Woman eating at Applebee’s dined and dashed on a $120 meal — until one mistake cost her 8x the price
She went on to order a ribeye, a Redbull for her kid, a salmon, some non-alcoholic drinks, an appetizer platter, and '5 full-sized entrees.'
Incidents of people dining and dashing are never uncommon. However, people who commit the crime and are met with their 'karma' make for stories worth sharing. When a mother visited Applebee's with her two young children, the waiter, Josh Barker, did not suspect much. However, to his surprise, she swiftly walked out without paying their tab, leaving the waiter entirely confused. However, just as he was cleaning their table, he chanced upon the phone and the hat she'd mistakenly left behind. From then on, it was just a matter of time before karma caught up to her. Sharing the incident on his TikTok @j.oshbarker, Barker's video received more than 80,000 views online.
Josh Barker, who works at Applebee's, mentioned that a woman in her 20s had walked into the establishment around 8 pm, accompanied by two little kids. She went on to order a meal worth $120, including a ribeye, a Redbull for her kid, a salmon, some non-alcoholic drinks, and an appetizer platter, along with "5 full-sized entrees." The sheer amount of food made the waiter a little suspicious, but he didn't think her vibe was off, and so he let it go." She wasn't giving me that type of energy," he said. However, soon after he returned from washing the dishes, he realized that the family had dined and dashed. Thankfully, karma had other plans. As he went to clean the table, another family in the lobby pointed to the phone she had left behind. The hat, Baker said, was thrown away.
Barker immediately placed the phone at the manager's desk, with a sticky note letting them know about the family not having paid their tab. After an hour, Barker noticed that many notifications were popping up on her phone, and he noticed the words "You thought" showing up. "I thought what? Your phone is still at Applebee's," he said in the video. Baker couldn't understand whom she thought she was one-upping. The next day, Barber shared that a random guy had been hired to come pick up her phone from the restaurant. However, the manager refused to hand it over, stating that he wasn't getting it until the woman came back and paid her bill. "The guy was just like, 'OK' and left," he said. It's even more confusing that she had money to hire someone and save face, but chose to skip out on the bill she'd racked up
A 2020 report by EPosNow revealed that 5% of people have walked out of a restaurant without paying. Poverty was listed as one of the major reasons for dining and dashing. "According to one bar owner, people attempt to drink and dash four to five times per week." The report goes on to list ideas that would prevent such dashers from attempting to flee, starting with "a smart restaurant floorplan," implementing "table-side payment," pre-authorizing credit cards for large orders or large parties, and boosting security with good cameras.
Barker's video gained many reactions from online users. @honeyhearted wrote, "One time, a table left me $4 on $100 and then left their takeout box on the table. My coworker threw it out so fast and then they came back asking for it LOL." @dylanstockhausen commented, "As someone who worked at Applebees for a year, I immediately thought this happened at a Applebees lol." @Taylor shared, "if she can't afford the bill, she can't afford to leave her phone for long, she'll be back. As a former server, I just know you're tired."
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