said by FutureMon
You know usually, the waiter/waitress ends up having to cough up the money for the stolen food out of their pay for the night.
- FM
[/BQUOTE :

Surely this can't be legal? In the UK we've had laws for many years preventing such losses from being levied on employees (known as "the truck acts").

said by seankelly :

May not be legal, but it happens. There are also some restaurants that require servers to bring in their own change every day in specific denominations.

- FM
--
Undisputed BBR Karaoke Champion! Care to challenge me?

said by MrBradTX :

The only issue with pre-pay is when it's not universally enforced. Otherwise you get into profiling issues. But making patrons pre-pay may be a violation of the IHOP owner's franchise agreement.

A Dallas suburb recently had a similar issue with drive-off fuel theft. Most stations simply imposed a 100 percent pre-pay only rule. But one very busy station owner, where 90 percent of drive-off thefts occurred, was prohibited from doing so by language in the franchise agreement. The city council finally had to pass an ordinance mandating pre-payment of fuel city-wide in order for the owner to implement pre-pay.

said by DHRacer :

Sometimes I think they ought to weigh you on the way in, and then on the way out, and make you pay that way though.

said by DHRacer :

Well, there is this place called HomeTown Buffet. You pay when you walk in, and then eat all you want.

Sometimes I think they ought to weigh you on the way in, and then on the way out, and make you pay that way though. I've seen some disgustingly overwieght people in that place the one time I went in one.

Maybe IHOP should start the system where you pay for 2 drinks and an entree and a side of something up front, per person, then get a credit/cash back for what they don't use of that on the way out?

said by DHRacer :

Well, there is this place called HomeTown Buffet. You pay when you walk in, and then eat all you want.

Sometimes I think they ought to weigh you on the way in, and then on the way out, and make you pay that way though. I've seen some disgustingly overwieght people in that place the one time I went in one.

said by Midak :

I almost took a job at a gas station 14 years ago (times were tough) and they actually trained me how to profile so that I decided who paid up front and who did not. It boiled down to clean cut white people, over the age of 30 got to pay post-pump. Everyone else, pre-payment required.

said by PolarBear :

If - IF - their dine and dash problem is that bad, why don't they ask the local PD to have a patrol officer hang out by the main entrance/exit to enforce the law? If the problem is really as bad as they make it to be, the local PD shouldn't object, as obviously they would probably be able to make an arrest or two.

And instead of their customers feeling invaded/exploited/etc., they would feel safer knowing a cop was on the premises.

Any thoughts?

said by La Luna :

Another possibility along that line is to have the cops routinely show up and walk into the IHOP on a regular basis....sometimes just their presence at random times can be a deterrent. I know they do that at our local convenience stores.

said by PolarBear :



You're right; this is a just-as-effective alternative that wouldn't warrant actually stationing an officer there. I also know that this is a good tactic (a cop randomly showing up for no apparent reason) because it worked great at the Tesoro I worked at.

Kudos, Luna

said by FutureMon :

Free coffee would work wonders in getting cops to voluntarily make pit-stops IMHO. . .

said by jimkyle :

In my days as a police reporter for a morning paper, working 4 p.m. to 1 a.m., I always stopped at a Toddle House diner on my way home from work, and became friends with the cook. I noticed that hardly an hour would pass without an officer dropping in for coffee, and one night asked her why the place was so popular. It turned out that the chain had a rule that required her to brew fresh coffee every 30 minutes and toss the old pot -- and late at night there wasn't enough normal trade to use up a full pot in half an hour. She passed the word that anytime an officer wanted a cup during her shift, it would be on the house. As a result she had the best security of any establishment in the city!

said by La Luna :

. . Or....how about guard dogs that they could sic on unpaying customers as they flee to their cars?

said by »www.securityfocus.com/brief/372 :

Late Tuesday, IHOP's corporate offices declared that the single store which implemented the policy would be reversing the decision and underscored that the manager had instituted the measure without notifying the head office.

said by eSteve :

The last (and only) time I went to the IHOP in my neighborhood, the service was so slow that order went like this:
order
wait wait wait
eat
wait wait wait
ask for check
wait wait wait
estimate the bill and leave money on table
dash

said by Jason Levine :

A big letdown from the IHOP that I remember from when I lived on Long Island. That IHOP was clean, family friendly, and had courteous staff.

said by Jason Levine :

The last time I went to an IHOP (because I was craving pancakes), we were seated pretty promptly. However, I noticed that there was obviously old bacon on the floor under the table next to us. They took our order and then we were entertained by a couple trying to keep their 3 or 4 year old child in line.

"Don't stand up! Sit down! Sit down now! You'd better sit down! I'm counting to 3. 1.... 2..... You'd better sit down. You'd better not pick up that knife. Put that knife down. Don't wave that knife around. I'm counting to 3. 1.... 2.... You'd better sit down now." (repeat for quite awhile)

Our food came minus the whipped cream that usually is on their pancakes, so they took it back to put the whipped cream on. Then we finally got to eat. The pancakes were average quality if that. We paid and left.

A big letdown from the IHOP that I remember from when I lived on Long Island. That IHOP was clean, family friendly, and had courteous staff. I'll never go back to the one by me again. Next time I get a pancake craving, I'll just whip up a batch. I can do it much better than they can.

said by Jason Levine :

For some reason, that strip reminded me of this:

said by Name Game :

ROTF..I like yours better I maybe gone a couple days with that link.

said by dave :

This is the IHOP Genuine Advantage program. IHOP has a right to protect their property in this manner.

said by hpguru :

I hear that the new version turns to maggots in your stomach if you dine and dash.

said by dave :

This is the IHOP Genuine Advantage program. IHOP has a right to protect their property in this manner.

said by arglebargle :

(I was also once served a cocktail with a dead roach in it).

said by dave :

What, you'd never had New York City Tequila before?

said by FutureMon :

One of my friends who worked at a Dave and Busters had to cover a bill of almost $100 when her customers dashed on her.

(She quit a few weeks later after another incident with the manager after he verbally abused her in front of customers).

And I have been a pretty regular customer at Denny's for late night/early morning breakfast after partying. They too (at least in this location) told me that they had to cover the bill on dine-and-dash events)

- FM

said by Cudni :

from
»www.securityfocus.com/brief/372
"...
For years, privacy advocates have lamented the fact that consumers are willing to turn over their personal information for just about anything. Well, it seems that many Average Joes draw the line at pancakes.

An International House of Pancakes in Quincy, Mass., began requiring that customers hand over their driver's licenses before sitting down to eat--a policy instituted by local management to combat dine-and-dash customers, ABC's network affiliate WCVB-TV reported on Tuesday. The policy had customers up in arms over the potential privacy problems.
..."

Cudni

said by major marco :

Huh. The same schnooks would probably hand over their bank account numbers, mother's maiden name, and their SSN all for a free, cheap pen and/or tee shirt.

said by dave :

Why do you people think we have an immune system anyway?

said by GadgetsRme :

We're having way too much fun here doing a "gross out". Don't be throwing cold water like the immune system on us.

said by dave :

Why do you people think we have an immune system anyway?

said by dave :

What kind of tastebud-challenged bastard thinks that 'sausage' and 'chocolate chips' belong together?

said by dave :

What kind of tastebud-challenged bastard thinks that 'sausage' and 'chocolate chips' belong together?