Diners Reveal What Led Them To "Dine And Dash" - Part 4

Just as the waitress brought the main course in, sure enough, the sliding door opened again and I threw my water through the opening (the water, not the glass). The next thing I know, one of them knocked the sliding door down. I stood up and said: 'Let's go.' So the five of us got up and walked out and went to another restaurant for the main course since we had already had the drinks and appetizers. Didn't even try to pay. That was about 40 years ago and the bill was probably about $100 back then. My poor mother-in-law later said the shrimp teriyaki looked so good, she almost grabbed a few before she left but decided not to."

"I was a taxi driver and I was on my way back from a really early airport run. I was hungry so I stopped at a lovely cafe about 20 miles before home. I ordered my breakfast, they told me to take a seat and off I went to find a table. Being in a 'nice part of town' they didn't take the money at the time of order. They expect you to ask for the check when you're ready to leave just like in a restaurant.

I thought nothing of it, ate my breakfast, drank my cup of tea, stood up and walked out. Later that day I suddenly thought, 'Jesus, I don't think I paid for that breakfast!' The following day I was in that area again so I popped in and asked, 'Did I pay for my food yesterday, I can't remember but I don't think I did?'. They asked what table I was at, etc. and told me that no I hadn't paid. So I apologized and paid and gave a big tip."

"About 9 years ago, 3 of my friends and I went to a particularly good pizza place in town to celebrate my friend's birthday. We wanted to make him spend all the money he had and ordered way more than usual. The service was very good and the food was ready in record time. We were really impressed by the service. At the end of the meal we complimented the service and wanted to pay the bill but to our surprise, there was nobody on the restaurant floor. We were the only customers and it felt almost like we had been forgotten. It was not a small amount of money either. We waited for about 30 minutes to find someone to pay the bill but nobody would come out from the restricted areas. We tried ringing the bell and knocking on the kitchen door but to no avail. After about 45 minutes we gave up because by this time we were really irritated. What started out as a great meal with great service ended up with us leaving in frustration at having to wait for so long.

Instead, we went to a dessert place and spent the same money."

"One of my friends and I went to one of our favorite places after a long and tiring day. We were undergraduate students back then. We ordered the same items, so the bill was supposed to be split equally. The place was crowded that night, however, we were served well and the food was good as usual. When the bill came, my friend didn't have the change to pay, so I paid for both of us. Normally we would check if there is an error on the bill, but as I mentioned we were tired, we just paid the bill and headed to our hostel.

The next day when my friend paid me back, I noticed there was something wrong. We calculated what our bill would be before ordering but it was less than that. That means we weren't charged for an item! I checked the bill and yes, they had forgotten to charge us for something.

We thought we would pay it the next time we visited the place, but a few weeks later the restaurant was closed for some renovation and it took 2--3 years! So technically, I left without paying, though it was not intentional."