'I left without paying my £59 bill at a restaurant and I was mistaken for doing a dine and dash'
A customer has highlighted how they were faced with a ‘red wave of embarrassment’ after they left a Lancashire pub without paying following a slip-up.
Amy Fenton, a senior reporter for Lancs Live, shared details of a recent encounter whilst visiting the The Plough at Lupton pub, which is located just off Junction 36 of the M6 in Carnforth, for a Sunday roast with her daughter.
But, following the meal, which cost £59, she was stopped in her car by a bar man who asked if she had paid her bill. She has outlined her experience below - and says it’s something she ‘won't be’ doing again…
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"As I sank into the driver's seat of my car, the red wave of embarrassment slowly leaving my cheeks, there was a sudden "RAT-A-TAT-TAT" on my window.
"Have you paid your bill?" the barman asked me with more than a hint of suspicion in his voice.
The crimson glow to my face instantly returned as I stammered in response "It's ok, I've sorted it." I hadn't paid the £59 bill and I couldn't wait to put my foot down and get out of there.
After a long drive up the M6 in torrential rain, and facing an immediate return journey, I had impulsively decided to treat my daughter and I to a Sunday roast instead of toiling over the stove when we got back home.
The Plough at Lupton, just off Junction 36 of the M6, was close by and as we'd visited before and thoroughly enjoyed our roasts, we made our way along the A65.
Even though we hadn't booked staff managed to find us a table in the bar and we ate our delicious roast dinners (chicken for her, pork for me) hungrily in the sanctuary of the tastefully-furnished pub as the heavens continued to pour down outside.
Unable to manage a dessert, despite how tempting the treacle tart sounded, I asked for the bill as my daughter gathered up her crayons.
"Oh, it's not gone through," the waiter said, after I tapped my card against the machine. I tried again but we got the same outcome.
With growing dread I logged into my internet banking and discovered a payment had come out early, unexpectedly, and as I could only log in to my other account using my laptop I found myself unable to pay.
With panic rising inside, I text a few friends, asking if they could transfer the money into my current account and I'd pay it back the next morning. One couldn't afford to and the others didn't reply. I had to face the music.
After telling my daughter that we would have to wash the pots - a joke I quickly admitted to after she began to start crying - I called the waiter over and explained my quandary. I asked if I could ring and pay the following morning.
"Of course," he said, much to my relief. He took a picture of my ID and I also left one of my business cards - adding that I had previously written a glowing review about The Plough in the hope this would help to reassure him that I wasn't planning on doing a runner.
Clearly the message hadn't been shared among the staff because, as we got in the car, the barman, no doubt suspicious I was leaving without paying, challenged me. Of course, first thing the next morning, I did ring up and pay to which the lovely woman who answered the phone said: "Thanks for ringing up and settling the bill!" as if they hadn't expected me to.
Suffice to say I won't be making that mistake again!"