A pub has launched a hunt for 'dine-and-dash' customers after claiming they failed to pay their £50 tab at the establishment. The Wheatsheaf says it will no longer be allowing tabs after the incident, reports Grimsby Live.
The pub near Grimsby is run by Nikki Wray, who says the alleged culprits asked for their bill but did not go up to the bar to pay. She then claims that they got into their car and left without settling their nearly £50 debt.
The alleged group had ordered a sizable amount during their visit including several pints of beer and glasses of wine. Nikki said: "The group had come in drinking on Sunday, 27 November, they'd set up a tab and were ordering drinks for a little while.
"When we had a change of staff, one of the girls noticed there was an outstanding bill on somebody's account.
"We asked them what had happened and we found out that the group had asked for the bill and said they would come up to the bar and would pay for it soon. Rather than doing that though, it would appear they just got up and left.
"I wasn't aware of anything until we had the change over though as I was eating my dinner at the time it all happened. Thankfully we managed to get the car and their faces on our CCTV cameras which has given us some way of trying to track them down."
However, this isn't the first time Nikki claims to have experienced a 'dine-and-dash'. She said: "We had a similar incident last year.
"After I moved in in April, we had a couple walk out without paying their bill when they were sitting outside. I should have stopped letting people have tabs then, but I want to give people a chance and now this, it's just so unfair.
"I would never even dream of doing it myself and I can't believe people even think about it." She added: "This has taught me a lesson though as we certainly won't be giving tabs out again in the future, it's the only way to go forward after this."
Nikki also mentioned that although the bar tab wasn't for a lot of money, during a Cost of Living crisis every penny counts for the business. She explained: "Although it may not look like a huge amount of money, it all matters these days.
"Personally, I wouldn't even dream of doing something like this and the thought that someone has done this to us is so upsetting."
Nikki took to social media to try and locate the culprits, posting a picture of the alleged 'dine-and-dashers' and their receipt on the restaurant's Facebook. The first post read: "The occupants of a blue three series BMW who came into my pub at 3.04pm and left at 4.40pm yesterday, Sunday 27 November, you left without paying your bill.
"I do have everything on CCTV and your faces, so would you please come back in and pay otherwise I’m going to have to put the car registration number and your picture up thank you. Hopefully, it might be a mistake thinking one of you had paid."
However, after no one came forward, Nikki posted again, saying: "I am putting this picture up to see if you will come back and pay your bill (a misunderstanding I hope). Unfortunately, from the CCTV, I could not get a proper look at the reg number but maybe someone knows them.
"After speaking with a few of my regular customers they're saying they’re probably from out of town but we live in hope."
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