I work for a popular chain of casual dining restaurants and unfortunately due to our location, we often tend to get less than desirable clientele…the type that shouldn’t be going out to eat if they can barely afford their meals, let alone afford to tip….or even worse sometimes (the ones who cannot afford their meals at all).

I’ve worked for several different restaurants and never before have I seen so many episodes of dining and dashing. This particular incident stood out, however, because it truly shows how stupid some of these idiots are.

We pretty much knew this couple was going to be trouble from the moment they sat down. From the dark sunglasses the guy chose to wear his entire meal, to the fact that they were a particularly quiet brand of whisperers (you know the kind of guests who won’t look you in the eye or even answer your questions in an audible tone without much coercion).

But as always, we gave them our best and speediest service as they racked up a tab of almost $70 in drinks and multiple appetizers. Finally as the meal was winding down and they were finishing their individual massively sized desserts I went and dropped the check.

I walked to the back to quickly check on the food for another table and when I reentered the dining room, I noticed they and all their belongings were gone. They obviously were not in the restroom. We let the table sit for a little while to be sure but when it was apparent they were not coming back, I set to finishing clearing of the table. Thankfully my manager had been back there when I walked back and recognized that I had only been back there for a few mins to check on that other table’s food and so he wasn’t going to make me pay for their ticket out of pocket, but I was still pissed.

Well, I as I was clearing off the rest of the table I noticed something my runaway guests had left behind the menu holder. A very expensive cell phone. Now their bill is taped to the cellphone in my manager’s office and they aren’t getting the phone back until they pay their bill! Karma’s a bitch.

Submitted by: Jessi