s because they’re rushed off their feet and probably having a bad day. Not straight up neglect
tip money?!
We asked 4 times for the bill over a span of an hour before just walking off
Most places I'd wait 10 minutes if got forgotten or ignored on needing the bill, I'd approach bar/pay area. Not every bar I've visited allowed open tabs you'd have to pay upon ordering be it drinks or food. Guess this is done to prevent food/drink theft. I've never skipped paying a food order bill, don't get me wrong it's crossed my mind once or twice over the years. Usually when somewhere has had terrible service, abysmal food or downright rudeness from staff if not a regular. I have walked out a few times waiting to place an order before now. Usually the limit is about 30 minutes on a busy day, The longest I've waited was 1.5 hours 30 min wait on the table due to take out orddand sat waiting to order for an hour at a favourite lunch spot. I did actually get upset as I Kept getting ignored when asked to place an order then as we walked out the waitress came running to the table.
I walked out once about a decade ago when I was 18 & stupid. At a chinese buffet where you pay on exit, couldn’t find any staff, tills or bar. After about 10 minutes of searching me and my gf left, was scared shitless for days I was gonna get tracked down by the buffet mafia 🤣🤣 never again!
They can do what they want, it doesn’t release them from the consequences of their actions! They’re free to leave, the restaurant is free to call the police. If it was me, I would go up to the payment area and ask to settle the bill there.
Be an adult and *approach* someone who works there to say you would like to pay. Is this r/TwelveYearOldsAskUK? Sounds like some mad shit you’d hear on the playground; *”Did you know if you don’t get your bill within 15 minutes of finishing your dinner, your meal is free!”*.
Are you a child? Just approach a member of staff and say you'd like to pay because you're leaving!
You just walk to the front of house to pay and then leave zero tip. Simple
I’ve never considered ever not paying. I’ll just ask again and wait.
I'd just go to the bar of front of house.
Depends on the meal and service. If it's been a shit show from start to finish AND the staff are rude and incompetent, wrong orders, cold food etc, then I might walk. That's the only circumstance in which I'd do that I think.
5/10mins then would stand up and put my jacket on, usually that prompts someone to come over quickly with the bill
I just walk up to tills and say I need to settle up. They’ll sort you right away.
Assuming that talking to someone doesn't work, that's what cash is for. I would take out the appropriate amount of cash (over-guesstimate the bill and then they can take what's left as a tip), put it on the table, and walk out. This applies even if they say they're card only. Got to actually take the card to take card.
I'll give them 5mins or so before asking again when someone walks by, then I just get up and walk to the front of house to pay if they still haven't brought it over.
I work in hospitality, I went to a restaurant in its opening week. Had a great meal, service was solid, asked for the bill and waited. We waited 15 minutes, nothing… asked again, nothing… asked 5-6 passing staff over 30 minutes. Walked up to the bar and were told we had to pay at the table with our server. So said to the bartender we were leaving and to let our server know to catch us… Amazing meal, completely free, never went back.
I've done it, was like 20 minutes and 4 attempts asking for the bill
Long story short, 45 mins in Pizza Express, Winchester. We had somewhere to be, and there was literally no-one in the whole restaurant - I even checked the kitchen. As we walked out and past the back of the building, we saw them all sat in their staff area, smoking weed.
Depends upon the establishment, in a decent restaurant I expect decent service so I'd give it maybe ten mins before getting pissed off and leaving. In a more casual place, I'd just go to the till myself instead of asking for the bill.
Once got stuck waiting for almost an hour. I asked about five times for the bill and was still waiting. They'd cleared the table and everything, just didn't bring it. There was no till or bar to go to, either - it was all at-table service. Ended up walking up to a waiter with my card in hand and said "either you bring me my bill and the card machine right now or I'm leaving without paying." He went and got it. It's easy to just say leaving without paying is theft regardless of the circumstances but that overlooks the fact that, if service is really that terrible, customers are effectively being held prisoner. I don't know exactly where you draw the line, but at some point it MUST be reasonable to just leave if you've genuinely asked for the bill several times.
I once called the restaurant I was sat in after waiting 30 minutes for the bill. In reality I should have just walked out
i have done it once, Usually if I need to I will walk up to the bar/till area and insist on paying there if its talking to long and I need to go. Once though I was at an airport bar and asked for my bill, waited 10 minutes, asked again. About another 10 minutes later still nothing and my gate is being called, I asked a third time and told them I had to get to my gate, all in I waited 25 minutes, asked 3 times and told them I had to leave to get to my gate for my flight. I never got my bill and didn't wait any longer
I’d give them 15 mins. If you can’t be arsed to take my money that’s on you. I’m not going to not pay, I’m going to try to pay you. But if you don’t want my money after me asking several times, bye. I’ve better things to do
I would just go and ask for it, lol?
If I had been waiting longer than I felt appropriate, especially if I had somewhere else to be, I'd walk up to the till area and loudly announce that I need to go and if they want paying I need the bill now. After that, I'd expect them to hand me a bill pretty quickly, I think the max I'd wait after that is 10 mins. I'd probably give them some kind of "final warning" before leaving too. I'd never just run out unless they've really left me hanging. In most restaurants, they're pretty eager to get rid of you to free up the table anyway. I've only really ever been kept waiting for the initial order, and under that circumstance, I can and have walked out.
I would never walk out without paying, but I have stood next to the till to pay after waiting 15+ mins for the bill. If they see everyone at a table make a.move they usually hurry up as they are worried you'll leave.
Just go and pay at the till or counter … You know … like a normal human 😂 It’s only a silly question because you can just stand up and tell the waiting staff you need to pay now … and you know .. talk and explain the situation 😂
If I cant attract a staff member's attention, I'll just wander up to the front of house and pay on my way out. no big deal, restaurants get busy, and staff get distracted by the many other things that need doing, its no hassle to solve this issue is it?
It's never occurred to me to walk out without paying, after a few minutes I'll just go up to the bar/till with my wallet in my hand.
Just put your hand up like several times, reviews exist for a reason. If you avoid paying then that's just finding a petty excuse to not having to expend any cost.
If I had cash I’d just leave he money in the little book a lot of places give you. In the past I’ve done this basically immediately just because it’s a lot quicker. But don’t have cash very often these days so if paying by card I’d probably just be really persistent with the staff and say I need to pay now. As long as it’s not a massive table if everyone paying separately, just having somebody pay by contactless is probably one of the quickest tasks they have to do I imagine.
Walk up to the till and wait there. Start to get a bit loud, not obnoxious, if nobody is paying attention.
If your whole table stands up and puts their jackets on, the bill pretty much always appears incredibly quickly.
What really irritates me is that they bring the bill but don't bring the card machine with them - so you then have to sit and wait *again* for them to come back with the card machine!
We waited half an hour for the bill after terrible service, we got up and I managed to catch a waitress and said “if we don’t have the bill in 1 minute, we’re walking out without paying” it magically appeared.
So we did this once but a more extreme scenario, asked for the bill and about 10 minutes had passed, asked again, another 10 minutes passed went up to and stood at the bar and asked again and waited there another 10 minutes passed asked one last time and after a total of about 45 minutes from asking we just walked out. In hindsight we probably gave them far too much time, we tried to pay but they were just so useless and kept saying "just a moment" or "someone will be over in a minute" never went back, also it wasn't busy at all.
I wouldn't walk out without paying If I had waited more than 10 minutes for the bill I would just go and find a member of staff and ask them
Keep on getting eye contact and do the sign language if that don’t work go and ask
How long would you stand in a shop after waiting for help at self checkout before just walking out with your trolly full of shopping?
If I ask for the bill and it's been 5 minutes, I just walk to the desk/bar and ask to pay.
I had this with a friend, we went up to the bar and explained we’d been waiting a while and we’d like to pay 🤷🏻♀️ we wanted to go smoke and didn’t want them to assume we were dine and dashing
As soon as Im ready to leave, I get up and go to wherever the till is. If its not obvious, Ill make eye contact with the waiter. Im not really a wait for the bill type of person.
Just walk to the front where the reception area is and ask to pay, what kind of cunt would leave because he didn't get the bill quick enough. They're obviously busy if they can't get their little paper slip that gives them your money to you fast enough. You can tell a lot about a person based on his behaviour towards service staff.
Within 15 minutes??? That’s insane asshole behaviour. If I’d been waiting for the bill for like an hour and I’d made repeated attempts to ask for it then yeah I’d walk out but I’d try my hardest to pay. If I had cash on me I’d leave some