Having a seizure? You still need to pay the Restaurant Bill!

[Feuer Frei!]

Man suffered seizure while dining at Chinese restaurant
Man given bill as he was being loaded into ambulance
Restaurant manager said someone had to pay for meal


A CHINESE restaurant that slapped a customer with the bill as he was being loaded into an ambulance has defended its actions.

Onlookers called paramedics when the man fell to the ground suffering an apparent seizure while enjoying dumplings with his friend at Shifu Dumpling Express in Acland St, St Kilda, at about 4.30pm today.
As the man was being loaded into the ambulance and his friend was climbing in to join him, a waiter came and handed the friend the bill.
Bella, who did not want her surname used, said she was disgusted at the restaurant's actions.
"I was so incredulous that it had happened,'' she said.
"It wasn't the most expensive restaurant in town, it's a dumpling house and their bill would not have been more than $30.
"It was just so inappropriate, I will never go there again.''
Manager Kevin Tian was remorseless about the gaffe and said he did not regret the money grab.
"My opinion is that they ate in our restaurant, they have to pay,'' he said.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesman confirmed a man in his 30s was taken to the Alfred Hospital in a stable condition.


SOURCE (http://www.news.com.au/national/st-kilda-chinese-restaurant-food-bill-handed-to-man-in-ambulance/story-e6frfkvr-1226045188631)

[August]

Well that answers the question as to whether someone can get out of paying a restaurant bill by faking a seizure... :DL

[Betonov]

I agree with August. If the word got out that he didn't had to pay, there would be a seizure 5 times a day there. And maybe a cholera outbreak once in a while.
But still, no very polite, if not heartless :nope:

[gimpy117]

Well Its a bold move, but they did eat there. Sure, he had a seizure but I would at least make sure my bill was taken care of after i got my health sorted out. Nobody works for free, and that restaurant is no exception. If it had been a cable bill It would have still been due. Heck, the hospital bills sick people all the time and nobody complains.

[CCIP]

I'm also mildly disturbed at CHINESE being in bold capitals there. What does that have to do with anything? :shifty:

[Sailor Steve]

I agree with August. If the word got out that he didn't had to pay, there would be a seizure 5 times a day there. And maybe a cholera outbreak once in a while.
But still, no very polite, if not heartless :nope:
So he gets out of paying the bill. He then has to deal with the ambulance and hospital bills, and the possibility of being arrested for tying up those services falsesly. Worth it?

But I agree with Gimpy. Even if the seizure is real the bill still needs to be paid. Now if it was from food poisoning, on the other hand...

[GoldenRivet]

I'm also mildly disturbed at CHINESE being in bold capitals there. What does that have to do with anything? :shifty:

normal press format.

in most news stories, the first word or two of the story is all capital - especially when the story begins with a location, name of a city or a persons name etc.

;)

[Betonov]

So he gets out of paying the bill. He then has to deal with the ambulance and hospital bills, and the possibility of being arrested for tying up those services falsesly. Worth it?

We are not idiots, we can do the math. Some cannot

[Jimbuna]

There was a time quite a few years back when a couple refused to pay a bill after their meal because they said it wasn't up to an acceptable standard and when it made the local press some legal bod (or so they claimed) wrote in saying it was a civil matter, therefore there was no power of arrest and solicitors would need to resolve the issue between the customer and the restaurant owner (solicitors are the only winners here because of their legal fees).

Well, as you can imagine pretty soon word got round and there was a spate of dissatisfied customers.

Our advice to restaurant owners was to ask for a downpayment prior to cooking the meal and if they weren't prepared to comply (as potentially harsh as it could be to potential business) the chances were that they were never going to pay anyway.

A lot of restaurants didn't like the idea of asking for said payment and I can't honestly blame them...it would certainly put me off a restaurant.

So when we were called to a non payment claim the customer could only be arrested if they had insufficient funds to pay for what they ordered...otherwise it was a civil matter :doh:

[Fish In The Water]

Well Its a bold move, but they did eat there. Sure, he had a seizure but I would at least make sure my bill was taken care of after i got my health sorted out. Nobody works for free, and that restaurant is no exception.

Agreed, but it does make for bad optics to hand him the bill as he's being loaded on the ambulance...

Perhaps they should implement a policy of a deposit in advance in case some gluttonous sod eats himself to death. :haha:

[Feuer Frei!]

For all of you that have said "yep, nothing wrong here, they ate, they pay", well, ever heard of such a thing called Diplomacy? Or some ethics? Mention to the friend to have the bill payed later if it's such a huuuuuge loss to the crappy little Chinese shack that $30 bucks is gonna break the bank and make them go assup!
Patheitic really! The manager should be sacked and the bill could well have been issued at a later, more appropriate time!
Bad, bad customer service!!! :down:

[gimpy117]

There was a time quite a few years back when a couple refused to pay a bill after their meal because they said it wasn't up to an acceptable standard

I think that eating the entire meal counts as waving that right. If the meal is such garbage that you cannot eat it, and you walk out before it's done, sure...but if you finish you meal...i disagree

[Feuer Frei!]

I think that eating the entire meal counts as waving that right. If the meal is such garbage that you cannot eat it, and you walk out before it's done, sure...but if you finish you meal...i disagree
Here it is considered that if a customer eats one third or more of a meal then they are entitled to pay for it.
That is common knowledge and law in the restaurant game.
I've seen people eat ALL of their meal and then complain about the quality of it. AND expect a refund! Laughable.
Needless to say, they paid.

[gimpy117]

Here it is considered that if a customer eats one third or more of a meal then they are entitled to pay for it.
That is common knowledge and law in the restaurant game.
I've seen people eat ALL of their meal and then complain about the quality of it. AND expect a refund! Laughable.
Needless to say, they paid.

and rightly so, i don't know about the laws here

[Onkel Neal]

I'm also mildly disturbed at CHINESE being in bold capitals there. What does that have to do with anything? :shifty:

I'm not SURE but it does look ODD.

to the crappy little Chinese shack



Opps, diplomacy just went out the window.

Bad, bad customer !!!



Fixed.

[Sailor Steve]

For all of you that have said "yep, nothing wrong here, they ate, they pay", well, ever heard of such a thing called Diplomacy?
Of course. In my case I was speaking merely to the technical details. Ideally the restaurant owner would let it go, at least waiting to see it the seizure was real or not. And ideally the customer would get out of the hospital and then go back and pay the bill. And ideally the owner would say "Oh, no, I wouldn't hear of it". That is what would happen if I were in either place.

Ideally.

[Feuer Frei!]

Opps, diplomacy just went out the window.
Agreed, a slipup. Not appropriate.

Fixed.
? Doesn't make sense to me.

[Onkel Neal]

Meh, I just get annoyed by the phrase "fire the manager" since I am a manager. Customers vary, but some really suck. :haha: Ignore me.

[HunterICX]

Meh, I just get annoyed by the phrase "fire the manager" since I am a manager. Customers vary, but some really suck. :haha: Ignore me.

I'm with ya Neal, since I'm mostly into tourism...I sometimes need to practice my patience not to bash some clients/customers on the heads for their stupidity.

and I can tell ya....some aren't qualified to drive on 2 wheels at all :damn:

like...for unknown reason they already dropped 2 of the 3 new Suzuki V-stroms we now have in the rental on the side...just by stepping off and on the bike.....How!?! and WHY!!!:wah:
thank god they came with good defenses and the damages are limited to some minor scratches and the indicator and one of the handles that broke off.

HunterICX

[gimpy117]

like...for unknown reason they already dropped 2 of the 3 new Suzuki V-stroms we now have in the rental on the side...just by stepping off and on the bike.....How!?! and WHY!!!:wah:
thank god they came with good defenses and the damages are limited to some minor scratches and the indicator and one of the handles that broke off.

HunterICX

Ugh, Learn To ride a bike. I say you should have a rule, IF you don't have a motorcycle permit you can't get on and off the bike. :nope::nope:

[HunterICX]

We can't/do not rent out bikes to whom that do not have the proper driving license.

So that's got me slight mad that these idiots who have a Class A driver license (european motorbike license) still manage to drop a brand new suzuki V-strom on the side when mounting the motorbike :damn:

HunterICX

[Jimbuna]

I think that eating the entire meal counts as waving that right. If the meal is such garbage that you cannot eat it, and you walk out before it's done, sure...but if you finish you meal...i disagree

Personally I would agree with you but that doesn't help in deciding if there was an intent to defraud at the outset.

Only sure way to successfully prosecute a case is to prove to the magistrate they had insufficient funds at the outset/time of ordering to pay for what they consumed....hence the intent is then more or less proven.

Many years ago I was enjoying a 'lock in' at a friends brothers pub and at 2 in the morning we decided to go for a curry.

I was in a drunken state and as the meal was served I felt sick and got up from the table to go to the toilet.

A couple of the Indian waiters literally jumped on me and held on to me whilst the Police were called and in the meantime I vomited on the floor.

The Police arrived, assessed the situation and allowed me to show them my wallet (pre police career days, hence no warrant card) which had plenty of funds within...the outcome was a strong reprimand to the restaurant establishment for acting too hastily and without justifiable provocation, an advisory comment on how to behave/react in the future and with a wry grin from the officer, further advice on looking for a decent carpet cleaning firm.

I never did eat that curry :DL

[Aramike]

At the end of the day, the restaurant wasn't right or wrong in my opinion. Sure, they have the right to bill for services rendered.

However, they WERE undeniably stupid. There is such a thing as bad publicity in the dining industry, and this just makes them look trite. I would never visit an establishment worried about their $20 while a man is being loaded into an ambulance.

I mean, for real - if they are this picky over a few bucks, how do you think they'll handle your order if they screw it up? Good businesses exercise good judgement.

[Penguin]

At the end of the day, the restaurant wasn't right or wrong in my opinion. Sure, they have the right to bill for services rendered.

However, they WERE undeniably stupid. There is such a thing as bad publicity in the dining industry, and this just makes them look trite. I would never visit an establishment worried about their $20 while a man is being loaded into an ambulance.

I mean, for real - if they are this picky over a few bucks, how do you think they'll handle your order if they screw it up? Good businesses exercise good judgement.

Exactly, in the end they'll lose more than 20 bucks through the negative publicity they get now, which will prevent many people from visiting them.

[gimpy117]

We can't/do not rent out bikes to whom that do not have the proper driving license.

So that's got me slight mad that these idiots who have a Class A driver license (european motorbike license) still manage to drop a brand new suzuki V-strom on the side when mounting the motorbike :damn:

HunterICX

wow. then those people shouldn't be anywhere near a bike, Class A licence or not