It’s pretty fair to say times have been tough for hospitality business across the UK. But it certainly makes it even worse when customers don’t cough up their cash.
And one family-of-eight have been accused of doing a runner from a Welsh restaurant over the weekend.
Bosses of the newly opened Bella Ciao restaurant in Port Talbot say they were left ‘devastated’ after the diners allegedly got off without paying their £329 bill.
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The Italian food spot shared footage and snaps of the family to social media accusing them of getting off, adding ‘shame on you’.
The Mirror reports they enjoyed a massive scran of pricey steaks, 15 bottles of fizzy drinks and treated themselves to double desserts for their hearty meal.
Manager Tyrone Reese said: “They were ordering the most expensive things on the menu, like T-bone steaks and the like.
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“My wife said 'Something's not right.' They went full-on with their order but they were also sending plates back half empty.”
In the Facebook post, the restaurant alleges that the woman attempted to pay with a savings account card twice but it declined and assured her son would wait inside while she went out to get her ‘other card’.
“Of course she does not return and then the son receives a phone call and says he has to go and does a runner,” it adds.
Bella Ciao say it was unable to contact the family as they used a ‘fake’ number to make their reservation, so it had ‘no choice’ but to report the incident to police.
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“To do this to anyone is disgusting but to do this to a newly open restaurant is even worse!” the restaurant adds.
South Wales police told LADbible it was called just before 9.40pm on 19 April with a report ‘of making off without payment from a business premises on Castle Street, Swansea’.
“Investigations are ongoing to establish the full circumstances behind the incident and to identify those involved,” police added.
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The family’s dine and dash went viral online with millions viewing a post on X and Reese said he was flooded with calls from other nearby restaurants detailing similar incidents with a family.
He added: “I don't understand how they [the family] can get away with this
“It annoys me to know this is happening and that they are getting away with it."
The only positive has been that the restaurant ‘tripled’ its booking following the incident.
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Reese added: "I took it as a sign of solidarity. I felt fantastic, not about the money but about how people reacted positively to such a negative situation."
LADbible has contacted Bella Ciao for comment.
Topics: Crime, Social Media, Money, Food And Drink, UK News
Jess Battison