Vancouver restaurant sees 3 dine-and-dash incidents in 1 month
It’s been a bittersweet few weeks for Amar Maroke. The Vancouver restaurant owner installed his outdoor patio at Four Olives Restaurant at the start of June, but since then, he’s had three incidents of customers dining and dashing.
After the first two, Maroke decided to install a security camera outside. The third incident, which happened around 3 p.m. Saturday, was recorded.
In the video, a man can be seen seated on the patio. Maroke says the customers ordered a couple of beers and a full meal, totalling about $75. As a family walks past on the sidewalk, the man stands up from his seat, walks with the family and leaves.
“It hasn’t happened often, maybe once a year inside, but outside it’s been three times in one month,” Maroke said. “That’s probably $200 in one month … What can you do? Do you have a choice? You can’t run after them.”
Maroke says each time a customer ran off without paying their bill there was only one server working.
Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, believes the staff shortage could be a contributing factor.
“You could just survey the situation and see there’s not really anyone supervising, so you could eat, drink and get out of there,” Tostenson said.
Across B.C., the service industry is short about 40,000 workers, both front-of-house and back, according to Tostenson.
He says many people left the industry during the pandemic because work was unstable. Others are afraid to comeback due to COVID concerns, and others are working “minimal hours” to still receive federal benefits, such as the Canada Recovery Benefit, or CRB, Tostenson said.
When it comes to incidents of dining and dashing, Tostenson says there has not been a significant increase.
“It’s popping to the surface a bit more than normal; we haven’t talked about dine and dash for years,” he said. “But thank god it’s not at pandemic levels, if you will.”
His simple message to restaurant-goers is to “stop being a jerk.”
“Go enjoy yourselves, but pay your bill too,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.