you NOTICE that you have no MONEY to pay after EATING at a restaurant?

Question

its so embarrasing...you thought your wallet was in your pocket but its not.......
what will you do?

Answer 1

your wallet must have been in your shirt pocket, but you forgot to wear your shirt!

Answer 2

this has happened so many times to me, it's really quite a stressful, embarrassing situation.... here's what i do, it seems to ruffle the fewest feathers....

if i don't have my wallet/checks/whatever, but i have money somewhere, i apologize profusely and try to leave some kind of collateral. not necessarily something of value, but something that would make my life very inconvenient if i don't have it: driver's license, left shoe, eyeglasses, something like that. also if i'm with someone else i have them wait behind at the restaurant while i go get money.

if i have my wallet, and it turns out my card doesn't go through (maxed out, or demagnetized, or whatever), same thing and go borrow money from some friend who lives the closest to where the restaurant is, so i get back there quickly.

i've never had to do the dishes, though i'd be more than willing to do so. once though, i was able to write a post-dated check with all kinds of personal information written on it (phone number, address, driver's license #) so they could hunt me down if needed. the manager of that restaurant was uncharacteristically nice and cooperative, or else they probably would have put me to work or slashed my tires or something... who knows?

i guess the moral of the story is, bring several methods of payment, check to make sure you have them BEFORE you order... or dine with well-to-do, generous friends who will pick up the tab.

Answer 3

Talk to the manager and explain your situation. Leave something of value at the restaurant, like your car keys, your watch .. whatever.
Or you could call somebody to get you some money.

But don't run away! I've been a waitress as well and I know how it feels when you pay the bill of a stranger, when you are actually there to earn money.

I'm the manager of a restaurant myself and I can tell you that if you seem honest to me I MIGHT even excuse you from your bill.
:)

Answer 4

Most restaurant managers will be understanding... Try offering to leave something of value while you run and get your wallet. Then come RIGHT back and pay. While you are at it, leave the waiter a little bit more of a tip than you would of for making them worry they were going to get stiffed.

Answer 5

Hog and jog

actually this happens quite frequently. If people think they have room on a credit card but there isn't and they don't have cash. They will just take your info (drivers license copy) and phone number and use the honor system from that point. I have actually done it. I was at a place that didn't take credit card and I didn't know until it was time to pay. They trusted me to come back later with cash. And I did.

Answer 6

Talk to the waiter and explain your situation and ask to speak to the manager. If you are a regular customer, usually they will just let you pay the next time you come in. If not, ask the manager if you can leave something of value (a watch, a ring, your driver's license, etc.) while you leave and go to an ATM or go home and get your checkbook or cash or credit card.

Answer 7

Actually this happened to me a couple weeks ago while visiting in KY. I had the money, they just didn't accept Visa. Going to lunch with relatives was my idea and I was to buy everyone's lunch and I was lucky a person in my group paid for everyone, but everyone knew. Later that night I went to the nearest Kroger, bought some flowers and got cash back to pay the person back. Man I was embarrassed! and the food was awful!

Answer 8

If I could I would call someone to bring my wallet...if that was not an option I would ask to speak with the manager. I would see what they can do to help me out. Whether it was giving them my name and address or being allowed to mailed the payment. Either way that would really suck!

Answer 9

Don't try to just run away unnoticed. The best way to get away with something is to be as shameless as possible; be loud and conspicuous, that way nobody will suspect you.
In the restaurant scenario, you should start screaming and fitting; make a real scene and get your companions to carry you out.

Answer 10

Well, since my favorite restaurants are ones where I am well known, and my VERY favorite one is one where the owner's mom likes me so much that she "interrogated" my boyfriend to see if he was good enough for me...I don't think I would have much of a problem. I would either get my meal free or be told to pay "whenever I get to it". It's a small town and people like me. Life is good.

Answer 11

LOL! This just happened to me last month...I realized after we ate at a restaurant that I had no money and no credit card or checkbook. So, I sent my daughter out to look for money in the car. I knew there was a roll of quarters in there, so she comes all the way back from the car and I ask her if she found the roll of quarters and she says, "Yup! They're there!" And I says to her, "Did you bring them back with you???" (Guess what her answer was... go ahead... ) So I go all the way back out to the car to get the roll of quarters and it happened to be just enough to pay for our meal. Quite embarrassing....heh heh.