Australia has a rich and compelling history of absolute units running away from restaurant bills – one need look no further than the master of the game himself, Charles Dozsa, known for dining and dashing from a number of Sydney restaurants and having his famous line “THIS. IS. DEMOCRACY. MANIFEST.” turned into a minor internet meme.
Now there’s a new bloke on the scene. More than 20 Perth restaurants have reportedly been hit by this bill dodger, whose modus operandi allegedly revolves around forgetting his wallet.
Chloe Debono, head of operations at The Local Shack, told the ABC that this bloke weaselled his way out of a $150 bill by saying he forgot his wallet and would return the next day to settle it.
“We received a call from our manager in the Perth CBD who informed us that this guy did not have his wallet on him,” Ms Debono said.
“He was claiming he would come back the following day to pay and [the waitress] could take a photo of him on her phone.”
He even let her take a photo. What a bloody weapon.
This photo was circulated on Facebook, and other restaurant owners identified him as the culprit who had dodged bills in their establishments too.
Debono says she contacted the police, but they claimed not to be able to do anything because of the agreement the two parties had made to have him return the next day and pay.
“It falls under contractual law,” Debono told the ABC. “It is no longer criminal because it’s a contractual agreement where we have taken an assurance.”
“He knows exactly what he is doing.”
Other restaurants reportedly claim he pulled similar moves on them – leaving identification and other documents as collateral when he legs it, promising to return and pay the next day.
Regardless, this bloke has got to know that this particular scam is really not going to pan out in the long run. I would say that scoring over 20 meals is probably extremely lucky on his part.
Source: ABC.
Photo: YouTube.
