Gastronomic restaurants are increasingly protesting against the no shows that make them lose money, but the most everyday establishments continue to deal with another type of customer that is more problematic for the economy of the business, the one that disappears without paying. Less common is that the owners force one of their employees to pay the lost bill out of pocket.
We want to believe at least that it is not a common custom in the restaurant sector, where the atmosphere is already quite heated between hoteliers and workers. We can add to the abuse list of some owners the complaint that has spread I’m a waiter on their social networks this weekend.
“In case you still need to demonstrate or dismantle that there is a lot of misery in the hospitality industry”; This is how the message from an anonymous waiter begins, which went viral this Sunday on X, and then goes on to tell what happened.
According to him, he works in a bar-restaurant with a terrace with a shift until night, as he points out that he usually leaves around 11:00 p.m. every day. On the day of the events he left a last couple of clients finishing dinner on the terrace, having served them desserts just before leaving, when it was his turn.
Half an hour later he received a call from work informing him that there was no one on the terrace and that the couple had left without paying; a cumbersome incident but one that, as the anonymous person points out, “it is easy for there to be an incident like that” when there is only one worker left to attend to the entire premises.
The most unpleasant surprise came to this waiter when, at the start of his next shift, the owner’s wife handed him the pending bill and demanded to pay it out of his own pocket, assuming it was his responsibility. In total, 34.85 euros according to the ticket that this worker has also shared in his message, always maintaining anonymity.
If true, it would be a practice abusive with the employee before whom Soy Camarero himself points out that the worker can never be made to pay a simpa from no client, “period!”
The message is having a great impact on networks, mostly from users who empathize with the waiter and share the indignation, pointing out that it is also the owners’ fault for having only one worker serving to the entire premises. “I’m going to look for another job but quickly. And then they cry because “there are no waiters.” How are you going to pay for something that happened when you had already left your shift? It’s insane,” he comments, for example. @RaquelO35641902.
Guíaburros Your rights as a citizen and consumer (Guíburros): Everything you need to know about your rights as a citizen and consumer: 13
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Some users seem to have located the aforementioned bar through the ticket, a Gijón establishmentand there are not a few who are leaving negative reviews of the same on Google.
Photos | Jessie McCall
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