'Just sick of the crime': Restaurants dealing with in an increase of people dining and dashing
'Just sick of the crime': Restaurants dealing with in an increase of people dining and dashing
It's a problem restaurants around Winnipeg are dealing with – people ducking out without paying, leaving the business to foot the bill.
"I can tell you that the people that are doing it aren't the people who are coming here because they're looking for a sandwich because they're hungry," said Ravi Ramberran, "It's the people who are not afraid of consequences period."
In the wake of the increase in dine and dashers, Ramberran said his restaurant has ramped up how they deal with it.
"We blast them on Facebook, we hold them, we make them wait for the cops...We do what's in our power to do."
If it's becoming a big issue, why not ask people to put a credit card on deposit when they sit down?
"The Winnipeg Police Service said it does not track dine and dash incidents, but does say if there are threats or violence restaurants should call the police."
Wait? They're not supposed to call the police when they've been robbed? Theft of service is a crime is it not? If the police aren't doing anything that's the problem
They’re not supposed to call the police when they’ve been robbed? Theft of service is a crime is it not? If the police aren’t doing anything that’s the problem
I'm speculating here, but I guess it boils down to the amount of money involved combined with the absence of threats or violence.
In general it makes little sense to spend resources investigating a non-indictable offense where the perpetrator is unlikely to be found in the first place and even if they are found the cost of even finding and processing then is much higher than the monetary damage they caused.
If it’s becoming a big issue, why not ask people to put a credit card on deposit when they sit down?
Restaurants that see you pay after the event are really in the experience business. Putting a card down takes away from the experience.
That's not a problem, as such, when all restaurants are doing it, but it's hard to go first as it compels customers to go elsewhere. Which you especially can't afford when dine-and-dashers are already hurting you.
It will likely go that way eventually. But it's a big risk and will no doubt claim some casualties when it comes.
I would have no problem paying early. It would make going out for food when you have limited time better because you can just walk out whenever.
One solution would be to pay at the time that you order, but then I'd be horrified at the concept of being asked to tip BEFORE your meal, in which case tipping switches from being mild/borderline extortion to being full-on blatant extortion. So, credit card for deposit would be better, like someone else suggested.
Or, if the point of this isn't to ask for solutions but to complain about 'people getting worse'... There's always been shit-heads and there's always going to be shit-heads out there. Maybe the percentages are shifting, but if so it's likely the not-so-new problem of cities growing bigger and feeling less like a community, and if someone doesn't feel like they have any connection or responsibility to the people that live around them, then this and countless other crimes and social breakdown tend to result. Maybe the nature of the internet and media etc. is making that worse, but if so it's still only a different flavour to the old and ongoing task of maintaining social cohesion one generation to the next. I admit, some days I almost want to lose faith in that, but it's gonna take more than an increase in petty theft to do it today.
Just don’t ask for tips, seems like you found a solution for 2 problems
Paying before is a possible solition, but it's a double-edged sword for restaurants.
I would imagine that the sticker shock would lead to people spending less on their overpriced food and drinks, ignoring the outrageous tip on top of that.
I'd lose my appetite 😂
Also how do you handle things that pop up mid meal? Like a second beer/cocktail with your meal.
I think a deposit when you sit down makes the most sense. If paying by card, then just keep their card on file for the duration of the meal, if cash, then do a small deposit per person - less than the cost of the meal, but enough to make dining and dashing really not worth the risk/effort.
Not exactly perfect, but itd work
I would imagine that the sticker shock would lead to people spending less on their overpriced food and drinks
I'm not sure sticker shock affects people when it comes to food. Maybe because they are going to buy it no matter what.
Look at the cost of cooking at home. The cost of an average property in Canada's metros is around $1,000 per square foot. An average kitchen is 100 square feet.
If you buy a house at the age of 30, you might use it for, what, 50 years? It's not hard to get 5% interest these days, so if you stuck that amount in the bank instead you would have $1.1 M after 50 years. In other words, it costs $60 per day just to have an idle kitchen in your home.
Heaven forbid you actually use it. The average meal takes around 30 minutes to make and cleanup. The average wage is around $30 per hour. If we assume three meals per day, that's $45 spent. We're up to $105 per day and we still don't have any food.
The average person spends $200 per month on groceries. So that brings us up to $111 per day, or nearly $40 per meal. Hope you are a good cook! And I didn't bother even getting into other costs like electricity, maintenance, etc. associated with owning and operating a kitchen. Doesn't phase people one bit.
It is true that you can improve upon those numbers if you have a family, but one-person households are the predominant household type in Canada (and increasingly).
Maybe do it like gas stations where you pre-auth $200 or $300 then at the end they just charge you for what you end up using.
I.e. pre-auth $200 and then at the end of your meal, get the bill for $100, put down a 15% tip, they only charge your card for $115 afterwards.
It's almost like refusing to address the cost of living crisis has victims. Can you believe it?
From the actual post.
"I can tell you that the people that are doing it aren't the people who are coming here because they're looking for a sandwich because they're hungry,"
Thing is, you're not wrong either. The cost of living crisis does have victims, but the sort of people doing dine and dash are rarely those victims.
If anything they make it worse for people on low income jobs like waiting staff. Dine and dash is like the opposite of leaving a tip. It's like reaching into an underpaid service workers pocket and pulling the money out.
It's tricky, especially if we want to stay non-judgemental, but there does seem to be a difference between people trying to steal bread and flour from a supermarket and folk sitting down to a three course and running without paying, and I suspect that difference might be one of class and privilege rather than not.
Just have tables put a card down to open a tab, like standing at a bar
I am more than willing to pay when I order but I will not be tipping then.
You can always tip after. Tips are between you and the server anyway. The business is not part of that transaction.
You can always tip after. Tips are between you and the server anyway. The business is not part of that transaction.
Not true in many places. Lots of restaurants pool all the tips, then distribute them to all staff, sometimes even owners and managers.
Then don't go out to restaurants. Don't tip on bad service, but if you had good service, you not tipping is just you punishing the server for doing their job. They pay out to the kitchen and bar on every table, regardless if you tip, so when you don't tip, your server has to pay out of pocket to serve you. Don't care? Why don't you tell that server working 2 jobs to "just quit". You don't need to go out to eat. They do need to pay their bills. Stop patronizing an industry that exploits its workers, and then make it the worker's problems.
Just incease the mimimum tip!
/s