An Indian-origin couple who run the popular Sai Surbhi restaurant in Greater Manchester, UK, have been left furious after two families allegedly walked out without paying their bill worth 200 pounds (approximately ₹23,500).
In a Facebook post, the restaurant owners, Raman Kaur and Narinder Singh Athwa, said that the incident took place on August 30. The two groups arrived just 15 minutes after booking a table. They enjoyed a lavish spread of curries, sides, and children’s meals. But when it came time to settle the bill, the women and children allegedly left, leaving two men behind. The men claimed that they had “no way of paying” and left shortly after.
In the Facebook post, the couple explained that the two customers promised a payment would be made by Monday, but have failed to live up to their promise.
“We hate to do this but it’s our only option at this point. Unfortunately on Saturday night we had a table of 2 families, who after eating, drinking & enjoying themselves tried 5 different cards, calling various people to transfer money paid £0 off a £200 bill!! Now we don’t want to start discriminating as we have families from the same community who come in regularly and we’ve never had a problem. These were new visitors, rang up to book, 4 adults + 4 children. Apart from the normal ruckus that infants can cause wanting to run around, we had no trouble from any of them,” the Facebook post read.
“The only issue came at the end when the families scarpered and the 2 men said sorry we have no way of paying. When I requested ID they couldn’t produce any either. No cash, nothing,” it continued.
{{/usCountry}}“The only issue came at the end when the families scarpered and the 2 men said sorry we have no way of paying. When I requested ID they couldn’t produce any either. No cash, nothing,” it continued.
{{/usCountry}}“A name & number was left with an apology & the promise to pay today after they were paid and a promise that if they didn’t pay we could release cctv images of them across socials,” the couple wrote.
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Impact of unpaid bill
No payment has been made since. The restaurant owners are now looking into ways of releasing the CCTV footage and contacting the police.
“As a local family run business and an independent, times are REALLY tough at the minute and them not paying a 200 pound bill has a HUGE knock on effect for our restaurant we can’t afford this occurance once let alone a repeat performance,” the post read.
The couple also highlighted the impact of the unpaid bill. “That 200-pound bill would pay staff, or pay our bills, or for stock,” they wrote.
The post has drawn a flood of local support, with many suggesting the owners involve the police or release the CCTV footage. Some users also advised taking deposits or card details up front.
“Report this incident to the police firstly and I would definitely shared the CCTV so others businesses are warned.. Hope you get the bill paid!” one user commented.
“Shocking. It is theft so you should contact police. And show the CCTV so other businesses know what they look like,” wrote another.