I remember getting populoled for a tale of romantic woe , not doing that again.
Although, I do remember a valentines in of the first restaurants I worked in, a marriage proposal going south, as he got down on one knee, she burst in to tears and then told him, loud enough for us to hear, that she was sleeping with a colleague and didn't love him in anymore. Poor guy looked like he'd been pushed in a vat of sheep dip.

Alt; I quite like an ironed shirt, but am well aware I could live without.

Altalt: sorry about the dungeon joke cavy.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Thu 14 Feb 2013, 9:53, 3 replies, latest was 12 years ago)

Windy Pig saving threads since 9.53am 14/02/2013
\o/
( hartley hare Just some prick who thinks it doesn't apply to him, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 9:54, Reply)

I might start a thread later.

( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:04, Reply)

\o/

( hartley hare Just some prick who thinks it doesn't apply to him, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:31, Reply)

uh
what dungeon joke? link?
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 9:55, Reply)

ha!
wait found it on the populol page

cutting
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 9:55, Reply)

Hold up now, I'm sensing a wicked scam here.
Go to resturants, order the lobster and fois gras, propose to your mate, get them to say 'no' then burst out, then chase after them..... suddenly KAPLOWIE, free meal.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 9:57, Reply)

it's theft if you decide to do a runner beforehand
it's not technically theft if you decide to do a runner after eating - no intention to permanently deprive.

but good luck proving that one in court.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 9:59, Reply)

It's not theft if you do a runner beforehand either
on the grounds you haven't stolen anything. What with it being "beforehand"
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:02, Reply)

Running afterwards is technically TWOC.
As I learned after I nicked that car.
( Kroney, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:04, Reply)

what about the bread rolls, eh?

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:14, Reply)

if they aren't chargeable on the bill
can't do anything, surely?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:16, Reply)

that's what the word "cover" usually means
some frozen bread rolls that get lobbed back into the freezer every night
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:18, Reply)

I can't remember the last time I ate in a restaurant with a "cover charge"
possibly because most good restauarants in Edinburgh aren't run by robbing savages stuck in the 1980s?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:19, Reply)

is this true?
I always thought it was bollocks trotted out by idiots.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:03, Reply)

Stealing requires premeditation
TWOC doesn't. That's the difference. It's a fucking narrow one.
( Kroney, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:06, Reply)

with food you can also just not pay and leave
on the grounds that it wasn't up to scratch. But, you'd have to front it, you couldn't actually just run.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:07, Reply)

It's also difficult to argue that it wasn't up to scratch if you have scoffed the lot.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:10, Reply)

there's a huge difference between
deciding to steal a free meal

and refusing to pay for a meal on the grounds that you weren't happy with it. and yeah, empty plates are not good evidence for the latter!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:14, Reply)

I looked into this after a row with a restaurant manager over his mandatory service charge following some exceptionally poor service.
The internet told me this, so it must be true:

You don’t always have to pay the bill
If you do not like making a fuss, you can always pay ‘under protest’ and write on the back of the bill – or your credit card slip - that you are doing so. Make sure you take a copy too. This gives you the chance of claiming against the restaurant at a later date. However, if you’re talking about something like £25 for two, it’s probably not going to be worth the hassle – or accepted by the small claims court.
Another option is to offer to pay a sum you consider acceptable and give your full name and address (with proof of identity), stating why you are not paying the rest. Restaurants often wrongly believe customers have to pay for a meal whatever the circumstances.
This is not the case. As long as you have a genuine reason for not paying and you leave your name and address, you have not acted in any way dishonestly.
You have not committed an offence and even if the police are called they should not usually intervene unless it is to prevent a breach of the peace.
It is a criminal offence, though, to go into a restaurant and order a meal with the intention of not paying for it.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:09, Reply)

this sounds like freeman bollocks

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:12, Reply)

the hassle factor is the most correct point there
nobody is going to sue over a few quid.

the bottom line is, ordering a meal is a contract. the restaurant makes an "invitation to treat" on its menu. you then make an offer to purchase its goods at the menu price. the menu supplies the goods, and you give consideration for that by paying.

if the goods aren't satisfactory, you slug it out. but you can't eat them all and then argue they were shit!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:15, Reply)

Oh man, I wish I knew that.
I once bought a 'club sandwich' that was 3 slices of plastic bread with a single slice of that packet roast beef between the two bread gaps, a packet of walkers crisps and a can of coke for £9. They forgot the horseraddish, butter and salad.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:24, Reply)

I got ripped off at the Science Museum on Sunday; £1.70 for a can of coke.

( Fucking hell Jeff I am not a robot, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:25, Reply)

It's really, really hard to win that argument if you've paid up front, though.
It's one thing to refuse to pay - quite another to get a refund
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:26, Reply)

Done the latter a couple of times.
The most spectacular being a curry house on the IoW with a £2000 bill for 3 yacht crews. They took 2.5 hours to produce the starters, another 1.5 for the mains and by the time the food turned up we were all too pissed to eat it. Wouldn't have been so much of an issue but the 24 of us were the only people in a restaurant with 100 or so seats, so clearly they should have been able to cope.

So we paid about £700 for the wine and refused to pay for the food, and in the end they had to accept that. Although I doubt we'd be welcome there again.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:14, Reply)

Although, having been to the Isle of Wight once, you are surely unlikely to return anyway.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:19, Reply)

Sadly, it's pretty difficult to avoid if you sail in the Solent

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:20, Reply)

for the criminal offence of theft it is
there'd still be a civil claim for failing to pay the bill in line with the oral contract for supply of food. and let's face it, you care about the civil and getting your money back much more!

it's a legal distinction but a pointless one, because if you stand up in court and say, "we only decided to run away AFTER we'd eaten, not before", who is going to believe you?
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:13, Reply)

As badger said, it is the running away bit that implies theft.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:16, Reply)

this is true in many circumstances

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:17, Reply)

I would have thought it would be thieft anyway, or at least copywrite infringement (according to people on here).
You could have a ring and keep the recipt.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:03, Reply)

Some guy got done a couple of years ago for running from many many expensive restaurants

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:06, Reply)

"some guy" yeah right

( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:18, Reply)

I bet he did nothing but complain, too.

(localboy purveyor of pisspoor puns, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:23, Reply)

I was in a curry house a few years ago when two blokes at another table did a runner.
One of them came back a few minutes later as he'd forgotten his bag.
( Fucking hell Jeff I am not a robot, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:06, Reply)

did he get collared?

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:13, Reply)

Just forced to pay up.

( Fucking hell Jeff I am not a robot, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:14, Reply)

They should have rubbed naga chillies on his bellend until he paid

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:16, Reply)

It was a spectacular fail.

( Fucking hell Jeff I am not a robot, Thu 14 Feb 2013, 10:17, Reply)