"Dine and dash" as two men who feasted on oysters and scallops scarpered before paying
A Portsmouth restaurant forced to bring in a 'dine and dash' defence after repeated incidents has been hit again by a pair who allegedly failed to pay for a £170 meal - including oysters.
Customers at Relentless - Steak and Lobster House in Port Solent now have to pre-pay for their food in a bid to thwart would-be 'dine and dashers'.
Owner Scott Matthews, 39, says his hand was forced after numerous incidents - including one where a group racked up an £800 bill before making off. However Relentless has once again been targeted, with police called in after two men feasted on oysters and scallops before scarpering late last month.
Scott says the pair came in at around 12.30pm on January 29, appearing to be electricians, and started their boozy lunch order. He says they pre-paid £130 but proceeded to order several rounds of alcoholic drinks, shots, oysters, and scallops - adding up to another £170 - which they allegedly did not pay for.
Scott claims that after ordering their last round the pair said they were nipping outside for a vape, before sprinting back to their van and driving away.
The owner, who started the business 20 years ago, said: “They ordered a double round of drinks, shots, loads of oysters and scallops.
“The waitress noticed they had gone within about three minutes, the chef came out and as he comes out you can see them speeding off in the van. They shouldn’t have been driving at all with the alcohol involved.
“As a business you have just got to take the knock on the chin for it but at the end of the day that is someone’s days wages.
“As a small, independent business owner, I find this incredibly disheartening. Incidents like this don’t just affect a balance sheet — they impact real people who work hard every day.”
Scott says that this is not the first time they have been hit, with their location of Port Solent apparently having been previously called a 'dine and dash hotspot'.
The owner believes they are targeted because they are surrounded by chain restaurants, so people often assume they must be too. He says the highest bill that has been walked out on was £800, which triggered their new system of pre-payment.
However, Scott says that customers have not been very understanding of the policy, and it has lost them a lot of revenue.
He added: “We have had so many issues in the past. They were saying it was a hotspot at one point for dine and dash. It is just annoying that it happens all the time.
“We lose so much revenue because we have to do prepayment, it is just unbelievable. No one wants to prepay but we have to protect our business.
“It is not normal hardworking people that do this. It is a different clientele. You can’t discriminate against anyone, so we do prepayment for everyone.
“It is damaging for us and for the customer. It is just a nightmare. It is very hard in hospitality at the moment as I’m sure everyone is aware. It is just another hit on us.”
The incident has been reported to police, but Scott is urging the thieves to come forward and settle their bill before matters need to be escalated.
Hampshire Constabulary said: "We received a report that on Thursday 29 January, two men had left a restaurant on The Boardwalk in Paulsgrove without paying.
"An investigation has been launched and enquiries are ongoing. No arrests have been made at this time."