WWYD - Pay or not for meal we did an (unintentional) runner on

[SomedayBaby]

We got back yesterday from ten days away in the UK. We spent Sunday night in a Premier Inn before driving back yesterday and went for breakfast in the adjoining pub (you know the one that's affiliated with the PI) before leaving.

Anyway, we've just been talking about the trip in general, the P Inn breakfast was mentioned and we've just realised we didn't actually pay for it. We think it was £19 (for two adults, kids eat free)...we strolled in and got shown to a table then upped and left when we were done .

In our defence, this was the third hotel we'd stayed in on that trip and with the others breakfast was included, so it just didn't seem to occur to either of us to pay. The waitress happily waved us out as we left so it obviously didn't occur to her either!

Dh think's it would be silly to call them now...this P Inn is about 350 miles from where we live so popping in to pay isn't an option and dh thinks calling them over less than £20 is stupid and we should leave it. I feel really bad though and guilty and ridiculous ...WWYD?

Had this in a hotel in Holland, they charged the card at a later date.

Seriously OP, what is your problem?

It's easy. You call up the restaurant, tell them what happened and pay.

Why the angst?

It sounds like you just don't want to pay.

I used to waitress and we absolutely had to pay out of our wages for runners.

Sorry for running (ha!) out on the thread, busy day today!

Anyway, I called them this morning - well, yesterday morning (Wed) and spoke to a very grumpy receptionist who said I would need to speak to the restaurant rather than the PI (BeefEater I think). She took my mobile number and said she'd pass it on for them to call me and I've heared nothing else today.

I think some people have serious anger issues on the thread with insults and snidey digs...it was a genuine error, we didn't try to 'steal' from them

Anyway, it's in their hands now...I called to pay but I'm certainly not chasing them if they don't call me back!

Ah that's it OP blame everyone else. Snidely digs and insults? Nope. It may well have been a genuine error but you didn't immediately call to pay up but instead took to MN to get opinions on the subject. So while you didn't deliberately do it, you deliberately chose not to call to pay for food and drink you had consumed.

I sat for nearly half an hour once waiting for staff to bring me the bill after I'd repeatedly asked for it. Walked out in the end, didn't try to disguise it. Dozy idiots didn't even notice.

Hi, I work as a waitress in a branded chain similar to Premier Inn. Any 'walk off.'s' or 'inadvertently not paid customers' come out of my wages. When I first started work there I was that horrified by the unfairness of this policy that I rang ACAS for advice but I was told that this is standard practice in the hospitality industry and perfectly legal. It happened to me for the first time a few weeks ago - I worked a 5 hour shift for minimum wage and £9 in tips and a group of 6 women left without paying and I had to pick up their £72 bill. So I would think your waiting on staff would be paying for your breakfasts.

atomic

Your experience seems to be at odds with everything I've read concerning the legality of this practice... Is there anything definitive on this? Given how often it occurs, the extent to which it affects low wage workers, and given the manifest unfairness of it, I'm amazed more hasn't been made of the practice.

Pah...don't pay.

You received goods and a service which cost £20. Calling them to pay it won't cost you- you're not having to derive there or take public transport, so you won't be out of pocket.
The waitress might be out of pocket by £20. So pay it.

Gyderlily - your comment just doesn't match up with the reality that people who work in some restaurants are experiencing in that they are being asked to pay for the cost of meals where the guests have done a runner.

It might be illegal, it might not be something that the very top senior management are even aware of? I work for a company that has a fancy policy and procedure HR manual, things like 'everyone is entitled to a 20 minute break' and an unpaid hour for lunch ........... but the reality is that it is totally impractical so we don't get our breaks or lunch hour, despite whatever 'senior HR management' or HR Law states.

This is the reality for many low paid workers.

I genuinely cannot get my head around how people can say 'don't pay' (not aiming this just at you, Phatmummy - you aren't the only one by any means).

But how do you get, in your head, to a place where it is OK to have goods or services and not pay for them? I am sure none of you would walk into a shop and deliberately shoplift - but what you are doing, if you forget to pay, and then don't pay when you realise, is not far off this.

Yes, it is possible to forget to pay, by accident - I have done it - that is clearly not deliberate. But then you realise. And either you ring up/go back and pay, or you don't. But when you don't, you are making a deliberate choice to steal from the company/shop/etc.

The original accident was that - an accident - but then the choice not to rectify the mistake - that's deliberate.

So how can you decide, in your head, that you are OK with deliberately stealing? I honestly cannot get my head around that.

At least you called, so thank you.
I know someone who works at PI. They have start times but not finish times, ie night shift can be 10pm till Finish which is theoretically any time after 6am but often hours later. So she may well have been awake all night rather than grumpy.
Absolutely something should be done to highlight this horrible but very common practise, I agree. However, you can't expect the most vulnerable, the min wage employees, to take a stand. They often work solo or as part of a very small team, and if they were not desperate for work they would not be there in the first place. Re. petrol stations- Sainsburys staff are allowed to sit down & don't pay for drive offs. So that's the only place I buy it round here. You could ask the staff when you go in, but don't forget they have a camera on them, 24 hours, and may not be comfortable answering.
Waitressing is horrible work. The plates are hot and heavy. You are never off your feet. Customers can be awful. You have to smile and be charming however you feel. Sexual harassment is absolutely rife as soon as the punters have had a few drinks. They also often work till 'finish' which can be twelve hours non stop, and then a back to back shift to cover the following lunch. That's what dd will be doing this weekend and if anyone walks off she will pay.
She will not complain. The alternative is to sign on. She won't do that. She won't let us complain because she wants the work. The dress code is 'dress to impress' 'Fine Dining (Ha!). The shoes are the worst. We got her arch supports things to help her feet but a lot of your waitressing staff have their shoes stuffed with kitchen roll because their feet ache so much.

Sorry to be so lengthy, but sometimes we do not see what is under our noses. Minimum wage workers are everywhere and half invisible and very hard to help. There's always someone who would put up with almost anything for work.

How can we help these people?

Leaving aside OP (if you dm me the details OP I will pay it myself) Mumsnet has a huge reach and press interest.

Could Mumsnet help these exploited people?

Quite a number have come onto this thread to say 'I had no idea'. More people should know.

how does your conscience feel about it?

We've stayed in a few different Premier Inns over the last few weeks. In all of them, the hot breakfast has been cooked to order, so they would certainly have known what we had. I imagine this helps to cut down on waste. We've noticed this has been the case whether breakfast is in a pub on site or actually in the PI.

whoops I was on a different post, sorry this message wasn't for this post!

stupidgreat - 3 of us had hot food and it was buffet style, eat as much as you want. They didn't ask our names or room number or even if we had stayed in the PI next door - so I doubt there would have been any way for them to track us.

EttaJ - don't be ridiculous. It was our mistake in walking out, i'm not 'blaming' anyone else. But some of the replies - calling me all sorts, saying that the restaurant will check CCTV with the PI and call the police or blacklist us from all future PI stays and the like - are verging on hysterical.

Thank you for everyone that was able to respond like a grown up

Hope you get it sorted OP.
Ive worked in hospitality for years in various jobs and we have always had to pay for "runners", either from docked pay or out of tips. In my last job it came out of the pooled tips (saved and split up weekly ) which would affect everyone. Luckily I'm now working for a decent place who don't do this.

Minimum wage workers are everywhere and half invisible and very hard to help. There's always someone who would put up with almost anything for work
THIS^^
.

Don't be ridiculous of course the waiting staff haven't had to pay for it!

Personally I'd leave it. Must happen all the time in that situation. They should implement a prepay pass system at the PI so you can't get a breakfast next door without the pass. Simple.

Someday baby I couldn't agree more. I wrote earlier on in the thread that some responses were comical and were getting taken way out of context. Jeeeez anyone would think you robbed a bank? If this is their response to a free breakfast then I should be stoned to death for the things I have done! Don't need to explain yourself to anyone, your never going to meet any of us on here. I wouldn't have phoned & paid, but that's just me. So off to hell I go! Lol. Hope you enjoyed your free breakfast anyway! Haha.

I worked for 5 years in a harvester.
If we had walk outs, we had to pay.
It was under the theory that it was our fault for not paying enough attention to our tables.

We were in a crazy busy spot and would often do 11 hour shifts on our feet, for minimum wage.

OP you did the right thing calling back. To be totally frank though, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if you did pay after calling back and it didn't even go back to the server who took the hit in the first place.

sjmama12 - have you actually read the thread?

There are people responding who work in the hospitality industry who do have to pay when people walk out without paying their bill.

Is anyone watching the programme on low paid workers? It is shocking - many people in nice, comfortable office jobs just haven't a clue how depressing many peoples' working lives are. I admit I was one of those people, nice job, company car, pension plus other benefits ............. years later I am working at NMW at one of the lowest of the low jobs - it really is a different world.

Could Mumsnet help these exploited people? Quite a number have come onto this thread to say 'I had no idea'. More people should know

starsorwater I completely agree. It is outrageous that this seems to be common (though thankfully not universal) practice. I will write to my MP about this. The issue over whether the Op should pay £20 is trivial in comparison to MW workers who are made to pick comparatively huge bills for what cannot in any way reasonably be regarded as their fault.

It's a bit like blaming the victim of a mugging for not holding onto their handbag tightly enough!

Absolutely agree. Let's name & Shame the companies that still carry out this practice today. I wasn't aware nor was a lot of people that this went on. This post shouldn't be about name calling, pointing the finger etc anymore. We need to look out for the guys which this is happening to, because it's not on.