Calgary dine and dasher in the news

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

No, it isn't reasonable for the employer to ask him if he is the dine and dasher, they are not in the profession of enforcing the law. If the boss has a meeting with the guy and accuses him of being the dine and dasher, and it gets to the point where the guy has to go to the restaurant to get the manager to verify he is not the criminal just so he can keep his job. You really don't think the guy could sue the company?

And I said if the boss had any reason to believe he was the dine and dasher he should call the police and give them a tip that this person looks like the dine and dasher. Not pull them aside and accuse them of being the guy.

I can't let this go. Calling the cops in this situation would be ratcheting things from a two to an 11. And that's on a scale of one to five. It is completely crazy for you to think that's reasonable. Were you thinking 266-1234, or straight to 911?

And who said anything about accusing the guy? There is nothing wrong with asking him if it's him. The fact that you think that could trigger a lawsuit is further evidence of just how far off base you are in every aspect of your take on this. What exactly would he sue the company for? What compensation do you think he would be entitled to?

[Violator]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Wouldn't a photo of the thief that looks exactly like the employee be enough evidence to at least ask him if it was him?

A grainy picture is not definitive proof.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Violator

A grainy picture is not definitive proof.

Are you paying attention? He's not suggesting it is, the opposite in fact.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Right, because having the cops show up at the office to talk to the new employee is so much better for everyone involved.

"Well yeah we thought you kinda looked like the dine & dasher on the news, but instead of handling this with any discretion we just called the cops, but glad to hear it's not you. So how you finding things thus far?"

How is the way the employer handled it discreet??

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by troutman

Can girls be hipsters? I think girls with provocative glasses are hot.

Are they "provocative" because they have no lenses in them, and they are provoking you to poke them in the eyes and then laugh about how if they had lenses it wouldn't have happened.

[squirtle]

so did they find this guy?

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by J pold

This is kind of crappy thing for the restaurant to do. For example, we a had a new guy start with us from CBRE (are biggest competitor) and he looks exactly and I mean EXACTLY like the guy in this picture. I’m not sure if it was jokingly or not but the MD from CBRE sends my MD an email with the subject “Nice hire” and a link to the article. New guy gets pulled into a boardroom and asked if it was him. He basically has a panic attack and swears it wasn’t him but they look so similar there is still doubt in some people’s eyes. So he goes down to restaurant and asks to the speak to manager, has the manager call my MD and tell him that it wasn’t him.

Everything is a good now but the poor guy could have lost his job and had a mild heart attack so that this restaurant could try recover a couple hundred dollar bill from some hipster.

Huh? It's a crappy thing for the guy to do. Screws the restaurant out of money, screws the server out of money. Publicly posting his picture is helpful to all restaurants in Calgary so that they can keep an eye out for this ###### and not get similarly screwed. That your new hire looked similar has no impact on whether that was a good decision by the restaurant or not.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by J pold

I agree what the other MD did was a dick move. I guess I don't have a ton sympathy for a successful high-end restaurant getting dined and dashed. It happens, it's part of the industry, you take your lumps and move on. I'm not on board with them inundating everyone in the city with their issue and making people guilty by visual association.

Huh? Seriously?

I've worked in the restaurant industry for the past 3-4 years and have NEVER had a dine and dasher. And I'm not sure I've heard of any of my fellow co-workers at 4-5 different restaurants having had one either in the time I worked with them. This is not a common occurrence. Posting a picture of him is similar to posting a picture of someone who shoplifts from a store. Except shoplifting is actually much more common than D and D.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Although it's a pretty absurd stance regardless, chances are it's the waitress that is footing the bill with her tips and not the restaurant.

I think that is illegal these days. I don't think you can force employees to pay for stuff that somebody else ordered.

This would get promo'd or written off unless the bar/restaurant are run by complete dicks. Given that it was a decent restaurant I'd say the chances the waiter/waitress had to foot the bill are close to zero. That said the waiter/waitress obviously loses all tips from the table since the guy didn't pay. And the restaurant loses money on the bill.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I think that is illegal these days. I don't think you can force employees to pay for stuff that somebody else ordered.

This would get promo'd or written off unless the bar/restaurant are run by complete dicks. Given that it was a decent restaurant I'd say the chances the waiter/waitress had to foot the bill are close to zero. That said the waiter/waitress obviously loses all tips from the table since the guy didn't pay. And the restaurant loses money on the bill.

Restaurants cannot make an employee pay for someone that dines and dashes, nor can they make you contribute to a dine and dash fund. They also cannot make the bartender pay cash shortages from the till, if more than one person has access to it. They also can't make you be at work 15 minutes before your shift, if they aren't going to pay you.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

Restaurants cannot make an employee pay for someone that dines and dashes, nor can they make you contribute to a dine and dash fund. They also cannot make the bartender pay cash shortages from the till, if more than one person has access to it. They also can't make you be at work 15 minutes before your shift, if they aren't going to pay you.

Waitresses are stuck footing the bill for dine and dashes well over the majority of the time. What actually happens and what the law allows for that might not be on the same page.

High-end places might be a bit different, but the run of the mill bar I can guarantee it having been part of the industry. Not to say they'll garnish wages or anything, but if your tips in your pocket aren't covering it and you're still short and refusing to pay, enjoy opening up, prepping and being sent home before the lunch rush until you quit if your managers doesn't like you.

I mean practically the same laws that prevent something like this prevent places from hiring based on looks and gender, but we know that happens all the time as well.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Waitresses are stuck footing the bill for dine and dashes well over the majority of the time. What actually happens and what the law allows for that might not be on the same page.

High-end places might be a bit different, but the run of the mill bar I can guarantee it having been part of the industry. Not to say they'll garnish wages or anything, but if your tips in your pocket aren't covering it and you're still short and refusing to pay, enjoy opening up, prepping and being sent home before the lunch rush until you quit if your managers doesn't like you.

I mean practically the same laws that prevent something like this prevent places from hiring based on looks and gender, but we know that happens all the time as well.

They get around that one with having the token fat chick.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I think that is illegal these days. I don't think you can force employees to pay for stuff that somebody else ordered.

Just saw this. I know it's illegal to actually take away a servers' wages, not entirely sure if that counts to tips though (tip aren't considered wages and that gives employers much more 'power' over them then they should). Might be or might not be alright to take away tips for a dine and dash that night, not sure.

But legally and what actually happens in practice is two different things. Since you're in the industry, curious if you're with a franchised restaurant? That might be the difference as it would make sense for a franchise to have a broad "no penalty" policy to protect themselves.

But the ma-and-pa bars that I know of the 'responsibility' falls to the servers far more often than not. I know many managers, many servers and bartenders and a couple owners and it's just one of the unpleasant parts of working there. You're expected to come up with the proper cash at the end of the day and if short, for whatever reason, it's coming out of tips or pocket far more often than not. I never dealt with franchised or upscale places though.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Sliver

They get around that one with having the token fat chick.

You mean the one in every work place that saunters into the lunch room like Pavlov's dog every time the microwave beeps, and then always criticizes what other people eat?

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Waitresses are stuck footing the bill for dine and dashes well over the majority of the time. What actually happens and what the law allows for that might not be on the same page.

High-end places might be a bit different, but the run of the mill bar I can guarantee it having been part of the industry. Not to say they'll garnish wages or anything, but if your tips in your pocket aren't covering it and you're still short and refusing to pay, enjoy opening up, prepping and being sent home before the lunch rush until you quit if your managers doesn't like you.

I mean practically the same laws that prevent something like this prevent places from hiring based on looks and gender, but we know that happens all the time as well.

As a guy who spent 8 years in the restaurant industry, both in back and front of house, I can say I've never paid one cent for a dine and dash. I've worked at chain restaurants and one off steakhouses. I've only had two D&Ds personally in my time. One was written off to a promo tab. The other was caught on camera, and he was a regular at Moxie's Chinook. He came back in within a week, was presented with the bill and paid for the drinks before he could start a new tab that day. I've also never had to contribute to any other servers who had a D&D. They are a cost of doing business, similar to burnt food, expired food and/or spilled liquor. The management and the staff take steps to avoid D&Ds, but they do happen. Even if you take every precaution, a guy can slip away when you're at another table. If it continues to happen to one server, that's a problem, but no restaurant would want the publicity over a dismissal, constructive or regular, for a server not paying a D&D.

Many managers will talk tough, but if you rationally explain what they're doing is illegal, they can be brought around to your view point. They usually don't want a call or visit from Employment Standards. I've never had a problem standing up for my employment rights. If the company was that bad to work for, luckily there are hundreds of other restaurants that want capable employees. I also don't know why you'd want to work at a place that would treat you like that, since there are so many other places to work in that industry.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

As a guy who spent 8 years in the restaurant industry, both in back and front of house, I can say I've never paid one cent for a dine and dash. I've worked at chain restaurants and one off steakhouses. I've only had two D&Ds personally in my time. One was written off to a promo tab. The other was caught on camera, and he was a regular at Moxie's Chinook. He came back in within a week, was presented with the bill and paid for the drinks before he could start a new tab that day. I've also never had to contribute to any other servers who had a D&D. They are a cost of doing business, similar to burnt food, expired food and/or spilled liquor. The management and the staff take steps to avoid D&Ds, but they do happen. Even if you take every precaution, a guy can slip away when you're at another table. If it continues to happen to one server, that's a problem, but no restaurant would want the publicity over a dismissal, constructive or regular, for a server not paying a D&D.

Many managers will talk tough, but if you rationally explain what they're doing is illegal, they can be brought around to your view point. They usually don't want a call or visit from Employment Standards. I've never had a problem standing up for my employment rights. If the company was that bad to work for, luckily there are hundreds of other restaurants that want capable employees. I also don't know why you'd want to work at a place that would treat you like that, since there are so many other places to work in that industry.

Dine and dashes are so rare, at least with the bars I know of, that they aren't worth mentioning with how well an employer treats an employee. How tips are handled should be a much bigger concern and maybe since the employees are treated so well with the bars that I know of, putting up with that one dine and dash that they might see in 10 years of working there is worth it. And I'm not suggesting that a manager or owner places a gun to someones head until the money is paid, but there's an unwritten rule that you don't come up short, at least everywhere I know about. I'm sure if a server caused a stink the manager wouldn't push the issue, but then the next favour isn't coming your way either.

And again, maybe it's cause it's Moxie's that you weren't "pressured" when it happened. Either way, based on what I know as 100% fact there's a chance that a server is picking up part or all of that bill so Dine and Dashers are especially scum.

[shermanator]

Less talk about the restaurant industry, more talk about hot hipster girls...

[Rerun]

Dine and dash guy?


[/QUOTE]

[MrMastodonFarm]

White and glasses?

Call the police!

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Addick

We need a term for these title abusers.

Hipstirrer?