To think we shouldn’t have had to pay?

[MamToTeens]

Took DH, 2 DC and BIL out for lunch today. After ordering, it took 10 minutes for the drinks to come (not too long considering, but they were literally cans that we could see from the table). We then had to wait another hour and a half for food! There were 2 cooked meals and 3 sandwiches. The cooked meals were burned and the bread was stale, basically inedible. We are a bit but couldn’t manage much. We were then told that it was cash only, even though it hadn’t been clearly advertised (argument was that it was on the door, which was open so we couldn’t see the sign). It was around £60 for the 5 of us, so I couldn’t afford it with cash. We walked out without paying and they threatened to call the police. Haven’t heard anything yet. AIBU to have refused to pay? And will they be able to do anything when they don’t have names or anything?

Having decided the 'meal' was worth £5

They didn't decide this at all. According to the OP they paid £5, which was the cost of the drinks. The total bill was £60 meaning they paid nothing at all for the food.

Conveniently the Op also says she couldn't afford it with cash and there were no ATMs, so you have to wonder what would have happened if they had enjoyed the meal.

If of course the OP is telling the truth

I think you should contact them, explain how you felt and apologise for leaving without paying. Then come to an agreement on what you should pay. A fiver for drinks is a joke. A coke is about 2.50 in there.

bills-website.co.uk/restaurants/lewes/menu/drinks

You couldn't afford the meal and so have spun it to sound like the food was inedible, you chancer.

Very unusual to not warn at the start of the meal that the place was cash only, though. Who carries cash anymore?

Small businesses have to pay a transaction charge for using card machines and a charge for the machines. It sounds like it was a cafe, so no doubt having a low profit margin and the machines to:allow customers would take a big chunk of their profit margin - though admittedly not as much as people who dash and dine...

Poor behaviour OP.

@TheUnquestionedAnswer Did she say it was Bills? Hardly a cafe

As someone said, a decent restaurant would have given free drinks as compensation for the wait alone. Just because £5 doesn't cover the menu price of some cans of soft drink doesn't mean it was an unreasonable amount to leave. The OP is entitled to pay what she thought the meal was worth (and the restaurant can take her to court if they disagree.)

If I had an overall experience like that, I'd think a fair result would be the restaurant paying me something for wasting my time by pretending to be a restuarant. I wouldn't hold my breath, but I'd certainly think me paying them £5 is sufficient compensation for a few cans of coke.

A fiver for the drinks sounds entirely reasonable. I'd have done the same. This is basic contract stuff: you pay for edible food and service. You received neither so you don't fulfil your side of the bargain either.

Same here.

I'm on the OP's side here - except that I wouldn't have waited that length of time.

and if you arrive at any restaurant with no cash you establish whether they accept cards before placing your order if you are a decent human being.

This assumes that (a) everyone uses cash and (b) it's not unusual for a restaurant to be cash-only.

I no longer carry cash, I regard it as an obsolete form of payment.

So far as I can remember, I've never in 33 years of living in London/UK encountered a restaurant where I couldn't pay with a card. (And I do always pay by card, so if they had a cash-only policy, I would have known.) I'm sure such restaurants exist, and I may have forgotten some, my point is only that "cash only" is unusual. That is enough reason for a customer not to be expected to easily cope with it, if they haven't been warned.

So I completely reject the idea that someone should worry about whether they have cash to pay when they turn up at a restuarant.

If the restaurant is cash-only they need a very big sign saying so.

Some poor server probably had to take it out of their wages. Not their fault food was bad.

The op doesn’t care what anyone thinks, guys.

Really hope this post gets picked up by a journo though.

You should have told them you weren't paying tbf for it was that inedible. They probably will call the police

I’ve had inedible food at a restaurant that’s normally quite good. It was burnt so I only ate a few bites. I politely asked the manager to send the food back. The manager offered a refund but claimed there was nothing else they could offer for food (small restaurant with 40 minute wait and at the end of the day). I can’t imagine walking out without paying! If the manager hadn’t offered a refund then I’d have asked for one. If she had refused me the refund then I would reluctantly pay and never visit again and leave a bad review. YOU DONT JUST WALK OUT!!

Cosima1, I gathered from it that they ate some of the food then sat round till it was time to pay. The OP makes it sound as though she would have paid if there had been a card machine, which there wasn't, so then said that the food wasn't nice as an excuse.
Fair enough if they immediately told the staff that the food was horrible, without eating it then they were in the right.

I don't think you should have had to pay for a bad meal but walking out was completely out of order and possibly got the person serving you in trouble. Let's hope they don't have a boss that will take that out of their wages or tips.

What you should have done was complained again and discussed a resolution which would almost certainly have had the same result. Actually what you did was fuck off without paying because none of you could be arsed to find a cash point.

www.inbrief.co.uk/consumer-law/refusal-to-pay-at-restaurant/

Google to the rescue as usual.

I've been to a few independent cafes that are cash only.
I normally pop to the cash point on the way. I would assume a place that is cash only would be used to customers having to leave to fetch cash.
It sounds like they ate the food, but without the OP coming back to clarify (or drip feed some more as to why shes in the right) we just don't know.

I went to a sizzle once, waited 30 minutes for food, I asked how long it would be, they said another 45 minutes as they were understaffed and busy. We waited, then everyone around us started complaining, steaks over done, desserts not arriving. When my meal came it was missing my onion rings. We complained and never went again.
We paid, because that's what you do when you go to a restaurant/cafe, sit at their table, eat their food and drink their drinks.
You pay. But then never go back, leave a bad review, tell people how bad your experience was.
If you send the food back, fair enough.
But you can't eat it and then walk out.

Struggling to sympathise with the restaurant here. Sounds like they don't like paying tax, either :)

@shesgrownhorns OP didn't say it was a restaurant, it could be a small cafe.
You have to pay a surcharge on every transaction plus rent on card machines and it may well not be financially viable for the establishment to do so.

Why does EVERYONE think if you don't take cards you don't pay tax? Did nobody ever pay tax before card machines were invented? Amazon take cards - bit dodgy on the tax front.

So @MamToTeens did you complain about the food before you walked out without paying?

I really hope you didn't just walk out. It clearly was just some cafe or something if the bill was only sixty quid for five of you inc drinks. Why you waited so long I don't know, but walking out without paying is shitty behaviour.

Why does EVERYONE think if you don't take cards you don't pay tax? Did nobody ever pay tax before card machines were invented? Amazon take cards - bit dodgy on the tax front.

It's very easy to take cards these days - the Inland Revenue certainly considers cash-only a red flag.

Absolutely nothing dodgy about Amazon, they're paying their legally minimum tax.

C’mon OP, you must know you’ve behaved appallingly?

Yes, you're a thief.