ricgem2002 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I ate with a friend at a restaurant last weekend. It is a good (but not too expensive) restaurant. Two rows away from us were a couple who were in their (guessing) late fifties or early sixties. They chose a three course special . They had eaten the first course and most of the second course when the lady decided that the food was cold and not up to standard. They got up to leave but were approached by the waiter. The guy told them that the food was not good and had made his wife feel ill. They walked calmly to the door. The waiter took out his mobile phone and said he would call the police. The guy smiled, said "go ahead" then they calmly and slowly walked out. The waiter put his mobile phone away and sighed. At an opportune moment I asked him why he did not phone the police. He said that it would have been a waste of time as they would not have attended. It had, he assured me happened on previous occasions. Are we living in a country fit for scammers? my bold so on previous occasions they were selling food making people ill ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I understand it... It's only a civil offence, not a criminal offence. Stealing from a restaurant like that comes under contract law, rather than theft. So the police wouldn't attend because they couldn't do anything about it, the restaurant would need to make a civil claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindrift Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 You can walk out of a restaurant if you leave your name and address. The couple should have paid, then if the woman threw up half the food, they get half the bill back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artifact Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 my bold so on previous occasions they were selling food making people ill ? No. People had previously walked out without paying, the restaurant had then phoned the police who did not attend. I think that you know that this is what I meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strikerPaul Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I understand it... It's only a civil offence, not a criminal offence. Stealing from a restaurant like that comes under contract law, rather than theft. So the police wouldn't attend because they couldn't do anything about it, the restaurant would need to make a civil claim. It's not only a civil matter at all. Agreed that it's a grey area, but the offence is making off without payment. It would all depend on how much had been eaten, what they'd drunk etc, but you can't just walk out at the 2nd course stage without paying a penny or saying a word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strikerPaul Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 If he had exited the car park shortly afterwards in his car and accelerated to 35MPH in a 30MPH you can be sure they would have attended.... Zzzzzzzzzz boring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernStar Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I thought that my missspellingg wood evoke a responce . You should put your wood away young man, this is a family forum:hihi: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike84 Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I doubt the police would attend if they were called about this. I'm not sure that a crime has actually been committed, it would seem to be a civil matter. What the restaurant could do to stop this happening is to take a swipe of customers credit cards in the same way that hotels do for room deposits when you check in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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