AIBU to ask what cheeky things you've seen people to do in order to not have to pay

[IronFists234]

First off, this is supposed to be a cheeky fucker thread. This is not a thread laughing at people making attempts to cut back to save money. Just want to make that clear!

This thread is inspired by my friend I went swimming with yesterday. Our local pool does wrist bands that indicate what time you entered, so yellow for 2-4, blue for 4-6, etc...

My friend was very adamant we HAD to go swimming at the 4-6 slot. I didn't question it but found her insistence odd.

It turns out she had blue bands from her last swimming session! She had just kept them and not handed them in

When we entered the pool she shouted "oh don't worry I already have the bands" to the pool employees. So not an outright lie but they assumed she paid!

It's a busy pool as well, so I doubt they notice she hasn't paid

I asked her why she did it and she said she'd paid once and if she could get in for free by keeping the bands, why pay?

any other stories like this?

My father also once said he went to a barbecue where the owner requested everyone bring a 'portion of coal' but I still think that was a joke (or hope)

We hired a village hall for parents' golden wedding party, and got a nice caterer in to provide lots of cold meats, salads, cheese etc for the buffet. We deliberately ordered loads of extra food so we could take some home to feed relatives who'd come from far away the next day, and sure enough, there was plenty left on the buffet bar by the end of the night. Mysteriously, when it came to clearing away time all the meat and cheese had disappeared, including an almost untouched leg of ham. No idea where it went, or who took it, but there must have been one almighty cheeky fucker there!

It's the same as the arseholes who pretended to lose family at grenfell

A dangerous post to make on Mumsnet of all places ... there's a certain poster who'll no doubt be along any time now to tell you exactly what you are

Is that controversial? The man was prosecuted for trying to profit from other people's tragedies.

It's beyond disgusting to try to profit from a tragedy that has taken lives and destroyed families - and like false accusations of rape etc, it means that those who are genuinely suffering are disbelieve and assumed to be out for money for nothing.
A horrible thing to do, but some people have no shame.

It is to the poster I'm thinking of, AntiBoop ... which doesn't alter you being absolutely right

However for some, Grenfell seems to have joined subjects such as Hillsborough, the "missing child who can't be named on MN" and more, about which only a few, carefully controlled remarks can ever be tolerated

When I worked in a gastro pub 15 years ago we had it drummed into us to check people were happy with their meals early on, so it's been happening in the UK for a fair while.

We had one CF who used to turn up, order the same item every day, then complain to get it free. Got to the point where my boss told her that as it clearly wasn't satisfactory, maybe she should stop ordering it!

I went to a party in a shared house my friend lived in. The housemates put a bit of food on and I and a few others brought some food also.

For the drinks, they told everyone to bring a bottle for the communal drinks table. At the end of the night, people took whatever was left of their bottles home.

One of my friends housemates approached me and my friend after the party had finished and told us that her friend wasn't happy because her bottle which had been nearly full when she arrived, was now nearly empty. Me and my friend had been seen having a few shots each from said bottle, so she wanted us to reimburse her for the bottle!

She got really shitty with us when we refused to pay, even after we pointed out that she had not brought food, but had filled herself up a plate from the food that other people had brought. She had also made herself drinks from the bottles other people had brought, including my vodka.

'The (ex) friend who charged her 300 wedding guests £25 each (this is going back 20 years when £25 was £25 grin) to come to her wedding. There was a little tear-off slip at the bottom of your printed A4 paper invite so you could enter how many people were coming - adults and children were charged the same - and send it back to her with your cheque. There was also a ticky box bit to add a further 'optional gift'. She was fucking chuffed to tiny little pieces that she'd got a deal whereby she paid the venue £8 a head, too, so a tidy profit was made. Oh, and when you sent back your 'remittance' you got a proper formal invite 'to keep forever' - with details of the wedding list, where no gift was under £50.'

Why she wasn't an ex after sending out an invitation like this is the question you should be asking yourself.

Sorry, I'm someone who sneaks sliced cheese, an extra bread roll and an apple or something off the breakfast buffet on the rare occasions I stay at a hotel, to make a sandwich! We last did this at LEGOLAND in Denmark and I gather it's pretty much expected there.

Oh yes, forgot about this one. At my wedding, my Dgrandma put £1k behind the bar. Someone (I think I know who) ordered an extremely expensive bottle of champagne.

Also, the first year we hosted christmas, NotDSIL brought one bottle of rose round, drank all our drinks, ate all our food and then tried to take the unopened rose back home. DH took it off her and put it back in the fridge. Cheeky fuckery indeed.

When I was a kid I used to go to those pick your own farms, they've also closed down near me now. I didn't understand how bad it was at the time but you uses to get swarms of family members who would scoff all the fruit without paying for it.

Nearby there would also be dafodills which the council had planted at the side of the road to make the area look brighter. You'd also see a group of people picking these or digging them out. Eventually the council stopped planting them.

I don’t get the whole ‘taking stuff from breakfast to eat later’ thing.

Aren’t you embarrassed doing it? Also, if you think it’s OK to take stuff away with you, do you think that it’s theoretically OK to take a week’s worth? I’ve seen people fill handbags with >10 apples at breakfast, on the grounds that they could have eaten them at breakfast if they had had space.

It’s because of this sort of thing that some hotels search your bag when you leave breakfast. That wouldn’t happen if cheeky sods didn’t fill their boots after eating their fill.

There's nothing more likely to put me off someone than tight-fistedness. It's such an unattractive trait.

Sadly, I come across it in my professional life too. People who wouldn't work for 10 mins if they thought they were not being paid for it, who think nothing of expecting me to work for several hours without receiving any remuneration! Makes me see red.

It's rife at Disneyland Paris. CFs fulling rucksacks with jam sandwiches to cart around in 28c heat to save a few quid. It's so miserable.

I be a friend who will always buy the kids meal (1/4 the price of adult meal - same food though as it’s a very nice buffet) - she then eats it and give her child a spoonful then things she has brought with her.

Another one has 3 children - when booking hotels says she has two and sneaks the other child in

Also used to have a friend - invited everyone to his for a BBQ - told everyone to bring steaks / gourmet sausages etc - put them all away in the fridge and served everyone the cheapest value sausages you could buy

I was packed up a doggy bag by the staff at a breakfast buffet before. I was pregnant and had horrible morning sickness (which by this point in my pregnancy was thankfully confined to the morning and evening, so I could eat bits of easily digestable food at lunch and late afternoon). A very friendly and attentive waitress asked if I wanted something specific making up, as she'd noticed I wasn't eating. I explained about the sickness, and shortly after she arrived with a little paper bag containing a couple of buttered bread rolls, some fruit, a danish pastry and a bottle of juice. She said she didn't want me suffering sickness and paying for a meal I hadn't eaten. I was really grateful, I thought it was wonderful customer service.

We don't take food with us from the buffet, but we do tend to go for as late a breakfast as we can without missing whatever attraction/event we're visiting so we can have a good breakfast, then only need to find an afternoon snack to tide us over until dinner. It's not tightness with us though, it's so we don't have to find somewere to eat and waste a chunk of the day.

I used to work in a hotel and if people were going to be leaving too early to eat breakfast we had the kitchen make them sandwiches to take with them.

Definitely not CF behaviour to eat the meal you’ve paid for once like the pregnancy sickness story above.

It is CF behaviour though, to load up your handbag from the buffet, so you have lunch in your handbag after eating your breakfast once already.

We went to one of the themed restaurants in Disneyland and ds didn't eat and wasn't very enthusiastic about meeting the characters because he wasn't feeling well. The safe were very kind and gave us a voucher for a full meal on another day anywhere we wanted.

It's always nicer to receive these things as a surprise!

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In the frozen food shop near us a family sends their small kids in with out of date debit cards and a shopping list. The kids gather the food and go to pay with the cards.Normally it amounts to around £10. Obviously the card is declined . The kids just stand there and argue with the assistant. Sometimes they manage to cry a bit. What they want is for the next person in line to pay the bill for them. As its not excessive and could just be a familys tea there is often a kind hearted person who chucks a tenner toward the assistant.
They do it on a regular basis whenever the assistant doesnt recognise them.

When I was younger and used to go out drinking with friends, we would get a taxi and then when we arrived at the bar she would say I’ll get you a drink. Then she would hang back at the bar and ask someone to get her a drink and she’d get them one back.. she never ever did! We would go out for meals and she wouldn’t put any money in. We were all skint back then being 18/19/20 but none of us took the piss out of each other. She always looked after number one. She’s still Tight now and if we ever go out we all make sure she pays her fair share!!

Also I’ve worked in a pub kitchen and the chef didn’t like a customer and he did spit in his food! Still turns my stomach now

I used to work in a branch of a well known department store chain so have seen many a CF try it on in order to get a refund or a discount as said department store has a reputation for good customer service. Ancient shoes brought back after what was clear was several years' wear and tear and my favourite, the couple who kicked up a stink about how the woman had been utterly humiliated at a smart wedding they'd attended because the terrible quality of the dress she had purchased meant it had creased horribly. It was a linen dress. I was in haberdashery for a long time and the number of CFs who would kick off and try to get a discount on a single reel of thread or ball of wool due to what they saw as an unreasonable cost was amazing. We actually had customers put the cotton reel down and storm off over it.

With what Disney charge I'm not surprised people bring food in. When last went in 1998 it was $100 for an adult five day pass to all parks in Florida. It's now over $100 a day to one park for a child. If you are going to gouge your customers they are going to look to save money elsewhere.

We have not been to Disney with the kids despite being in Florida on a regular basis for business. DS has ASD and the paperwork they wanted to qualify for a disabled pass was insane. We have a disabled pass for our car because of his disability. We don't need the stress so haven't bothered to go. Obviously some Cfs have messed it up for those who genuinely need the help.

Also, here in the US shop assistants are always surprised when I bring things back to complain but don't ask for a refund. DD wore through a pair of $50 striderite shoes in three months. The heels were completely worn away and the toes had the beginnings of holes. Previous shoes had held up so in my mind this was a one off. I showed them the shoes and explained that they needed to let HQ know there is a quality control problem with the shoes as they should last longer than 3 months. The manager was so surprised she gave me 25% off if I wanted to try a different style for DD.

I've also given negative feedback about food in a restaurant at the end of the meal and been upfront about not expecting a refund or anything else. It's feedback which is based on my perspective and doesn't mean it's right. Silly things like napkins being too thin or having better quality cutlery. I have a lot of experience from my grandmother running restaurants and grew up helping run them. Cheap cutlery drives me nuts.