Family rack up huge bill and ask for extra food to take home before dashing without paying
A family of eight allegedly refused to pay their £300 bill at a restaurant saying they were not happy with the food, despite having just ordered extra to take home.
The family had eaten at Jemeira Indian Restaurant in Staplehurst, Kent on March 16, when they told staff they would not be paying, according to manager Faheem Ahmed.
He said they told staff they were ‘not happy with the meal or service’ before becoming ‘aggressive, intimidating and abusive’ to staff.
Faheem said the group, made up of four adults and four children, had finished a selection of main dishes and when asked by waiters, said they were ‘happy’ with them.
The family proceeded to order more food to take away and after receiving it refused to pay the bill.
They eventually left £30 before leaving.
The police were contacted but said they couldn’t do anything as it was a civil matter.
‘Frustrated’ Faheem, who wasn’t on shift that night, believes the ‘cheeky’ family noticed there were no managers present so felt they could ‘get away with’ not paying.
Faheem, from Cranbrook, Kent, said: ‘Throughout the night (the staff) asked how everything was, how the food was and there was no problem. They were happy.
‘They said the food was great, they finished it and said they wanted to order a separate takeaway.
‘They took the order, took it back to the car, came back and said ‘we’re not happy with the service’.
‘The waiters were confused because this has never really happened to us, especially when there isn’t a manager there.
‘The waiters said “you are happy with the food because you’ve taken a separate takeaway because you enjoyed the food so much”.
‘They were just not having it at all.
‘It got to a point when it was quite heated, they started using abusive language.’
He said staff decided not to push it further as ‘with them being a large group they were quite intimidating’.
He added: ‘They literally got £30, put it there and just left.
‘The managers were not there, it was just staff so maybe they knew they could get away with something like this.’
Faheem posted CCTV images of the family on social media and said the response from the community had been ‘amazing’, with many criticising the customers’ behaviour.
He said he wants to raise awareness of ‘dine and dash’ incidents, which he says are happening at many restaurants.
Faheem added: ‘We’ve been in the trade for more than 20 years and we have an established restaurant in the area so we’re not going to die over £300 but it’s the principle.
‘The amount of people that have walked in saying how sorry they felt and how sorry they were for the actions of this group of people.
‘I feel like the whole of Kent has seen the post so it’s amazing what social media can do nowadays.
‘We’re not going to hunt them down, it’s just to raise awareness.
‘It is going to come back to them one day.
‘Their families will know what they’ve done seeing them all over Facebook.
‘We just won an award and, if you see our reviews, we’re always maintaining our food and our service above and beyond.
‘This is not just happening to just us, it’s happening somewhere as we speak but you shouldn’t let anyone get away with it.”
A Kent Police spokesperson said: ‘Kent Police received a report of theft from a restaurant in The Parade, Staplehurst, which is alleged to have occurred at around 8.50pm on Sunday, 16 March 2025.
‘Following an investigation and review of CCTV available, officers determined the incident to be a civil matter between the restaurant and the customers.’
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