# People who forget their wallets at restaurants **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414 "2016-08-20T15:17:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/41 "2016-08-21T14:35:02Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Not every jurisdiction requires drivers to carry their licences while driving. Where I’m from, the rule is that [you must produce your licence on request within 48 hours](https://www.sgi.sk.ca/individuals/licensing/studyguides/drivershandbook/licenceprogram/driverlicence.html). Around here, they’ll usually write you up a ticket and have it dismissed when you get to court showing you possessed a valid license at the time of infraction (at least that’s how it’s gone for a couple of my friends.) A couple years ago I even got nailed on an expired license (so I had no valid license at the time of infraction) and it was the same deal. Cop wrote me a ticket, said renew your license and the judge should drop it. (It was two weeks past my birthday and I had completely forgotten it had come up for renewal.) I did as he said, and it was dropped. No court costs or fines, but I did have to show up at court. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/42 "2016-08-21T14:49:49Z")
I don’t know what the restaurant does, but I would keep ordering Cokes and wait for Mike Damone to go pick up my wallet from my bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/43 "2016-08-21T14:52:22Z")
These days, I’d probably suggest to the manager that he take a photo of my driver’s license with his phone, so he knows my name, address, and driver’s license number. If I don’t come back, he can call the police and file a report and they’ll know where to find me. The one time this actually happened to me, I was a kid, and my dad had left his wallet at home. He left \*\*\*me \*\*\*as collateral. I can’t really see that flying today, but this was in the 80s. He came back. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/44 "2016-08-21T15:30:15Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > … > The one time this actually happened to me, I was a kid, and my dad had left his wallet at home. He left \*\*\*me \*\*\*as collateral. I can’t really see that flying today, but this was in the 80s. > > … I was wondering how you began your career as a chef. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/45 "2016-08-21T16:31:46Z")
Every business that does not require cash up-front will have some allowance for bad debts. They know that there will be a small percentage of people who will be unable to pay, and it’s factored into their prices. They will take prudent steps towards collecting on those debts, and will try to choose their customers so that they are less likely to end up with bad debts, but in the end it’s just one of the costs of doing business on credit. You get more sales, but not everyone pays. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/46 "2016-08-21T18:03:54Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > It’s spelt behoved in the UK (and spelt can be spelled either way). Jesus, I can’t win with this guy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/47 "2016-08-21T19:25:03Z")
> [@Clark\_Cello](#): > > I would say that at most fast food restaurants the recourse is to not give them their food, since fast food where I am, pretty much by definition, means you pay before you get your food. > > But I am assuming that where you are there is some sort of fast food restaurant where you do not pay first. It’s a buffet kind of place where you order at one end of the buffet and then you pay at the cashier at the other end. So if you make up a plate of food for someone and they’re a dollar short at the cash, I guess you could dump the food rather than giving it to the customer, but I guess my wife considers that partial payment is better than nothing. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/48 "2016-08-21T21:25:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Do you give them an address and ask them to mail you a check? Do you ask them to sign an IOU? Do you make a note of who they are, so you’ll know not to serve them again unless they’ve settled up from the last time? I’m a locksmith, so 99% of these cases are situations where we have already established their name, their address, their phone number, their driver’s license number, and gotten their signature on a 2-part carbonless authorization form. If their card is declined and they don’t have enough cash, there are times when we just have to say “Take this yellow copy of the authorization, mail us a check tomorrow or come in next week when you have the cash”. The authorization has our name, address, and phone number printed at the top. About 40% of the time, the person follows through and we actually get the money. The other 60%, we call them (it goes to voicemail) we send them threatening letters (never get a reply) and maybe report them to a collection agency with a photocopy of the authorization they signed (but we still never get the money). Some days I think to myself that it’s not worth spending a stamp to mail them the threatening letter. If they haven’t paid voluntarily within the first week, it’s 95% sure that we’ll never see a dime of what they promised they’d pay. But, as I said, I console myself with the fact that such people make up far less than 1% of our customers. More like a tenth of one percent. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/49 "2016-08-21T23:32:39Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Many, many years ago when I was living in New Zealand, I had an issue where I filled my car and my EFTPOS card declined, despite the fact there was more than enough money in my account to pay for it. Tried a couple of times, no luck - not sure if their line was down or the problem was at the bank’s end, but either way, it wasn’t putting the payment through and I didn’t have any cash in my wallet. > . I had the same problem with petrol a couple of times in the 80’s. Eventually the bank got their act together and … gave the petrol stations paper pads for doing the process of-line. The bank also had to change their ATM program. Originally, it would just trust you for $20 if the backend was offline. But it was offline so much that (1) disfunctional people who didn’t know their bank balance were going overdrawn, and (2) functional people who did know their bank balance were hitting every ATM they could reach for $20. Eventually, the bank went bust. But that was a management failure, not because they couldn’t tell how much money thay had. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/50 "2016-08-22T05:46:38Z")
I’ve forgotten my wallet in a restaurant a couple of times, that is, left it behind after paying and eating there. The one time I ate in a small restaurant and then found out that I didn’t have my wallet, the owner was there and told me to just come back for another meal soon and to pay her then. A friend who happened to be there overheard and insisted on paying for me. The owner said to her, “You just lost me a customer, I know that this person has an honest face and would have come back to pay me and have another meal here.” It turned out to be true–even though this restaurant was just blocks away from where I lived, I never did go back. The food was all right but nothing that special in a neighborhood full of interesting choices. > [@WhyNot](#): > > The one time this actually happened to me, I was a kid, and my dad had left his wallet at home. He left \*\*\*me \*\*\*as collateral. I can’t really see that flying today, but this was in the 80s. > > He came back. I read a story (in Reader’s Digest I think?) about a similar situation but the restaurant refused the collateral and said “We don’t take hostages.” So you were the hostage 😃 ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/51 "2016-08-22T06:23:54Z")
I have a family member with a mental illness, who ordered food for the imaginary people at his table, and when the check came and he could not pay, the cops were called. It took a lot of talking and convincing from another family member including after HE paid the bill for the restaurant/cops to take no further action. So I’m sure you could call the cops if you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/52 "2016-08-22T07:11:23Z")
It’s going to depend on the law of the jurisdiction in which this happens. At common law, inability to pay your debts is not a crime. So if you order goods and services, accept them, incur a liability to pay for them and then fail to pay for them at the expected time, there’s no common law offence there. There’s a debt, of course, and the creditor has the usual recourses and remedies that are available to creditors. Unless you can prove some further element - e.g. fraudulent intent at the time the goods/services are ordered - or unless there is legislation creating an offence which covers this conduct, it’s not a police matter. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/53 "2016-08-22T11:30:01Z")
My business (not a restaurant) does zero billing and there is abundant signage explaining this. I also do not accept checks. Occasionally I’ll get a credit card that is declined. I have the name, address, etc of the (embarrassed) person. I explain that they have until end of business that day to take care of the matter. If not resolved the account is sent to collection, and if the amount is high enough I file charges and get a judgement against them. Amounts over $500 are able to be turned over to the cops in my area. I had a guy a few weeks ago whose card was declined. He came back an hour later with three friends. His three friends had four credit cards between them and paid the amount a bit on each card (one of which was declined). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/54 "2016-08-22T13:47:49Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > The one time I ate in a small restaurant and then found out that I didn’t have my wallet, the owner was there and told me to just come back for another meal soon and to pay her then. > A friend who happened to be there overheard and insisted on paying for me. The owner said to her, “You just lost me a customer, I know that this person has an honest face and would have come back to pay me and have another meal here.” It turned out to be true–even though this restaurant was just blocks away from where I lived, I never did go back. If you hadn’t been paid for and you had been back in the area the next day you could have come in and paid without eating again by giving the excuse that “I don’t want to forget to come back and pay so I’m paying immediately!” ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/55 "2016-08-22T14:18:43Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > The one time I ate in a small restaurant and then found out that I didn’t have my wallet, the owner was there and told me to just come back for another meal soon and to pay her then. > A friend who happened to be there overheard and insisted on paying for me. The owner said to her, “You just lost me a customer, I know that this person has an honest face and would have come back to pay me and have another meal here.” It turned out to be true–even though this restaurant was just blocks away from where I lived, I never did go back. The food was all right but nothing that special in a neighborhood full of interesting choices. This strategy worked to get me as a customer once. I went to an Indian place I’d only been to a single other time three or four years before. It’s very unlikely that the staff recognized me. I knew they only took cash but I realized only after I ordered that I didn’t have any cash on me. After I got my food, I told the woman at the counter I could go to the ATM maybe 200 feet away and come back to pay and eat. She told me not to bother; just pay them next time. And I did within a week or two. The next time I showed up, she didn’t remember that I owed them money but of course I paid for the earlier meal too. I quickly became a semi-regular going there at least once a month or so. ---
**Author:** ![duncs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@duncs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duncs)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/56 "2016-08-23T09:47:57Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > A parallel situation arises with refueling at gas stations. > > In the UK there are always prominently posted signs warning customers to check that they have the means to pay before they refuel. Maybe it’s the same in the US although I don’t remember seeing them there. > > So what does the clerk do if you fill your tank and \*don’t \*have the means of payment ? I assume that they make a note of the car registration number, which will have been recorded on CCTV , and that if you don’t return within a specified time, they track you down and resort to legal means to get reimbursed. I can tell you exactly what happens, I’ve managed to forget my wallet several times while filling my car :smack: They take your number plate, name and address. Most places have a form for you to fill out and sign. You are then supposed to go back and pay, on the form from BP garages, they request you pay within 48 hours or “further action will be taken”. The “Further action” is a letter from them (I forgot to pay :smack: :smack: ) where they ask you to pay again or they will take you to the small claims court. I don’t know if they actually do as I went back to pay as soon as I got the letter, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/57 "2016-08-23T15:02:40Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > It’s going to depend on the law of the jurisdiction in which this happens. At common law, inability to pay your debts is not a crime. So if you order goods and services, accept them, incur a liability to pay for them and then fail to pay for them at the expected time, there’s no common law offence there. There’s a debt, of course, and the creditor has the usual recourses and remedies that are available to creditors. > > Unless you can prove some further element - e.g. fraudulent intent at the time the goods/services are ordered - or unless there is legislation creating an offence which covers this conduct, it’s not a police matter. Huh. I wonder what **kayaker** ’s cops tell the out-over-$500 crowd. [cite above somewhere] They must have that legislation. But all definitions of crime are legislated, so I’m not sure of the distinction in the large; I presume that’s the difference between commin law and (“not-uncommon?”), about which I know nothing. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/58 "2016-08-29T01:26:14Z")
I went for my regular walk and passed a coffee shop which I had never patronized. I had a yen for a coffee and a nosh, but had left my wallet at home . I asked the lady at the counter if I could get served and come back and pay her in a day or two. She said okay and I came back as agreed. Some time later, I mentioned my experience to a barista at Starbucks. She said they would have done the same. Interesting ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/59 "2016-08-29T02:38:58Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > At my wife’s fast food restaurant, people will say “I’ll pay you later” and sometimes they do. What’s my wife going to do – call the cops? She could charge them up-front like most every fast food restaurant ever. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414/60 "2016-08-29T06:38:27Z")
At any given time, I usually have at least a few hundred sitting in my PayPal account. So even if I forgot both my wallet _and_ my phone (the odds of which are about a billion to one), couldn’t I just ask to see the manager, explain the situation to him, ask to borrow his phone, and PayPal him right on the spot, with an extra $50 (for the manager) thrown in to demonstrate my sincerity? He’d probably be happier than the proverbial pig in poop. A few years ago I was making some extra cash by answering the phone at Domino’s three or four nights a week. One night a walk-in realized that she had left her purse at home and told me that she was going to drive home, get a CC, and come back for the pizza. I told her not to be silly—I just handed her the pizza, and told her to call me when she got home and tell me the card number over the phone. No big deal. She called me 15 minutes later, read me the number, and that settled that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-wallets-at-restaurants/763414.md?page=4)