Restaurant Workers Break Down What Actually Happens If A Customer Can't Pay The Bill

A large part of the population has had at least one job in the foodservice industry, either waiting on customers at tables or at the counter or in the kitchen.

Most corporate chains have policies to address different issues that might arise. But regional, small, of family run restaurants can often make their own rules.

One issue is customers who can't pay their bill, for any number of reasons.

In fast food, the solution is generally to cancel the order. Fast food usually isn't made until the bill is paid.

But what about restaurants where the bill is due after the customer has eaten?

Reddit ChaosAnalyst asked:

"Restaurant employees of Reddit, what actually happens when someone doesn't have enough to pay the bill? Most you've ever seen?"

Networking

"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 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 bars/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 problem."

"Or they'd call ahead and warn you that this f*cker was on the way to your place and we just wouldn't serve them."

~ thePHTucker

Not Following Corporate Policy...

"I'm not a restaurant employee, but I can tell you what happened to me at a Longhorn Steakhouse."

"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 as did the waitress who was horrified by the manager's response."

"I was asked by the cops to never return and didn't pay a dime. I complained to Longhorn corporate and they sent me twice my bill in gift cards with an apology note."

"But I have never been back."

~ turkeyburpin

Collateral

"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 until he came back the next day with the money for the bill."

~ Jenmeme

Owner's Discretion

"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 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 sh*t and flat out refused to pay. He looked more interested in starting a fight than 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 like the pretend health inspector we had come by."

Also side note, my bartender got 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'. Then he paid his bill. So that was nice of him."

~ Dragoeth1

Hostage?

"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."

~ Nervous-Equipment255

Free Tours

"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 Bali rupiah (the bill was approx $30 AUD)."

"He said no problem, come by tomorrow. But once he had the $50 AUD, 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."

~ Partly_Dave

Free Drink

"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."

~ Marillenbaum

Mistakes Are Rare

"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."

~ anannanne

Big Tipper

"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."

~ WritingParking

Next Time

"I would print the receipt and write the person’s name, and they’d pay it next time they came in."

"We also ran tabs for our higher-end customers."

"For non-regulars, if it was under like 10-15 bucks and they forgot their wallet or card or whatever, I would usually do the same, and pretty much every time the person would come back and pay it and then become a regular because of it."

"If it was like $5 or under and something the cost us like a buck or two, I’d just tell them no charge."

"They’d end up coming back to try to pay and become a regular."

"Even if there were occasions where we took a hit for like $10 and the person never came back, doing it brought us so many new regular customers who were appreciative of the kindness, that we made way more money doing it than we would have otherwise."

"Most business owners don’t think of the big picture. I basically would mentally write off any losses like that as marketing expenses."

"But like I said, it was VERY rare that someone would have a $10-$15 or whatever IOU and not come back to pay."

"And honestly, if someone is so hard up they can’t afford $10-$15, I’ll just consider it a mitzvah."

~ Area51_Spurs

Dependent On Situation

"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."

~ Silly_Accident3137

Silly Policy

"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 entire tab. I'll take the write-up."

"Pocketed the $120 in cash and got written up."

~ misterpringle

Public Information

"At a local spot, they put your name on a big white board next to the bar, first and last, as well as the amount owed until you settle your bill."

~ medium_pace_stallion

Fair To Servers

"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 sh*tty thing for those guys to do, but thankfully I had a good manager who made sure it wouldn't come out of my pocket."

~ Sea_Panic9863

Special Circumstances

"I delivered for Domino's Pizza in the early 2000s. I took an order that went to an 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 on 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 then proceeded to thank me. I apologized and told him I wanted to help, but I wasn't sure if it was okay. 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 sh*t 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."

~ jimmypfromthe5thgala

What policy would you choose if you owned a restaurant?