Facebook nabs "dine & dash" peeps (nydailynews.com 11.27.08)

Restauranteur uses Facebook to nab diners who didn't pay their tab
BY CATEY HILL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 27th 2008, 12:47 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2008/11/27/2008-11-27_restauranteu...

You've probably heard of searching for an ex or tracking down old high school friends on Facebook, but tracking down diners who don't pay their bill - that's probably a new one.

That's exactly what an Australian restaurateur did, according to Reuters.

Peter Leary, of the seafood restaurant Seagrass in Melbourne, Australia got stiffed by diners on a $340 bill. Instead of taking the loss, he got his money back.

Leary remembered that one of the diners had asked about the name of a waitress when they came in. He got in contact with the waitress, and from information he gleaned from her, he tracked down the deadbeat diners using Facebook. Not only did the embarrassed diners pay the $340 tab, they left a fat tip.

"On this occasion I guess you could say that being on Facebook backfired for them," Leary told Reuters.

Facebook is a social networking site started in 2004. It now has more than 90 million members worldwide.

Tags: dash, dine, walk-outs

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Permalink Reply by Paul Paz on November 30, 2008 at 11:33pm

OMG...
The peeps are restaurant staff!
Paul

Dodgy diners at Seagrass in Melbourne Facebooked
By Bob Hart | November 27, 2008 Herald Sun
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24714093-5006785...
Digital detective ... restaurateur Peter Leary has used Facebook to track down bill dodgers at his noshery.
MELBOURNE restaurateur Peter Leary has used Facebook to track down bill dodgers in his up-market establishment, Seagrass.

The drama unfolded last week when a group of five young diners, after drinking at the bar, requested a table at the Southbank restaurant.

Over dinner, they worked their way expertly through the menu, ordered and drank fine wines and, after ordering dessert, slipped out "for a smoke". They kept going.

Leary was left with an unpaid bill for about $520, and little hope of recovering his money.

"It was then I remembered that when the group arrived, one of them had asked about one of our waitresses who was not working that night," Leary said yesterday.

The waitress gave him a name and then he thought of Facebook.

"I searched the name and there he was, large as life," he said. "And he was pictured with his girlfriend - the only girl who had been in the group.

"The site also gave me his place of employment, which was handy."

Leary discovered that both the man and his girlfriend worked at another Southbank restaurant.

Angered that it was workers from his own industry who had perpetrated the scam, he stormed down to the restaurant and confronted the restaurant owner, who promised to deal with the matter.

Within hours, the restaurant manager arrived at Seagrass with the ringleader, who not only paid the bill, but left a generous tip for staff.

"The restaurant manager then told me he would let me know what further action would be taken," said Leary.

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Permalink Reply by pubmaster on December 1, 2008 at 9:22am

I'm hoping these guys lost their jobs. We always prosecuted every case, as the police said they would stop responding if we didn't. For some young people, sadly, dine and dash is considered acceptable, good fun. Also, competitively, trashing the competition seems permissable.
Ouch.

Cheers