Restaurants hit by ‘dine and dash’ crooks
The phrase 'dine and dash' is used to describe patrons who order and consume food and beverages from restaurants with the intention of not paying the bill, which is a form of fraud.
Restaurant owners on the West Rand are being warned against ‘dine and dash’ opportunists seeking free services at local restaurants.
The warning comes after a couple of restaurants reported to BCI Security about the ever-increasing trend.
The phrase ‘dine and dash’ is used to describe patrons who order and consume food and beverages from restaurants with the intention of not paying the bill, which is a form of fraud.
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The company’s media liaison, Gary Jordaan, said recently they were alerted by one of their restaurant clients about a man who had a late lunch with his girlfriend, enjoyed copious amounts of alcohol and then disappeared, leaving her to settle the bill of just under R700.
“She had no money to settle the bill and on the CCTV footage, we could see the suspect vehicle waiting outside the restaurant for the young lady to ‘dash’,” Gary said.
“An alert member of staff stopped the young lady from leaving the restaurant and called BCI Security for assistance. Our vehicles arrived at the centre and after a short discussion with the young woman, several attempts were made to contact family or friends to help settle the outstanding bill,” he further explained.
According to Gary, the woman was no stranger to such behaviour. He said, “A manager from a neighbouring restaurant came to see what the commotion was about and identified the young woman as having done exactly the same thing the previous week in his restaurant, leaving an unpaid bill of over R800”.
He mentioned that the law had to take its course. “Thankfully a police case had been opened by the neighbouring restaurant’s manager the previous week, so the young woman was arrested by the police and taken to Honeydew Police Station for further questioning in relation to the thefts.”
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