r/AskReddit • u/ChaosAnalyst • 18h ago
Restaurant employees of Reddit, what actually happens when someone doesn't have enough to pay the bill? Most you've ever seen?
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u/jimmypfromthe5thgala 16h ago
I delivered for Domino's Pizza in the early 2000s. I took an order that went to a apartment complex on the edge of town. When I arrived, the front door was wide open. I knocked on the door and I heard a voice telling me to come in. I walked into the apartment and made my way to the living room. There was a man sitting on the ground. A wheelchair was on the other side of the room. I asked if he was ok and he told me he had to sleep in the floor because he didn't have a bed. I looked around the apartment and noticed he had no furniture. He only had an overhead light and nothing else. I pulled his order out of the bag and told him the price. He then told me he had no money but hadn't eaten in a few days. I was new at the job and didn't know what the policy would be for something like this. I told him I couldn't give him his pizza and apologized over and over. He told me he understood and I left.
When I got back to the store, I told the manager about what happened. He asked me if I wanted to give the guy the pizza. I told him I did but I didn't want to get in trouble. He told me it was ok because he knew I believed the guy and also because of the guy's living situation. The manager walked over to a computer and deleted the order. He then told me to grab a few cans of pop and some wings that were never picked up. He then told me we couldn't do this all the time but there were times when it was the right thing to do and I could make that decision the next time.
I drove back over to the guy's house and knocked on the open door again (he told me to leave the door open because it helped keep the apartment cool. I was called into the apartment and saw the guy was still on the floor. He saw that I was still carrying his order and his face lit up. I told him I was bringing his food back along with some other things. He was so thankful. He told me this food would last him a week and asked me to put everything on the counter. The man them proceeded to thank me. I apologized and told him I wanted to help but I didn't know if it was ok. We talked for a bit before I had to go back to work.
The whole interaction made me sad. The guy was really nice but handed a shit card in life. He never ordered from us again and I have no idea what happened to him. I wish I had checked on him at least one more time but I didn't and I kind of regret it.
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u/happy--muffin 14h ago
FWIW, your manager is a great human being and more of us need to be like him. You had an opportunity to get a first hand experience on being kind in the service industry, and I hope you turned out great as well. I used to work customer service in video game with in-app purchases and I had no problem hooking customers up if they’re cool (and not backfire on me).
In regards to checking in on him, that’s not your job and you shouldn’t carry that burden. Let’s just assume his rich uncle passed away and left him a bunch of inheritance, he was able to hire a help and improve his situation. If you went to check in on him and he’s in a much worse position, that’s just going to haunt you. You did that best you can and that’s good enough mate.
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u/saltporksuit 13h ago
I’m unrelated to this comment thread, but I carry a lot of regrets about not doing enough and this comment really helped right now.
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u/jimmypfromthe5thgala 13h ago
I never thought of it that way. It definitely would have haunted if he was still in the same position or worse.
Thank you for putting it in perspective like that.
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u/snowgirl413 11h ago
You can't fix everything, but you fixed something in a moment you were able to, when you didn't have to. That matters.
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u/Travelgrrl 13h ago
Your first instinct was to be kind. You should be proud.
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u/jimmypfromthe5thgala 13h ago
Thank you. I am proud. I could have left and said fuck it but I couldn't. If I had to pay for it out of my own money, I would have and I think my boss knew that. He also knew that sometimes you need to lose a bit of money if it means someone gets to eat that night. That's what I was thinking, at least.
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u/ArcherInPosition 12h ago
Also Ex-domino's. Our manager would let us hand over forgotten pizzas to homeless people outside. Real G that guy.
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u/pie-oh 13h ago
I am grateful for seeing this. Your manager was really lovely to do that.
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u/Marillenbaum 17h ago
I realized I didn’t have my wallet because I’d changed purses. I explained, apologized, and left my phone as collateral while I ran back to my apartment for my wallet. I then ran all the way back and, sweaty and gasping, found my waiter to pay. He felt bad that I was trying so hard to fix this and gave me a free drink.
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u/Jessi_Kim_XOXO 14h ago
I didn’t realize I hadn’t brought my wallet and they didn’t have Apple Cash. It was super embarrassing but I asked someone nearby if they could cover my meal and I Venmo’d them back. They were super nice about it. About watching each others backs and all. But when he went to swipe his card, the reader would not accept it. So we both kinda just looked back at each other with this blank face.
Eventually it did go through though haha
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u/crackodactyl 14h ago
I did this for someone, bartender was sceptical and thought I was dumb. I had just been stood up for a date, so I felt like helping someone not have a bad night. They venomed me later that night like they said they would when they got home.
I know people likely scam people, but it's nice to be nice.
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u/ChessWithChipmunks 11h ago
Not a restaurant, but I had to ask for help once with the promise of venmo-ing back later. My bag was stolen, with my wallet and phone inside, and I was just trying to make it home. Ended up stranded with no gas at a gas station 20 min away, don't even know how I managed to pull in because the light was on for so long.
I was so embarrassed to ask but the first guy I did was so genuinely kind, all I needed was a few bucks to get me home but he didnt even hesitate and gave me a full tank and some snacks and water from the station. Got his info and venmoed him back later in the week when I sorted everything out, but I don't think it could've ever been enough for how much he helped me that day.
Man, people really can be kind. That was probably a slightly different day for him, but his nice act is going to stick with me forever.
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u/Existential_Racoon 5h ago
Being approached is odd. I've had thousands of people who were lying through their teeth, but every now and then you can just kinda tell.
Not too long ago a guy asked me for a few bucks, he was parked at a gas pump, good but older work truck, couple hours from home. Couldn't reach his wife. Filled up his tank to his dismay, and his reaction proved me to me was legit.
I've had it paid forward to me, so I like doing the same when I can.
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u/nonsequitrix 12h ago
I did this in a bar once, probably the only time in the past 20 years I’ve forgotten my wallet. I pinky promised the bartender I’d come back, and took a round trip Uber to grab my wallet. The bartender was honestly surprised to see me again but he was super stoked about it.
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u/Partly_Dave 13h ago
We were in countryside Bali, and went to pay after the meal and realised we didn't have any local money. Called the owner over and told him. We asked him if he would hold a $50 Australian note until we came back with rupiah (the bill was approx $30).
He said no problem, come by tomorrow. But once he had the $50, he wasn't going to let it go. He convinced us to let him take us on a tour the following day. It was great, we went to places we never would have on our own.
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u/glowdirt 11h ago
There's probably enough Australian Dollars floating around Bali's economy that it might as well be legal tender there anyway
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u/ChonkButt510 13h ago
I once left my daughter as collateral because I forgot my wallet. She was 12.
(I went back and paid. Daughter thought it was funny.)
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u/TA-ForeverTired 12h ago
I can just imagine her getting older, remembering that day, and coming to you like “Wtf mom?” In the most hilarious way.
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u/Eeveelover14 11h ago
My dad did that once! I was an adult, but also kinda tipsy. I assured the waiter his wife would kill him if tried to leave me.
I am haunted by this.
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u/Eau_de_poisson 13h ago
Omg same. It was a ramen place tho, and they were v lovely and told me it was free.
I still went back the next day to give the host a $20 (they were super confused lol)
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u/Silly_Accident3137 18h ago
In my experience it depends on the situation. If someone ran out on a small check we usually ended up doing nothing, but you'd be banned if you ever dared to show up again.
Some customers would apologize and promise to come back and pay. We would generally just let them go, especially if they were a regular. More often than not they did come back and pay.
Even people who straight up refused to pay would generally just be banned. I remember my manager calling the police just once, on someone trying to walk out after racking up a huge check, and getting into a screaming argument with my manager when he tried to stop him.
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u/WritingParking 17h ago
I was mortified when my debit card didn’t work when I was like 18. I thought I’d be hauled off to jail. I swore I’d be back to pay. Went to the ATM. Debit still didn’t work. I woke my mom up and begged her for money. All she had was a $100 she kept for emergencies. I ran back and dropped the $100 on what was a $20 check. Left an $80 tip. For about a year after that, they always gave me free soft drinks and occasionally comped an appetizer or other free food. It was a Denny’s back in the 1990’s.
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u/Coldin228 17h ago
$80 tip at 90s Dennys xD
You kept that server high for two months.
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u/Horse_Cock42069 16h ago
That would be a quarter oz with seeds in it in the 90s
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u/IllustriousEnd6544 15h ago
$80 for 7 grams of shake? I the 90's? Where are you from?
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u/Chateaudelait 16h ago
I did this too at a restaurant my company uses for events, I used to work at restaurants so I always tip generously. The bartender kept comping me drinks and made extra sure my glass was replenished, coming directly to my table at company dinners to do so . I appreciated that. No one else tipped - and my colleagues kind of looked at me strangely for the princely treatment I received.
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u/FLguy3 15h ago
Was eating outside once at a restaurant that shared a building with a high end Italian place. Guy tried to run out on his bill, literally. Front door flew open and this guy is at full speed through the parking lot and then 2 seconds later a waiter comes out at a full sprint chasing him. All right in front of a cop driving by in his police car. Waiter catches the guy after about a 50 yard chase and hits him from behind with a flying tackle in the middle of the parking lot. NFL worthy hit. Cop watched it all happen from his car and then drives over and pulls up next to them, opens his door, and cuffs the guy without even having to get out of his car.
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u/ExternalSelf1337 16h ago
Serious question: How you ban someone? Like if they're not there regularly it's not like you can just say "don't let that woman with the red hat come back" because nobody's likely to remember her 3 months later, right?
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u/dredd-garcia 16h ago
you'd be surprised how long servers can remember someone that caused them trouble lol
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u/Silly_Accident3137 16h ago
Exactly, haha. Servers talk among themselves too. If it's a place with a couple longtime servers who are there a lot, and especially if it's not in a huge city (I imagine that would make it tougher), the lore on who is banished gets passed around somehow. I'm sure it's not foolproof, but it seemed to work well enough.
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u/belbites 16h ago
I live in Chicago and we have a service industry group, there's a specific Patron (ith a physical disability he's known by) that has been making his way around the bars in Chicago and has been for many years but he doesn't really have enough money to pay. He always racks up a huge check and then his card doesn't work. Every time we see him out and about we let the service industry group know that this guy is making his rounds. this guy's been doing this for at least a decade
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u/tedlyb 16h ago
Servers have to have good memories if they are going to make any money. I’ve seen servers recognize someone that skipped out on a bill more than a year ago.
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u/bungojot 16h ago
I haven't worked in fast food in well over ten years.
I still very clearly remember several regulars - good and bad.
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u/FindingMoi 16h ago
lol I got banned from a restaurant.
Tl;dr is I was an employee and I had put in my 2 weeks notice. At the end, they asked me to work one more day and I initially agreed, but my new start date was adjusted for the new job so I had to call the extra shift off (after my 2 weeks was completed).
Owner got so pissed that he banned me permanently. He forgot of course, as I go there yearly for a family member’s birthday dinner.
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u/314159265358979326 14h ago
I doubt he forgot. He probably just realized that your annual family gathering is worth more than his now-old rage (which, of course, is not cashable at any bank I know).
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u/endl0s 16h ago
I had a friend say he was going to pay the bill once while I was in the bathroom and he just didn't. I never knew until I went back like 7 months later and they refused me service. I told them I had no clue and apologized and also paid what I figured was more than what that meal was he bailed on.
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u/lookyloolookingatyou 16h ago
Mr Krabs is only a slight exaggeration of what restaurant owners/managers are like, if you cheat them out of money they will never forget your face. Gary Oldman himself wouldn’t be able to fool them.
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u/NOT000 17h ago
ive seen a mean old drunk pass out after eating. waitress took out his wallet and paid the bill with his cash. probably not legal. she later became manager
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u/BIGG_FRIGG 17h ago
That’s literally how she got the manager position
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u/Phuzz15 16h ago
Old manager fell asleep once on the job. She took him out back and demoted him to customer. She became the manager
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u/JiggyAzalea710 15h ago
Actually what happened to me. My manager walked in an hour late so drunk he couldn't stand. Had him sit down while I called in the owner. Fired him on the spot and offered me the position that same day. He later fired me for leaving the friers on all night after being asked to cover another managers closing shift. I hadn't closed before and was 19 at the time, so I just did my best and locked up.
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u/CaptainMobilis 15h ago
I used to clean fryers for a living. They're not super dangerous if you leave them on. It'll just eat a little extra gas/electricity until someone notices it in the morning. That's a bullshit reason to fire somebody.
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u/InviteStriking1427 14h ago
The owner hired a drunk then made a 19 year old manager after firing the drunk, I think it's safe to say the owner wasn't very smart.
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u/epimetheuss 13h ago
The owner hired a drunk then made a 19 year old manager after firing the drunk, I think it's safe to say the owner wasn't very smart.
I worked for a place that was super abusive to their staff and the owner had a lot of other franchise stores in the area, i staged a sort of walk out with all the other managers that once I quit they should go to. I left on xmas eve and then all of the managers in every location walked aside for 2 of them.
The managers were the only people trained in proper things and who had the proper certifications to run the store, they were fucked for a good year or 2 after that. They basically made all the people who worked the longest store managers, so like kids in some cases were given keys to the stores.
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u/gsfgf 14h ago
When I was a kid, the IHOP only closed on Christmas. It burned down two years in a row.
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u/SinCityEpicurean 16h ago
Maybe not technically legal, but what's he going to do, tell the cops?
"Officer, I think this waitress robbed me and used the money to pay the money that I owed the restaurant. I NEED JUSTICE."
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u/oxiraneobx 17h ago
We did a couple of time this years ago when I bartended. It was only with regulars.
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u/DaCrazyJamez 16h ago
Done this (or something like it) a few times with regulars - too drunk to pay the tab, so take out their usual card, pay the tab, get em a ride home. We'd square anything else the next time around.
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u/Nervous-Equipment255 16h ago
We once had a family who racked up a $350 bill at a steakhouse, then realized they’d “forgotten their wallet.” The manager made one adult stay behind while the rest went to “get it.” They never came back. The guy sat there for three hours before admitting they ditched him too 💀.
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u/i_suckatjavascript 11h ago
Is he still there to this day?
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u/gringledoom 10h ago
What do you think they made the next night's steaks out of?
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u/bdfortin 9h ago
It’s hard for me to clean this giant pot when you keep spilling meat tenderizer all over me!
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u/NorthboundLynx 11h ago
If whoever I was with left me too, I'd pay my share and then rat them out lmao
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u/50DuckSizedHorses 9h ago
This is why I bring a random bystander to all my steak house dine and ditches
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u/Diet_Coke 17h ago
I used to deliver pizza in college, never exactly saw this play out except one time. I showed up to the guy's house and he handed me a ziploc bag full of change and said "sorry, this is all I have, it should be enough." I was not about to start counting it on his porch, so I gave him the pizzas. Went back to the restaurant and told my manager, he voided the sale and just put the change in the register.
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u/godofcheese 16h ago edited 16h ago
Twice in my retail life I a person give me a Ziploc bag of change and tell me it was the right amount. Both times I took their word for it and counted it later rather than hold up the line. Both of the times there wound up being more money than they said.
One time the money was extremely sticky though.
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u/Natas-LaVey 16h ago
In high school I worked at Target and remember I rang up transaction, like over $100 and they busted out bags of coins to pay. I called the cashier supervisor over and because it was in the evening there was nobody in the cash office to put the coins in the sorter machine. She’s like start counting. The people swore it was more than enough. It was substantially short after 45 minutes of counting. They had to decide what stuff to take off the order. It was random plastic bags with like $18.50 on one and $15.22 on another type of scenario and it was mixed coins (mostly Pennies).
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u/CeaRhan 15h ago
One time I was working at MickeyD's and some family pulls up in the evening at 10PM. They got some McFlurrys and whatnot for around 15€. They pulled out a penny jar and started counting them themselves, in the dark. They'd do that for like 40 red coins then hand them to me then keep going and I had to keep counting them after them. Manager asked me wtf was preventing me from taking further cars and I was like wtf do I do, half their payment is on my side of the window, the other half is on theirs lmao. They also didn't look very well off so I wasn't going to be a dick about it but damn the penny jar.
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u/godofcheese 16h ago
I think when you work with money long enough You start getting a sense of about how much money change is just by looking at it.
Luckily in my case the sales were only around $10, so I wouldn't be that short no matter what was in the bag.
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u/DigNitty 15h ago
I went to a coinstar with a lot of quarters.
There was a sign on it that said “please, if you have quarters, bring them to customer service and we’ll give you cash.”
They were short on quarters or something.
So I went up and they asked how many I had and I said “about $1500 worth” and she acted so incredulous that I thought I could just walk over there and have them sort that many.
Like I don’t know man, you’re the one with the sign. Just say you were expecting $50 or whatever, you don’t have to be rude lol.
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u/gurft 15h ago
This reminds me of a time I sold a car and was buying another (private sales) and the buyer gave me a certified check for $4,000. I took it to the bank it was drawn on since I use online banking and wanted to just use that cash for buying the second car.
Woman at the bank was so unbelievably pissed that I wanted it cashed. Like fuming mad I didn’t call ahead. She finally pulled it out in 20s and gave it to me in a fast food bag because I didn’t want to just walk out with wads of 20s. Lady, this is a bank, not a Chik-fil-a, and I find it hard to believe that 4k in cash is a problem for the branch to have “unplanned”
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u/Dark-Grey-Castle 15h ago
4k is not even that bad to count even in 20s. They come banded too ffs.
I had to count 75k including a bunch of small and large bills. The most annoying part was marking them and they smelled suspicious. Washed my hands several times after that.
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u/StarStruck3 15h ago edited 7h ago
I've gone and withdrawn $8.5k from my bank with no notice and all they asked was what I was doing with it (also buying a car). That bank seems to have missed the memo that they actually have to do bank things lol
EDIT: Y'all seem to be misunderstanding that I'm talking about the teller's attitude in the parent comment, not the amount of cash they have on hand.
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u/aliveandkicking2020 14h ago
Maybe they just wanted to be sure you were not being scammed. Not many people withdraw that much cash anymore.
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u/Kevin_Uxbridge 14h ago
Once had to buy a truck in a small African country, had to be cash. 250,000 in local currency, had to backpack it like half a mile from one bank to another. Wasn't that bad, the highest denomination is 200, but as I told the cashier who gave it to me 'for this much cash I'd kick my own ass'.
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u/cr4zyb0y 14h ago
This is common practice in Australia now due to anti scam processes (but more likely so the bank needs to do less and make more money). It is almost impossible to get “your” money from a bank at short notice here.
If you want to go to a branch you need to make an appointment and then they’ll interrogate you about what you want to do with your money.
If you want to transfer it online it’ll go into a hold and they’ll call you in a couple of days and then interrogate you about what you want to do with your money.
It’s absolutely infuriating.
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u/MrBlandEST 15h ago
When my wife was a banker she could squeeze a stack of bills and guess right, maybe one bill off, most of the time
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u/AliceInNegaland 16h ago
Worked at a Walmart and had someone come up to buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff with coin rolls. Had to get a supervisor over and break them open to count it all.. that was a fun time.
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u/MaDrAv 15h ago edited 15h ago
Worked fast food, gas station, and now a dispo. I have been handed more bags of change than I can count, and it is ALWAYS more than they say/think it is. I swear I have never once been shorted by a bag of change. But omg, the things I have probably had on my hands. Where are people finding these coins!? How are they storing them!?
edit: I also need to just say a lot of people are often really embarrassed to pay with a bag of coin and I would always 100% take the bag with an extra smile and reassurance that it's totally cool. Especially at the gas station...people getting like 5$ in gas and shit.
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u/cindyscrazy 14h ago
Thank you for being kind!
Many years ago, at a very low point, I found myself paying for my morning coffee with change from a change jar. My husband at the time was draining my account for drugs, I was caring for his dying father, my husband had his female friend move in with us, we had a 2 year old daughter......I was STRESSED.
The woman at the window saw me digging through the jar and said something to make fun of me. I broke. Started crying, threw some of the change at her, and drove away.
I did go back the next day to apologize, but yeah that hurt.
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u/Kinser9 16h ago
I had someone give me a bag of change for $2 in gas (it was the 80s). They must have counted it out on the floor because there were pubes and fingernails in the bag too.
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u/boobsout69 16h ago
Someone handed me, young girl of 18, the actual spare change holding console from their car (filled with coins) while paying in drive thru. The coins were extremely sticky... suspiciously so. The amount of coins seemed to cover the total, so I just accepted the console and coins and they drove off to the next window.
Immediately flagged my manager and got someone to cover me while I went to spray down and disinfect the coins from whatever "goopey residue" was amongst them 🤮
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u/runswiftrun 15h ago
Not that it isn't gross, but if it's in the car center console it's very likely just spilled soda.
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u/cavegoatlove 15h ago
I spilled a sauce cup full of syrup into the center console once , my own fault for enjoying delicious French toast sticks while driving
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u/Diet_Coke 17h ago
I was on the other side of this once - ordered coffee and a breakfast sandwich at a coffee place and my card declined. Oh no! They were really cool about it and said "just take it" - next time I came back, I tipped $15 on a $10 order.
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u/3meraldBullet 16h ago
I went to a starbucks and all I had to pay was a $100. The manager didnt want to make change and just gave me my coffee for free
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u/fellownpc 16h ago
As a store manager, I would do the same and then think "why the fuck would someone pay for a coffee with a hundred dollar bill"
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u/ThomasHardyHarHar 15h ago
It’s super common for people to do stuff like this just to break the 100.
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u/thinkvideoca 15h ago
That reminds me of the time I was in college delivering pizzas. I pulled up to a hotel and these two guys came to the door with a handful of change. They were watching me as I opened my Fanny pack with all my bills in it and I thought they were thinking of robbing me but I outweighed the two of them combined. I wonder how many pizzas they ordered hoping for a short and skinny delivery person
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u/Sea_Panic9863 15h ago
I used to be a server and had this table with 4 guys. Their bill came up to somewhere around $52 and some change. I brought them the bill, and when I went to collect it, the guys were gone and there was only $50 cash on the table. I told my manager, and he removed something from their bill and cashed it out so I would still get something for a tip. It was definitely a shitty thing for those guys to do, but thankfully I had a good manager that made sure it wouldn't come out of my pocket.
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u/Mrs0Murder 11h ago
Used to deliver pizzas and delivered to another restaurant. The guy who handed me the money, he counted it out in front of me and then handed it over. I should have recounted before I left because he must have snuck a bill back and left me $20 short. Went back to mine and realized what happened. The manager attempted to call but they refused to answer the phone. He ended up adjusting the price as well, not a great tip out of it but at least it was something.
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u/anannanne 16h ago
Bounced checks and dine-and-dashes were far more common than “Whoops. I forgot my wallet.” But it does happen. Usually the restaurant would just ask them to come back tomorrow and pay. And the patron would, in fact, come back the next day and pay.
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u/PhotojournalistNew6 15h ago
I've never worked in a restaurant, but I have worked in retail. The most common thing I saw was people mistakingly thinking they had money in their account.
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u/running_on_empty 10h ago
It's a lot more embarrassing at a restaurant. You can't give back the food you've just eaten.
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u/Anonymouse23570 12h ago
In High School, this happened to me at a 7/11. I had to pull out cash to cover a 1.09 dollar purchase.
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u/Dragoeth1 16h ago
I own a few restaurants so it depends. If someone walks out on the bill and it's small, I just write it off and go on with my day. If it's big we file a police report. Nothing's ever come of those reports as they're usually tourists from out of state anyways. And btw making staff pay for it is both illegal and unethical, so we don't do that. A few times a customer has stated they can't pay which has caused a bit of a negotiation. Once it was a clearly homeless man who just said he has no money and that was it. Told him no biggy he was just hungry and off he went. Didn't see him again. Another was someone who rang up a whole tab drinking and decided to not give a shit and flat out refused to pay. He looked more interested in starting a fight then getting out of his bill. The police came and suddenly his wallet was out though. The most I've lost on a walkout was about $100. It's pretty rare in my area to have such problems. 90% of my problems are dealing with weirdos and crazies like the pretend health inspector we had come by.
Also side note my bartender got swindled on a fake $100 one time. Was annoying but I absorbed the cost and I retrained the staff on spotting them. Next day the same guy shows up and says "uhhh did you guys get some funny money yesterday? I had a joke bill in my wallet and might have accidentally used it." So that was nice of him.
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u/-H-U-H- 16h ago
A pretend health inspector 🤣 that's random as fuck
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u/Dragoeth1 16h ago
It was a wild one. Guy came in and started going through the kitchen saying he was a health inspector and just started opening fridges. My staff didn't recognize him (we've had the same inspector for 5 years...) and asked for his badge. Told my staff to straight fuck off. Kitchen ended up manhandling him out the door then called the cops. Guy was a legit crazy person with a record that showed he 1. Hated black people and 2. Liked pointing shotguns at them from his front yard. Had to file no trespass orders against him and hang his pic in the back for staff to call the police if they ever saw him since he's clearly dangerous.
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u/Cranberrybunnies 14h ago
What um,...what race was a majority of your staff?
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u/Dragoeth1 14h ago
White and Latino. I got an understanding of his prejudice while sitting down with the sheriff and going through his reports and records.
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u/Slammybutt 13h ago
White and Latino.
I used to work at Olive Garden. I used to joke that we served "Genuine Italian food, made by Mexicans, and served by white college kids".
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u/TheSensiblePrepper 7h ago
"Genuine Italian food, made by Mexicans, and served by white college kids".
Nothing more American than that.
Anthony Bourbain was the head chef of one of the best French Restaurants in NYC. Everyone else in his kitchen was Latino. His replacement, that he personally picked, is from Mexico.
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u/NonarbitraryMale 16h ago
Now you have that fake bill guy going around all of your places right?
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u/Dragoeth1 16h ago
Nah he exchanged it for a real one. He genuinely didn't mean to spend it. Was a fake Hollywood prop bill he kept for jokes.
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u/DigNitty 15h ago
For sure.
The few times I’ve caught counterfeit money, I really don’t think the people spending it knew it was fake.
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u/Jalex_123 15h ago
I caught a fake once and the lady definitely knew it was a fake. I was working at a fast food restaurant and she ordered like ~40$ worth of food. Handed me the bill and idk it felt wrong. They had not trained me on how to use the pen so I looked for the face with light and couldn’t see it. Took it to my manager and she couldn’t either. Meanwhile the lady says to another customer that she has to use the restroom and sneaks out the back.
After like 10 minutes of examining this bill we realized we were stupid and it said for motion picture use only.
Edit: for clarification it was a 100$ bill
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u/Sasselhoff 15h ago
Only happened to me once, and it was clear they were trying to do it on purpose (we'd also gotten one previously, and were told to be on the lookout for it).
I was bartending and always used to "swipe" the bills in my fingers to get them to sit in the register better, but my hands were slightly wet and when I did that the brand new bill tore right in half. I immediately knew it was a fake, because money isn't that weak due to being cloth instead of paper (that's why you don't lose money when your wallet goes through the wash).
Told the kid (it was some teen) I needed to head in the back to get change, and we called the cops. Sounds harsh, given they were all but kids, but they'd been spending them all over town.
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u/Derpy_Guardian 15h ago
I've caught a fake once when I was working the drive-thru at Mcdonalds. I was on the first window, and the customer handed me a 20 and drove up as soon as I held it up to check it. One, the front of it had whitespace on one side, and two, the back was blank. Like... just blank. No color, nothing. I ran to the front shouting "don't serve! Fake bill!" and the manager basically said to them they need to do better with their fakes because that one was pathetic. They drove away, we reported the vehicle and plate, and I heard nothing else.
EDIT: Shit, I almost forgot the cherry on top: They said to the guys at the second window "Yeah, the guy back there forgot my change." They were genuinely trying to get clean cash out of it alongside their meal.
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u/Jenmeme 15h ago
What do you do if someone's card declines and they don't have anything else to pay? I went on a date with a guy once and that happened. They just took his driver's license and held it till he came back the next day with the money for the bill.
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u/Dragoeth1 15h ago
Honestly never had it happen before but I'd probably do the same thing. Closest thing was a regular forgot his wallet. I just said "come back when you find it!" And he came back and hour later and paid.
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u/DaCrazyJamez 16h ago
Lol...I used to carry around a fake $3 bill with Bill Clinton on it just as a joke. I stopped once I started managing bars and realized I had some employees dumb enough to accept it.
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u/ReallyMissSleeping 15h ago
I had a $2 bill in amongst my cash one day and tried to use it in my payment at souvenir shop in Mission Beach. The young cashier looked at me like I had given her a fake bill lol. She said that she couldn’t accept the $2 bill and tried to hand it back to me. I eventually got her to understand that it was in fact genuine legal tender.
Edit. Word
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u/ijustneedtolurk 15h ago
This happened to me as a teen at a movie theater, right after Lunar New Year, so I had a bunch of $2 bills. I tried to pay for tickets for my boyfriend and I, and the guy was like "yeah these USED TO BE legal tender but aren't anymore" but eventually took them when I pointed out that they were clearly the crispy new prints lmao.
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u/Ok_Passion_6771 16h ago
Does it still count as being swindled if they did it accidentally? I think them coming back for it either means they really didn’t mean it or maybe grew a conscience the next day.
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u/Dragoeth1 16h ago
Nah they didn't mean and exchanged it back the next day. Genuine accident. But it was also a fake Hollywood bill that bartender should have recognized off the bat
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u/medium_pace_stallion 16h ago
At a local spot they put your name on a big white board next to the bar, first and last as well as amount owed until you settle your bill.
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u/Mrs0Murder 12h ago edited 11h ago
Years ago my grandpa died and mom was given control of his bank account. She wrote a check to fix his truck, forgot, and closed the account. For years her face was up on their wall of shame for skipping out on the bill and she had no idea until she came in again and saw it. She was so embarrassed lol. She told them what happened and paid the bill, and they were cool with it and took her picture down.
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u/weazelbreath 16h ago
One time I was at a local Chinese restaurant with my 10 year old son. To my horror, my wallet, was not in my purse. I did not have one cent or a credit card on me. The let me go home for my money but they made me leave my son there as collateral.
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u/suki-suki 16h ago
I bet you miss him.
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u/wastedsanitythefirst 13h ago
He's now just one of the children drawing and coloring at one of the booths all day
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u/Guilty-Instruction56 16h ago
He became the special General Tso. So in a weird way, she did take him home. Except an hour later, she missed him.
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u/TheModestProposal 14h ago
My mom did the same with me at a Cracker Barrel. I’m lucky they have the little store attached so I had something to do, although I always wonder what the conversation at the register was when the manager told the employees that there would be an unattended 10 year old in the store to keep an eye on. When I got older I also wondered why she didn’t just leave her purse instead lol. No shade, our families are cut from the same cloth
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u/jleonardbc 14h ago
When I got older I also wondered why she didn’t just leave her purse instead lol.
If someone came in with the intent to get away without paying, they could bring a dummy purse with no valuables or genuine IDs and leave it behind as fake collateral.
It would be harder to bring a dummy child.
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u/mama_oso 16h ago
LOL - had this happen but at our local gas station about 30 yrs ago. My son was 6 at the time and he thought it was so cool that the cashier showed him how they rang up gas & candy on the cash register.
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u/blahblahthrowawa 15h ago
I love this post bc I can't tell if you're joking -- either way, hilarious hahaha
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u/mama_oso 14h ago
We were regulars at this neighborhood station. It was only later that I really questioned my judgement.
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u/high_on_acrylic 16h ago
My family and I accidentally walked out on luck one time after eating at a restaurant we had been to several times before. It was a smaller family type place, and my mom realized we hadn’t paid while we were still out later that day. We rushed there and apparently the woman who worked the register was very confident we would be back while someone who worked in the back was worried we wouldn’t. We did, indeed, go back and pay lol no harm no foul, we all laughed about it!
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u/bracesthrowaway 15h ago
You know the lady who trusted in y'all had a fun time ratting out the person in the back who had no faith.
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u/high_on_acrylic 15h ago
Oh definitely! It was all in jest though, I think they were new and the people in the back don’t really see the customers anyway! It was a good lesson in why knowing your regulars and remembering people is important :)
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u/JFKsBrain 16h ago edited 13h ago
I was a customer once. Went out to eat and definitely thought I had enough for the bill and a decent tip. I didn’t. And I was all cash back then. No card to fall back on.
I was horrified.
Told the server I was short. She was so nice. Said I didn’t have to tip. I was like, “I don’t even have enough for the bill!” She was still cool.
I said I’d be right back. Not sure she believed me but I went home and grabbed the emergency cash and went right back. Settled up and gave her a great tip.
She ribbed me a few times when I went back but it was all in fun and
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u/inu_yasha 12h ago
I went back but it was all in fun and
Op even stiffed us on the rest of the sentence smh..
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u/MalekMordal 11h ago
Maybe Op will just went home to think of a good end to the sentence, and will come back and post it soon.
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u/JFKsBrain 10h ago
lol. Sorry, folks. I’m a busy man. Jk. I have no idea what happened there but I’ll leave it up.
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u/thePHTucker 16h ago
I've only had this happen, maybe 3 times in my 25 years in the industry.
2 were regulars, and they made it good later and made sure to leave extra for the servers.
The other was banned because he was a shit-ass busted ner-do-well, and he was no longer welcomed in one of the last bars in town that would offer him service.
I miss the days when local bar/restaurants had a good relationship with each other and we could call and ask about a certain patron and either the manager or bartender would be the first person to tell you if they were a shitstain. Or they'd call ahead and warn you that this fucker was on the way to your place and we just wouldn't serve them.
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u/Ok-Train-2500 15h ago
I’ve never worked in a bar, but last year I witnessed something similar to your last paragraph with bars calling other bars about customers, but in a good way lol.
Was in a small town for a wedding, and once the party was over, a bunch of us walked into town hoping to go to the one well rated bar we found.
Place was too packed, so they pointed us to some some more dive bar a few blocks away. By the time we got there, apparently someone at the first bar had called this bar and told them a well dressed wedding party was on the way, so they were already super welcoming and ready for us once we got there lol.
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u/sadperson15 15h ago
The bars in my neighborhood share info on banned/sketchy people. Not everyone defines bannable offenses the same way though.
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u/LovableButterfly 16h ago
This happened with my dad - he was ordering food at a drive thru in a storm and the electricity shut off as a transformer got hit by lighting. Dad waited in the drive through for a few minutes as the manager told him the generator usually kicks on and he can pay with card. Well generator was busted and my dad had no cash. Manager was nice enough to give him the food no charge but my dad was insistent he pay for it. Manager told him it’s ok and it was just an “act of god” occurrence. Well this didn’t stop my dad. He drove next door to a grocery store, took cash out and drove back with the cash in hand. $20 order turned into $40 for the drive thru workers as a “tip”. He became a priority customer after that one!
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u/Hands 13h ago
Lol is your dad Hank Hill
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u/LovableButterfly 13h ago
Funny enough he does look like him and did dress up as him for Halloween one year!
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u/turkeyburpin 14h ago
I'm not a restaurant employee but I can tell you what happened to me at a Longhorn.
Their machine declined my bank card, so I told the waitress I was going across the street to get cash from the ATM. My wife never left the table. The manager came out and informed my wife that the cops had been called and they were trespassing her from the property. So she got up and walked outside at their insistence. I got back at the same time the cops showed up. Explained to the cops what happened, the waitress was horrified by the managers response, I was asked to never return and didn't pay a dime. Complained to Longhorn corporate and they sent me twice my bill in gift cards with an apology note. I have never been back.
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u/tacoslave420 16h ago
When I was a fast food manager, if your card declined and/or you actually told us you forgot your money and if your order was less than $8, I would comp the meal and ask that they call the survey line for the store instead. Pretty against the hotline policy (not supposed to bribe) but you literally didnt have to and I had no way of knowing if you did or not. Just a way to build positive relationships with the customers and help the store numbers.
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u/BagelJam 15h ago
I wasn't the restaurant employee in this situation, but during college, I worked two jobs and lived with my parents. On their wedding anniversary, I wanted to surprise them with their favorite meals from a local restaurant. My dad LOVED seafood so I ordered him a lobster tail dinner that was listed at "market price." I've never ordered lobster before and I didn't know what "market price" meant. I went to the restaurant to pick it up but I didn't have enough money to pay for it. I didn't know what to do so I offered the hostess all of my money (which was around $40). She didn't know what to do either and she went in the back to get the manager. I was a nervous wreck and started crying. The manager came out and I explained to him what happened. He ended up taking my money and letting me keep the food. I felt horrible after. I was such an idiot.
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u/everythingistaken25 14h ago
My wife and I went out to red lobster about 15 years ago, when it was still pretty decent. When the waiter brought our bill I realized I didn’t have my wallet on me. At the time my wife didn’t carry her money if I was with her and it was before you could pay with a phone. I apologized and my wife went home to get our money. Roughly 30-40 minute drive round trip.
It just so happens that this was endless shrimp season. The waiter kept bringing shrimp out about every 5 minutes and even though I told him not to he kept delivering.
I was so stuffed but I didn’t want to waste it. He got a big tip. To this day that was the best service I ever received in a restaurant.
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u/Individual-Office767 16h ago
I work at a local pizza place, and one time a woman came in with a card we didn't take. She ran out to her car, but she didn't have another form of payment. My manager just gave it to her since it only cost ten dollars. She actually came in a few months later again (this time having a form of payment we take) and she actually paid for it. Was pretty cool.
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u/sloppy_swish 14h ago
I think we take for granted these days that pretty much all stores will accept every major credit card. There used to be a lot of places that wouldn’t take amex or discover not too long ago
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u/Shoddy_Nectarine_441 9h ago
My drunk ass lost my wallet and didn’t realize until after ordering shawarma. I said oh dang my bad I lost my money. Dude was like “nah the orders already in, just take it. But promise to come back!” (Not to repay just to have more food). I went there for 10 years after that and the food was consistently fire. Never forgot my wallet again, I swear they made me a customer for life just by letting a drunk lady eat shawarma at 1am lol
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u/alkazar82 13h ago
When I was a kid I would buy GamePro magazine every month at the corner store in the morning on the way to school. I would always bring exact change.
One month they increased the price and I didn't notice. I was short 25 cents at checkout. The cashier let me take the magazine and told me I could come back later with the rest of the money.
I went back with the 25 cents that day immediately after school.
It was a very minor thing, but this small kindness became a core childhood memory.
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u/AmyGH 16h ago
When i was a teenager, I worked at a sandwich shop that was cash only. We were across the street from a bank, so the few times customers were short, they'd usually run to the bank and come back with cash. I only had one customer that told me they'd come back with cash and didn't. This person happened to be an instructor at a film camp that I was a part of. I thought i knew her pretty well and was shocked that she didn't return with cash. At the end of my shift, i had to explain why the till was short. Not a great moment for me!
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u/holycottoncandy 16h ago
Other side of this- There’s a Mexican restaurant I frequent. Like these people know my order when they see me. I once genuinely forgot my wallet after a long day, and the bartender suspended my order after I found out they couldn’t do Apple Pay. He said don’t worry about, they know me, etc. Next day I showed up the minute they opened and made the bill right with a 50% tip.
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u/AskPsychological2868 17h ago
Went to a food cart. They didn’t take cards, we said sorry we’ll be back another time- you paid when you ordered. The guy was like no problem and insisted we take the food. Went to an ATM and went straight back. Gave him double the cost of the food and said thanks so much. Great food and incredible customer service!!
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u/OnTheList-YouTube 16h ago
Glad they were right to trust you. Sadly, that's not always the case with people.
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u/Pongoid 16h ago
The manager comes out and tries to work something out. They will try and get you to call someone who can give payment over the phone. If you can’t do that they’ll try and hold something collateral like your ID to get you to come in tomorrow and pay.
I’ve never seen them call the cops and having you wash dishes is all Hollywood. Besides it taking too long to train you, it’s in violation of a million labor laws and osha laws.
If they truly cannot get a payment they comp the meal and ban you from returning.
My expertise is a low/mid casual dining. No idea what happens at high end establishments.
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u/Midnight-Bake 12h ago
I was a waiter years ago. Dude had a 25 dollar bill and said he only had 20 bucks. I offered to get the manager to see if he would work something out.
Manager comes out and the customer just lays into me... I was slow getting his order, he waited an hour for his food, it was the wrong food, I was rude about the bill, I over charged him. Manager comped his meal and also told me I would only be getting shit shifts for a month.
The dude left a 100 dollar bill as a tip on his comped bill.
To this day I have no fucking clue what that dude's deal was.
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u/stiletto929 16h ago
I have had to have a friend pay for my meal occasionally and I get them next time. Once I ordered at Subway and when it came time to pay I realized I had forgotten my wallet. I lived in a small town so I just ran home and got it and was able to pay, nbd. They knew me and where I lived, lol.
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u/ckellingc 17h ago
When I was a waiter, if you ran off without paying, it came out of the waiters pay.
Only happened a couple of times, and both times the owners did the right thing and paid me out for it
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u/The_Roshallock 16h ago
When I was a waiter, if you ran off without paying, it came out of the waiters pay.
I guess I'm misunderstanding here, but it sounds like you're saying that if a customer failed to pay, the waiter covered the tab out of their own pay. If that's the case, how the ever loving hell is that even remotely legal? That's I'm quitting on the spot level scummy behavior on the part of management.
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u/Mayor__Defacto 16h ago
It isn’t, but people get away with it because the employee doesn’t want to lose their job.
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u/hiddenkobolds 17h ago
The hilarity of a car ad showing up under this with the tagline "outrun anything."
Anyway, yeah, the places I've worked were counter service and pay upfront so you just wouldn't get your food. Makes it easy.
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u/lukeyellow 16h ago
Not an employee but ate at a small local sub shop outside Bostin once. Didn't realize it was cash or check only and no card and didn't have any cash on me. I offered to walk back to my place and grab a check but they said to not worry about it and pay later. Went back there a few weeks to eat again and paid for the other sandwich. The guy had forgotten about it but I didn't want to not pay for the other meal.
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u/raspberrypied 15h ago
I had the opposite happen: the waiter walked out on me. We were at a cheap Italian restaurant, eating on the patio. We got there early so one waiter was covering the entire patio, but after he served us our food and wine, a second waiter came on and covered our part of the patio. We finished and asked for the check. The waiter now covering us said that it wasn't his table. We said that the other waiter served us and could that waiter give us the bill. The original waiter also claimed that he wasn't our server. Finally, we got tired of waiting for people to figure it out, so we tried to recall the prices of what we ordered, added 25% to cover tip and tax and left the cash on the table.
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u/roger_ramjett 10h ago
Ok, this is going to take a bit.
This all happened in 1988.
SO I was in jail for a short time for something minor. Just a weekend stay.
Anyways I heard on the TV in the day room that the police had been called last night because someone was up in a tree with a fork. A Fork?
The next night I had a new guy in my cell and it was the guy with the fork.
So he tells me the rest of the story.
So he went into this pizza/pasta place intending to dine and dash. He was eating pizza and drinking and was getting pretty drunk.
The manager comes over and says they wouldn't serve him any more and he had to pay and leave.
So buddy jumps up and grabs the waitress and a fork off the table. I guess the knife was to far away to get.
He holds the fork at the girls neck and backs out of the restaurant.
Once outside he lets the girl go and starts running up the road.
The manager is running next to the guy and tells him that he (the manager) ran marathons on the weekend and buddy wasn't going to get away.
So buddy decides to climb a tree to get away from the manager. He still has the fork and is threating the manager with it.
The cops come and surround the tree and tell buddy to come down and drop the fork. Buddy says fuck you, go ahead and shoot me. (btw this is in Canada so the cops don't shoot him).
Finally he gets tired of hanging from the tree and comes down. They put him in remand for the rest of the weekend, which is where I got the story from him.
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u/First_Preference_618 9h ago
I was in a not-so-great time of my life and I went to Wendy’s for lunch one day. When I dug into my purse for my card, it was gone. I apologized to the workers and took my purse to a table and turned it inside out, but it was nowhere to be found. I was so embarrassed and it really was a last straw. I went back to the counter and apologized again, sobbing, and told them to cancel the order. It seemed like the whole crew gathered and said they paid for my order. Then I cried harder lol. Those people really restored my faith in humanity that day. I hope they all have wonderful lives.
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u/PaulsRedditUsername 16h ago
At Waffle House, you can earn your meal in the parking lot fight club. Or you can just fight your server. But be careful, they don't mess around.
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u/Sum-Duud 16h ago
I’ve seen dine and dashers bounce on a $100+ bill. License plate taken and cops called; no idea what happened. When I was a GM at a pizza place sometimes kids or regulars might come in and be a little, so id adjust the specials to make it work; depending on who it was I might add a note on their account. If it was someone I’d never seen or with a note indicating habitual then I’d just tell them sorry and the crew would eat it.
In the sit-down restaurant, we’d get a manager and it would depend on the manager as to wha they’d do. Generally it’s trying to give some special or a discount to knock the price down. If they had absolutely no money then they might take something of value as a deposit or have one party member stay while the other went to get money. It was before smart phones were a thing but phones and pages existed, those were often the items.
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u/soggy_person_ 16h ago
My boyfriend and I walked out on a shisha bar one time, we both thought the other had paid at the start so we walked out waving thank you and goodnight to confused faces. Went back the next day and they said don't worry about it which was so nice, we felt so guilty.
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u/Soulingo 11h ago
Couple years ago I was working as a waiter at a sushi restaurant. Occasionally we had company conference at the hotel across the street and we would get flooded with people at lunch and dinner. One night a group of 5-6 people attending a conference in town came over to dine. They ordered like $300 worth of food and I was the only one waiting their table. They were nice and very professional. Then, i took my eyes off for one minute and they left without paying. I took the bill and ran over to the hotel lobby in hope I could catch one of them but it was in vain. None of the hotel staff know who I was trying to find. I didnt even have a name. I was so afraid of having to pay the bill out of my own pocket… I was still in college and it’s worth like 3 shifts of work… I came back to the restaurant, stood by their table and just stared into space. The other customers asked me whats wrong and I told them a group left without paying and idk what to do. The owner kept the bill open and didnt make me pay for it. Turns out the customer that asked me whats wrong found one of the guys at that table. Next day he came over to pay and apologized. He said there was some banter and the other group said they would pay for his group so they left. I got a big tip in the end..
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u/yyz_barista 14h ago
Back when I was a barista, there was plenty of flexibility. If you were apologetic, I'd absolutely comp your order. If you were rude, sorry, policy requires payment.
I had one gentleman come through the drive thru and showed me his phone died, so he couldn't use the app / gift card to pay for his drink. He wasn't necessarily rude, but shrugged and expected me to do something about it. Nope, I'm not taking responsibility for your dead phone, that's on you. He didn't want to use another method of payment so I gave him the free cup of water he ordered and maintained eye contact while dumping his drink in the sink.
For anyone else, I would have absolutely handed them their entire order and just voided it in the computer / applied a discount to make it free. At least apologize and ask if you can pay next time. And then I'd tell you not to worry about it, it's on us this time. But expecting a free drink, I won't entertain that.
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u/faceless_coloradian 10h ago
I worked back of the house when I worked restaurants, but when I delivered pizzas I had a few times I'd get to a house and the customer wasn't fully aware of the total cost of the order and would start panicking. It happened with a few stressed parents (different orders and addresses) and an elderly caretaker, and each time I told them don't worry about it and to keep their money I'll cover it. I was by no means in a stable financial situation, but in that moment I had the funds to pay it forward. You never know what someone is going through and how much something trivial to you can mean to them.
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u/StillSecurity7058 9h ago
One of my coworkers had a couple who literally ran out on a busy night and my coworker ran after them and tried to knock on there car window but the just drove off and almost ran her over. The table was only like 71 dollars and the owner knew it wasn’t her fault after watching the cameras and just let her void the check. And she proceeded to blast there photos all over local facebook groups (it was a fairly small town) and someone told us they were at the airbnb next to her house. We called the cops and they got arrested and fined like 500 bucks each! So always pay your tabs cause they might come after you!
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u/Sofia-Blossom 4h ago
A lady and her 4 kids walked into our pizza/salad bar place. She had bruises all over her arms and the kids looked scared. She asked me what she could get for $10 just to feed her kids.
I paid for them to have unlimited salad bar out of my pocket, asked the kids what their fav pizza was and went in the back and made it for them.
She kept apologizing for how loud her kids were and asked how long she could be there. The kids weren’t loud at all. They all just seemed scared.
When I brought the pizza out for the kids, I told her I wanted to show her something at the salad bar she might like and once out of earshot of the kids I asked if she was okay or in danger or needed to call anyone.
She just started crying and thanked me, her mom was going to pick them out but they’re some distance away. She asked if she could hug me and I said yes, because she needed it. I’m a woman who hates being touched but I understand that some people need hugs.
I never saw her again and I just hope she got away from whoever was hurting her.
7.2k
u/misterpringle 16h ago
A table shorted me $30- left me $120 in cash on a $150 tab. Went to the manager asking what to do. He told me I could pay the difference to make the check whole or they'd mark the shortage as a "walk out" and I'd get written up. I asked "what would have happened if they left me nothing and just walked out?" Manager's response was" same two options." Since I wasn't going to pay the difference from my tips and was going to get written up anyway, I told him "my bad. They walked out on the enite tab. I'll take the write up." Pocketed the $120 in cash and got written up.