Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
In ], "dine and dash" falls under the crime of ] introduced in 1978; the law was later copied in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Simply failing to pay a bill when due is generally not a crime in most United States circumstances or jurisdictions. It is a contract debt, and the act is ] rather than ] in nature. However, there are often laws that apply specifically to restaurants, hotels, and other circumstances, where the presumption is that the customer intended to never pay their bill in advance and therefore obtained the valuable services under false pretenses, a form of criminal fraud. In certain states, dining and dashing is not labelled as a criminal issue. For example, in California, it is considered a petty theft, while in Mississippi, it is a felony offense to refuse to pay a bill over $25.00{{cn|date=May 2017}}. In one case, Paul Guadalupe Gonzales who become known as the “Dine-and-Dash Dater” was arrested and charged with 10 felonies after 8 women came forward about his actions.<ref>https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.4803065/dine-and-dasher-s-date-shocked-when-she-s-left-with-250-bill-1.4804781</ref>
In ], "dine and dash" falls under the crime of ] introduced in 1978; the law was later copied in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Simply failing to pay a bill when due is generally not a crime in most United States circumstances or jurisdictions. It is a contract debt, and the act is ] rather than ] in nature. However, there are often laws that apply specifically to restaurants, hotels, and other circumstances, where the presumption is that the customer intended to never pay their bill in advance and therefore obtained the valuable services under false pretenses, a form of criminal fraud. In certain states, dining and dashing is not labelled as a criminal issue. For example, in California, it is considered a petty theft, while in Mississippi, it is a felony offense to refuse to pay a bill over $25.00{{cn|date=May 2017}}. In one case, Paul Guadalupe Gonzales who become known as the “Dine-and-Dash Dater” was arrested and charged with 10 felonies after 13 women came forward about his actions.<ref>https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.4803065/dine-and-dasher-s-date-shocked-when-she-s-left-with-250-bill-1.4804781</ref><ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6145983/Serial-Dine-Dash-Dater-Paul-Gonzales-hit-new-charges.html</ref><ref>https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46297540</ref>
Often, the establishment may make their employees pay the cost of customer theft to give them an incentive to police their customers.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} They may do so explicitly by deducting unpaid meals from ]s or ]s, or implicitly through an end-of-shift reconciliation system whereby the server is expected to provide enough cash and credit card receipts to cover the cost of their customers' meals, and keeps any surplus as tips. This is an illegal form of ],<ref>{{cite news|title=The costs of getting stiffed shouldn't be the server's to pay|first=Connie|last=Schultz|date=December 15, 2009|url=http://www.cleveland.com/schultz/index.ssf/2009/12/the_costs_of_getting_stiffed_s.html|publisher=Cleveland Live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Ontario Ministry of Labor|title=Payment of Wages|url=http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/paywage.php|date=November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/igm/esa-part-3/igm-esa-s-21.htm|author=British Columbia Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services|year=2005|title=Interpretation Guidelines Manual: British Columbia Employment Standards Act and Regulations}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs16.pdf|author=U.S. Department of Labor|year=2009|title=
Often, the establishment may make their employees pay the cost of customer theft to give them an incentive to police their customers.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} They may do so explicitly by deducting unpaid meals from ]s or ]s, or implicitly through an end-of-shift reconciliation system whereby the server is expected to provide enough cash and credit card receipts to cover the cost of their customers' meals, and keeps any surplus as tips. This is an illegal form of ],<ref>{{cite news|title=The costs of getting stiffed shouldn't be the server's to pay|first=Connie|last=Schultz|date=December 15, 2009|url=http://www.cleveland.com/schultz/index.ssf/2009/12/the_costs_of_getting_stiffed_s.html|publisher=Cleveland Live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Ontario Ministry of Labor|title=Payment of Wages|url=http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/paywage.php|date=November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/igm/esa-part-3/igm-esa-s-21.htm|author=British Columbia Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services|year=2005|title=Interpretation Guidelines Manual: British Columbia Employment Standards Act and Regulations}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs16.pdf|author=U.S. Department of Labor|year=2009|title=
A dine and dash is a form of theft by fraud, in which a patron orders and consumes food and beverages from a restaurant or similar establishment with the intent not to pay. The act may involve the customer leaving the restaurant with the intent of evading payment, or, less commonly, of the patron eating the food and then stating that they do not have any money.
There are numerous slang variations for this act, such as"dine and ditch", "eat and run", "eat it and beat it", "lick it and split it", "bite and bolt", "doing a runner",
Legal aspects
In English law, "dine and dash" falls under the crime of making off without payment introduced in 1978; the law was later copied in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Simply failing to pay a bill when due is generally not a crime in most United States circumstances or jurisdictions. It is a contract debt, and the act is civil rather than criminal in nature. However, there are often laws that apply specifically to restaurants, hotels, and other circumstances, where the presumption is that the customer intended to never pay their bill in advance and therefore obtained the valuable services under false pretenses, a form of criminal fraud. In certain states, dining and dashing is not labelled as a criminal issue. For example, in California, it is considered a petty theft, while in Mississippi, it is a felony offense to refuse to pay a bill over $25.00. In one case, Paul Guadalupe Gonzales who become known as the “Dine-and-Dash Dater” was arrested and charged with 10 felonies after 13 women came forward about his actions.
Often, the establishment may make their employees pay the cost of customer theft to give them an incentive to police their customers. They may do so explicitly by deducting unpaid meals from wages or tips, or implicitly through an end-of-shift reconciliation system whereby the server is expected to provide enough cash and credit card receipts to cover the cost of their customers' meals, and keeps any surplus as tips. This is an illegal form of wage theft, and if the server is held responsible for tabs that are not paid, the employer is liable for paying the server back his or her stolen wages.
