# Waitstaff pays for "walk out" tabs - defend this practice **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919 "2013-12-09T20:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/161 "2014-01-02T17:27:55Z")
I hate being ignored when the meal is finished and there’s no one to pay. I’ll flag down any waiter to pay so I can go home. Theres been a few times I just had to leave money on the table and walk out. I’ll tuck the cash under the ticket if there is one on the table. I hate doing that because theres always a chance the money will get pocketed and they’ll claim I didn’t pay. Not sure what else I can do. Especially at lunch when its important I get back to work on time. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/162 "2014-01-02T23:27:52Z")
> [@runningdude](#): > > I hate to be blunt, but the waitress here was stupid. Why would you jump on a car over even a $100 bill? At this point, the thief of a customer is justified escaping the clearly unstable waitperson… Not unstable, desperate. :rolleyes: Because being stuck with the bill (especially for multiple diners as implied by “they”) could mean she literally **loses** money from going to work that day. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/163 "2014-01-03T03:07:16Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Not unstable, desperate. :rolleyes: Because being stuck with the bill (especially for multiple diners as implied by “they”) could mean she literally **loses** money from going to work that day. :eek: Her motive may be desperation, but the thief in the car also sees someone jumping on his hood… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/164 "2014-01-03T03:15:19Z")
> [@runningdude](#): > > Her motive may be desperation, but the thief in the car also sees someone jumping on his hood… And he’s _suprised_ by that? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/165 "2014-01-03T13:36:20Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Not unstable, desperate. :rolleyes: Because being stuck with the bill (especially for multiple diners as implied by “they”) could mean she literally **loses** money from going to work that day. :eek: Also, some of the posters here don’t seem to understand that waiters don’t necessarily lead comfortable middle class lives. A few years ago (well, about 10 years ago) my wife and I went to IHOP, and were waited on by a woman who was at least eight months pregnant – she was VERY pregnant. We felt sorry for her, my wife knew what it felt like to have your feet and ankles swell during pregnancy, and here this woman was doing a job that had her on her feet all day. Some time later, I came across an article in the Atlanta Journal about another waitress at IHOP, who was discovered to have been living in some cardboard boxes under an overpass for several years while working there. She was too ashamed to tell her family how poor she was. And then I understood why the pregnant waitress had been on her feet all day. She NEEDED the money. For people like that being stuck with a $100 tab can be DISASTROUS, and chasing down a customer who is not paying the check makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/166 "2014-01-03T18:43:55Z")
Nobody has addressed the question I asked earlier in the thread- Where the hell is this legal? Its not legal in California, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/167 "2014-01-03T18:59:33Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I find it absolutely disgusting, and if I found out a restaurant had this policy, I wouldn’t eat there. I can’t believe it’s legal. If I found out about it the owner would have to stand in front of me while I humiliate him or her in front of God and everybody. I don’t take prisoners. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/168 "2014-01-03T20:17:35Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Also, some of the posters here don’t seem to understand that waiters don’t necessarily lead comfortable middle class lives. A few years ago (well, about 10 years ago) my wife and I went to IHOP, and were waited on by a woman who was at least eight months pregnant – she was VERY pregnant. We felt sorry for her, my wife knew what it felt like to have your feet and ankles swell during pregnancy, and here this woman was doing a job that had her on her feet all day. > > Some time later, I came across an article in the Atlanta Journal about another waitress at IHOP, who was discovered to have been living in some cardboard boxes under an overpass for several years while working there. She was too ashamed to tell her family how poor she was. And then I understood why the pregnant waitress had been on her feet all day. She NEEDED the money. > > For people like that being stuck with a $100 tab can be DISASTROUS, and chasing down a customer who is not paying the check makes sense. When I was a hostess at Large Chain Family Restaurant, one of our waiters lived in a tent in the woods. Memorably, one day his encampment was discovered by the local meth-producing biker gang, who spent the night circling his tent and yelling threats at him. Yes, in those circumstances an unexpected $100 expense can be a major problem-- the type of thing that will trap you even deeper in a poverty hole as you lose your house, your car, get behind on bills, etc. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/169 "2014-01-03T20:22:16Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Nobody has addressed the question I asked earlier in the thread- > > Where the hell is this legal? Its not legal in California, that’s for sure. Lots of stuff happens in the restaurant business that isn’t particularly legal. Undocumented workers, unreported income, uncompensated overtime, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919/170 "2014-01-03T22:43:57Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > The real scam, though, was reusing the same buffet check for multiple tables. You could expect several tables of two and the entire check would be 2 buffets and 2 refillable drinks. If the customer paid cash, a server could drop the check again. I was a diner who experienced this; at The Olive Garden of all places. My wife and I went there for lunch one time for their soup, salad & breadsticks; which was an extremely common order. The receipt was for 2 lunches w/ iced tea. I don’t remember how or why I noticed it but I discovered the waiter gave me a check but the iced tea wasn’t priced right. Olive Garden had raised their price and I noticed that the check seem a little used looking and that the Iced Tea was like 20 cents too cheap. I told the manager on my way out. I have no idea if he did anything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waitstaff-pays-for-walk-out-tabs-defend-this-practice/675919.md?page=8)