If it's becoming a big issue, why not ask people to put a credit card on deposit when they sit down?
"The Winnipeg Police Service said it does not track dine and dash incidents, but does say if there are threats or violence restaurants should call the police."
Wait? They're not supposed to call the police when they've been robbed? Theft of service is a crime is it not? If the police aren't doing anything that's the problem
They’re not supposed to call the police when they’ve been robbed? Theft of service is a crime is it not? If the police aren’t doing anything that’s the problem
I'm speculating here, but I guess it boils down to the amount of money involved combined with the absence of threats or violence.
In general it makes little sense to spend resources investigating a non-indictable offense where the perpetrator is unlikely to be found in the first place and even if they are found the cost of even finding and processing then is much higher than the monetary damage they caused.
Sure but if stealing less then $100 becomes defacto legal, then we have a much bigger problem, society collapses in a million $100 thefts
But it already is and higher then that.
If it’s becoming a big issue, why not ask people to put a credit card on deposit when they sit down?
Restaurants that see you pay after the event are really in the experience business. Putting a card down takes away from the experience.
That's not a problem, as such, when all restaurants are doing it, but it's hard to go first as it compels customers to go elsewhere. Which you especially can't afford when dine-and-dashers are already hurting you.
It will likely go that way eventually. But it's a big risk and will no doubt claim some casualties when it comes.
I would have no problem paying early. It would make going out for food when you have limited time better because you can just walk out whenever.
"I'm sick of the crime!" The wage thieves cried.
It's not the employees stealing the money back
It's the owners.......
Yes, as well as entitled randos
Having the entire system devolve into complete anarchy is not the answer
One solution would be to pay at the time that you order, but then I'd be horrified at the concept of being asked to tip BEFORE your meal, in which case tipping switches from being mild/borderline extortion to being full-on blatant extortion. So, credit card for deposit would be better, like someone else suggested.
Or, if the point of this isn't to ask for solutions but to complain about 'people getting worse'... There's always been shit-heads and there's always going to be shit-heads out there. Maybe the percentages are shifting, but if so it's likely the not-so-new problem of cities growing bigger and feeling less like a community, and if someone doesn't feel like they have any connection or responsibility to the people that live around them, then this and countless other crimes and social breakdown tend to result. Maybe the nature of the internet and media etc. is making that worse, but if so it's still only a different flavour to the old and ongoing task of maintaining social cohesion one generation to the next. I admit, some days I almost want to lose faith in that, but it's gonna take more than an increase in petty theft to do it today.
How about ban tipping and just increase wages+benefits? Such an easy solution you found.
Just don’t ask for tips, seems like you found a solution for 2 problems
You're almost there. You're almost at the answer.
Urgh... ehm... we should... we should tip cashiers and self-checkouts as well?
That's the answer, right?
Maybe do it like gas stations where you pre-auth $200 or $300 then at the end they just charge you for what you end up using.
I.e. pre-auth $200 and then at the end of your meal, get the bill for $100, put down a 15% tip, they only charge your card for $115 afterwards.
Paying before is a possible solition, but it's a double-edged sword for restaurants.
I would imagine that the sticker shock would lead to people spending less on their overpriced food and drinks, ignoring the outrageous tip on top of that.
I'd lose my appetite 😂
Also how do you handle things that pop up mid meal? Like a second beer/cocktail with your meal.
I think a deposit when you sit down makes the most sense. If paying by card, then just keep their card on file for the duration of the meal, if cash, then do a small deposit per person - less than the cost of the meal, but enough to make dining and dashing really not worth the risk/effort.
Not exactly perfect, but itd work
They'd probably do it like gas stations... put a $200+ hold on the card, then actually charge the amount you pumped.
Fair point, makes cash customers trickier, but for better or worse, more and more people don't use cash anyways, so that might be a non issue
It's almost like refusing to address the cost of living crisis has victims. Can you believe it?
From the actual post.
"I can tell you that the people that are doing it aren't the people who are coming here because they're looking for a sandwich because they're hungry,"
Thing is, you're not wrong either. The cost of living crisis does have victims, but the sort of people doing dine and dash are rarely those victims.
If anything they make it worse for people on low income jobs like waiting staff. Dine and dash is like the opposite of leaving a tip. It's like reaching into an underpaid service workers pocket and pulling the money out.
It's tricky, especially if we want to stay non-judgemental, but there does seem to be a difference between people trying to steal bread and flour from a supermarket and folk sitting down to a three course and running without paying, and I suspect that difference might be one of class and privilege rather than not.
Feels like an effective way of breeding distrust in each other
It does feel like we're in a spiral of degeneration of the social contract. Of course that feeling, if it isn't just an internet bubble thing, would be both symptom and cause so observe it with caution and distrust any who claim it exists.
Well said. Personally, I put a reckless amount of faith in those around me. Being the change I want to see.
I don't think its that. I think selfish attitudes are rampant today and people today care more about what they can do for themselves regardless who gets hurt. Everybody is an other who doesn't matter if they suffer consequences of someone else's actions
So "A plague of selfishness"? Really?
I wouldn't call it a plague of selfishness.
Society has certainly stopped looking fondly on those who go out of their way to help others though. But it goes further than that if you expend effort on something you don't have to, you are looked at as having made a mistake.
Just have tables put a card down to open a tab, like standing at a bar
I am more than willing to pay when I order but I will not be tipping then.
You can always tip after. Tips are between you and the server anyway. The business is not part of that transaction.
You can always tip after. Tips are between you and the server anyway. The business is not part of that transaction.
Not true in many places. Lots of restaurants pool all the tips, then distribute them to all staff, sometimes even owners and managers.
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