This article will cover what to do if a person is left to pay for all of the food at a restaurant after the person/people they were eating with bailed on them. There have been cases where individuals have went out to eat at restaurants with other individuals, who later “went to the bathroom” and left the restaurant without paying for their food. Luckily there are some things that can be done to prevent the individual(s) that stayed from being stuck with an expensive bill that they cannot pay for.
When ordering from a restaurant with other people, the first thing that should always be done is getting separate checks for the order. Many restaurants ask this at the beginning, but it can also be specified to the restaurant at any time before the food is ordered and received. Getting separate checks will make each individual responsible for paying for their own food.
When there are separate checks, it lets the restaurant know that there are two or more orders at the table, but they will be payed for by one or more people. From there, the restaurant will be obligated to ask for a name for each ticket to ensure that the food is given to the right person. Later, this information can be valuable if the person/people the individual is eating with runs off without paying.
Not getting separate checks can make whoever is left at the table, after everyone bails, liable for paying for all of the food. However, this decision can also be dependent on the managers or the owner of the restaurant too. The best thing for an individual to do if they didn’t get separate checks, and end up stuck with paying for all the food after everyone bails, is to pay for their food if possible and wait to see what the restaurant does about it.
Sometimes the restaurant may assess the situation after seeing something like this happen, and take care of it another way in which the guest doesn’t have to pay. But don’t count on it happening. If a restaurant does do this, it would most likely be for a teenager or a child. It also depends on how large the bill is. Sometimes the meals that restaurants make aren’t as costly for them to make, meaning that they could just let it slide and take the losses.
If a person is left to pay for the whole bill after everyone dashes out and leaves the restaurant, the last thing they should do is follow suit and leave too. This will make that person just as guilty as the people that left without paying. If they don’t have the money to pay for all of the food, then they should try to work out something with the restaurant to avoid legal problems.
If possible, the individual should pay for their own food at the least. Later on after speaking to the restaurant, arrangements may be made (if the restaurant chooses to do so) to pay for the rest of the expenses later.
When an individual orders from a restaurant, and leaves the restaurant without the intention of paying, it is theft. This is commonly referred to as “dine and dash”. Individuals bailing their “friends” at the restaurant, and leaving the restaurant with the intention of not paying for their food, also fall within this category.
When separate checks are specified at the beginning and these individuals bail the restaurant to leave the rest of the table to pay, they are seen as the thieves by the restaurant, and the individuals that are left there are not obligated to pay for their food in most cases. The individuals left at the table will still have to pay for their own tickets, of course.
If this happens after separate checks have been made before ordering the food, and one of the individuals dine and dash, this is what usually follows afterwards: The individual(s) left pays for their own order/ticket and the restaurant calls the police and files a report on everything they know about the individuals that left without paying.
The officer upon arrival (or the restaurant) may ask the remaining individuals that have payed for their tickets if they would like to pay for the tickets (checks) of the individuals that left without paying. They can decline to do so or do so.
It is always important for people to remember when dining out at a restaurant that restaurants are not responsible for respecting, or obligated to respect, any civil agreements made by parties that dine in at their establishments. “My date was supposed to pay”, may not work. This means that an individual shouldn’t be surprised if the restaurant or the arriving police officer obligates them to pay for the food after one of the individuals leave without paying and separate checks weren’t made.
Before eating out at a restaurant with someone else, individuals should always bring their own money to pay for their meal, regardless of agreements being premade that other individuals will/should pay for the food. They should only order what they themselves can pay for. Making separate checks despite these arrangements is always a good idea to protect oneself.
This can protect a woman from being stuck with an expensive bill after a man they are with dine and dashes, and also protect a man from being placed in bad situations and used by women who order more food than what he can pay for. Getting separate checks at the beginning will make the entire party more cautious about what they order, as they may realize that they may be responsible for anything that they order.
Some people are evil and will do anything they can do to get what they want out of life through the manipulation of others. Individuals would do well to remember that they can fall on either side of someone bailing the restaurant and leaving them to pay the whole bill, or psychologically setting up the stage to make them responsible for paying for the whole bill.
Some individuals will pressure other individuals that they dine out with to not get separate checks, taking offense to it, because of their trust and “deep connection” that they share between each other. Later on, they may ensure that will pay (or help pay) for the food that they order at the restaraunt, but then suddenly dip and leave without paying, sticking the person/people that are left with a rent’s worth of a food bill to pay for.
