Dine and dash chaos at Staplehurst restaurant

The family business alleges a group of eight skipped out on a nearly £300 pound bill.  Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00Every restaurant owner's biggest fear, customers walking away before settling the bill.

00:06CCTV footage taken from Jumeirah in Staplehurst allegedly shows a group of eight

00:15ducking a £287 bill leaving just £30 behind. Literally as soon as they received it

00:26something switched in them where they turned around and said look we're not going to be

00:30paying the bill and it's literally just it was just that they were just weren't having it they

00:37weren't paying for the bill apparently throughout the night the service wasn't that's great

00:42the food wasn't good so it literally just contradicted with anything that happened

00:47throughout the night. The incident was reported to Kent Police who later said officers reviewed

00:55the case and deemed it a civil matter between the restaurant and the customer. Cold comfort

01:03for those on the receiving end of abuse that evening. You can't come into an establishment

01:10with the intention of you know receiving food or whatever it is receiving a service

01:15and not paying for it. Jumeirah is not the only restaurant struggling with Dine and Dash

01:21incidents. According to UK Hospitality one in three restaurants have experienced similar problems

01:28often costing them hundreds of pounds. Hospitality in general is brutal at the

01:34moment margins are getting squeezed with cost rises food costs utilities and now with the

01:42wage increases national insurance increases it's tough it's tough to turn a profit and then if

01:48we're having to factor in customers not paying I don't know how hospitality industries would

01:55deal with that really. The response from the community in Staplehurst has been positive

02:01with many taking to social media to support the Indian restaurant over the alleged Dine and Dash

02:08but with the hospitality trade under so much pressure customers skipping the bill is the

02:15last thing they need. Oliver Leeder-The-Sax for KMTV