I went to a local restaurant of mine. My daughter who is 22 wanted to order the chicken strip meal for kids, because she can't eat a full order. It clearly states that the kids meals are for 12 and under. My daughter has ordered this same meal for 10 years with no problems in the past. The owner stated that she can no longer order this. We had already had our beverages and the meals ordered. The poor waitress had to come and tell us this. I then told the waitress to please withdraw our meals and we will pay for our drinks. The waitress told this to the owner, who was cooking. The owner then said that we had to pay for the meals because they were already cooked, but we had not received the meals physically on the table. I told her that I am not paying for the meals. I handed the waitress $4 for the drinks and left the restaurant.
3 days later I get a letter in the mail stating this:
"What you did on Sunday, was very wrong. It clearly says "you must be 12 years or under" to order off kid's menu.
Your daughter has gotten away with it too long.
So just because I enforce my rules--you walk out on a food order that was already cooked and ready to serve.
Your are being billed for your order or I will turn you in as a "dine and dash" customer.
Do the right thing and send me a check for $5.44, your $4.00 went for the tip and other two towards your bill. You have 10 days."
My question is am I legally responsible for the meal? Is this a dine and dash?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Actually you ARE technically not supposed to order from the Childs menu BECAUSE THE MENU CLEARLY STATED this fact.
That's where the technicality comes to play. - You see it was "implied" by the owners that it was okay for your daughter to order off the childs menu simply because she kept doing it for many years. Therefore, they should have notified you BEFORE you ordered that she would no longer be allowed to do so.
Seeing as you ordered, the waitress took the order, AND they cooked the meal then you should have been served the meal and told "No more after this". You did pay for what you were served, so technically you didn't dash on anything. Also they have NO right to apply any of your funds toward a tip. The money you left was clearly for the bill.
They would not win in court. And I seriously doubt they will press charges. If you want to be one step ahead of the game, then go to the police dept. and explain what happened to them. But if the meal he cooked was indeed a childs chicken, then he is acknowledging that he was willing to serve it to you in the first place. And if he cooked you something you didn't order, then you DO NOT have to pay for it. Either way, you win.
You clearly ordered the Child portion. The owner CHOSE to not honor it & CHOSE to make the adult portion, which you didn't order. The OWNER is obligated to tell you { and should have informed you IF he valued you as a customer } that he would no longer be able to serve you the child's portion. She DIDN'T " get away with it " ....HE CHOSE TO HONOR YOUR REQUEST in the past! ! ! A better way for him to have handled it would have been to either inform you BEFORE making it OR make it and come to the table and say to you PERSONALLY { not the waiter / waitress } that this would be the last time he would honor your request. That way you could have CHOSEN to eat elsewhere IF you chose to do so. Rather than deal with the situation directly, AT THE TIME OF THE OCCURRENCE, he showed you how much he values you as a customer. It's NOT your fault that he suddenly CHOSE to no longer serve you. He sounds like an idiot and frankly I wouldn't eat there & help his business succeed.
ANY time a restaurant makes ANY change to your order without telling you, YOU do not have to accept it. They didn't inform you & it is their responsibility to enforce ALL rules. You had an EXPECTATION of service based on years of past service. That's reasonable and a Judge will see it that way. Dine & Dash is meant to protect the owner from people who dine and leave without paying. That's the spirit of the law. You were'nt served & you didn't eat. You didn't get what you ordered & weren't informed of the change, NOT YOUR fault or responsibility once again. There are also laws concerning " Defrauding an Innkeeper " that may also apply. I would suggest a legal aid service to talk with a lawyer or a law assistance / paralegal service where you can ask questions for a minimal ammount of money with a paralegal. They can determine IF you might need to talk to their lawyer. Contact the Better Business Bureau and see what they say. Doccument everything you do and accurately doccument the incident so as to remember it completely in case you DO end up in court. Chances are that you won't. It will cost HIM hundreds of dollars to persue the case, IF you end up there. You'll have all your ducks in a row & will make him look like a clueless idiot.
Final thought: Tell your daughter that at 22, it's time to put on her big girl pants and order like an adult. Can't finish a regular order of " Chicken strips ?" How many can there possibly be ? That is what Doggie bags are for.
With that being said, your actions were reasonable. Don't respond to his letter. But DO see what your rights are & what the legal position is.
Honestly, I think you are full of BS. How could your order be cooked when you state that they told you she could not order it? I think this whole thing is just a made up bunch of BS that you concieved because you have nothing else better to do.
No, you aren't responsible for this.
But my better question is = how on earth does the restaurant know your full name and address?
Let them go to the district attorney and file charges...
In the meantime, I hope you have already yelped. them