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(Memphis 6/26/09) In this tough economy, the dine-and-dash has taken on a whole new twist. Now, businesses are fighting back.
When two diners at Buckely's restaurant walked out last night without paying their tab, the owner took matters into his own hands. He wasn't going to say goodbye to $100 worth of food without a fight. Apparently, the restaurant has seen it's fair share of dine-and-dashers lately. Whether it's coincidence or a statement on the economy, it's cutting into their bottom line.
Thursday, a night out on the town left one couple labeled thieves. Security cameras show the couple walk into the restaurant, order, eat, and walk out on their bill. Their bill shows they ordered the works; the filet, two bottles of wine, and extras. Then, they asked the server to get two more glasses of wine and dessert while they went out to smoke. But instead of firing up a cigarette, the owner says they fired up their engine.
"These people hit the door and hit their automobile as fast as possible," says Buckley's owner Ken Dick who waited nearly two hours for the couple to come back. Finally, after a lot of thought, he sent out a newsletter to roughly eight-thousand people -- complete with the couple's pictures and a stern warning for other businesses to keep an eye out for them. The reaction came quick.
"We've probably gotten over 700, 800 emails in just three hours," says Dick, who says customers are irate and upset. "As a community we need to stand up stick together, that's what the neighborhood watch is all about, we're utilizing all our means."
The restaurant went through the regular channels, including filing a police report. But in an era of tight budgets, Dick wasn't about to throw away profit on the age-old dine-and-dash.
"It's nothing new but you feel it more these days when you're watching every nickel, every dime," he says. "If they want to show up and bring us a check to pay the bill, I'll have no problem. I will be more than happy to send another email out and say 'Hey, these are some great people, they just made an honest mistake'."
By evening Friday, Dick says the dine-and-dasher came back to pay that bill, and to say 'sorry'. It's unclear whether the newsletter did the trick, but it certainly got a lot of attention.
- Cameras show couple feasting on filet, bottles of win, then skipping out on tab
- Couple told server they were 'going out to smoke'
- Restaurant emails couple's pics to listserve of more than 8-thousand people
(Memphis 6/26/09) In this tough economy, the dine-and-dash has taken on a whole new twist. Now, businesses are fighting back.
When two diners at Buckely's restaurant walked out last night without paying their tab, the owner took matters into his own hands. He wasn't going to say goodbye to $100 worth of food without a fight. Apparently, the restaurant has seen it's fair share of dine-and-dashers lately. Whether it's coincidence or a statement on the economy, it's cutting into their bottom line.
Thursday, a night out on the town left one couple labeled thieves. Security cameras show the couple walk into the restaurant, order, eat, and walk out on their bill. Their bill shows they ordered the works; the filet, two bottles of wine, and extras. Then, they asked the server to get two more glasses of wine and dessert while they went out to smoke. But instead of firing up a cigarette, the owner says they fired up their engine.
"These people hit the door and hit their automobile as fast as possible," says Buckley's owner Ken Dick who waited nearly two hours for the couple to come back. Finally, after a lot of thought, he sent out a newsletter to roughly eight-thousand people -- complete with the couple's pictures and a stern warning for other businesses to keep an eye out for them. The reaction came quick.
"We've probably gotten over 700, 800 emails in just three hours," says Dick, who says customers are irate and upset. "As a community we need to stand up stick together, that's what the neighborhood watch is all about, we're utilizing all our means."
The restaurant went through the regular channels, including filing a police report. But in an era of tight budgets, Dick wasn't about to throw away profit on the age-old dine-and-dash.
"It's nothing new but you feel it more these days when you're watching every nickel, every dime," he says. "If they want to show up and bring us a check to pay the bill, I'll have no problem. I will be more than happy to send another email out and say 'Hey, these are some great people, they just made an honest mistake'."
By evening Friday, Dick says the dine-and-dasher came back to pay that bill, and to say 'sorry'. It's unclear whether the newsletter did the trick, but it certainly got a lot of attention.
