The owner of a restaurant has voiced his frustration over the "disgraceful" actions of a group of diners who allegedly scammed their way out of paying for their meal last week. The San Marino Italian bar and restaurant in Widnes recently shared CCTV footage on their Facebook page, which they believe shows the scam unfolding.
The video shows two women and a man at a table, with the man appearing to pass something to one of the women, who then places it into a napkin. The woman is then seen putting food from her plate into the napkin before calling over a waitress.
The restaurant alleges that the man "pulled a piece of glass from his pocket and handed it to his wife". Restaurant owner Miraz Yolcu told the ECHO that the incident was "really upsetting" for him and his staff.
He explained that one of the customers complained about finding a piece of glass in her meal, claiming it had broken her veneer and would cost thousands to replace.
"I went over looked at it and thought it was a piece of sea salt at first. The guy said, no, it's definitely a piece of glass. The woman said her gum was bleeding. She was holding a napkin over her mouth so I couldn't see it, but there wasn't any blood on the napkin."
"But I had no reason to doubt her and of course my first priority was her health - I wanted to make sure she was safe. They asked if a dentist was open, and so I said 'there's a walk in one just down the road'. I was really worried about the lady."
According to Miraz, as the group got up to leave, the man said he would be returning to the restaurant for a compensation claim. The man then allegedly told Miraz, "you won't expect me to pay for the bill after this", and the owner replied, "fair enough".
He allowed the group to leave without paying their £64.85 bill.
He gave the man his number to arrange the compensation payment, but didn't have the man's name or number because the group hadn't made a reservation. It was only when the group left that Miraz began to suspect something was off.
"I thought to myself, what's going on?" he said. "There is nothing in the kitchen containing glass. There's no way it could have gone in the meal from the kitchen.
"I have full confidence in my staff, so I went to investigate. I checked the CCTV footage and I was so disappointed with what I saw. I couldn't believe it - I never felt so stupid in my life."
Miraz said that in the six years has been running the family restaurant, he has "never seen anything like it". He is keen to warn other restaurants about the incident and stop the alleged scammers getting away with it in future.
He said: "In this business, reputation is everything and this could have done serious damage. This has to stop. The money is not the issue.
"We are a small local restaurant and we try to make it affordable enough so that people return every week. We have a strong relationship with our customers and I'm not going to let them ruin that trust."
The incident was reported to Cheshire Police. A spokesman said: "The caller reported that three customers had left the premises without paying for a meal after claiming to find a piece of broken glass in their meal.
"After reviewing CCTV footage the caller believes that the glass was placed in the meal by the customers. Enquiries in relation to the matter are in the early stages."
Anyone with information is asked to contact Cheshire police quoting the reference number IML-2063790.
Responding to the footage, San Marino customers showed their support for the restaurant. Carolyn Wright said: "What a disgrace. Gorgeous food in this restaurant, Staff very attentive and welcoming. Hopefully you can pass this CCTV round to other restaurants and warn them too!"
Jayne Spruce said: "I'm incredibly sad and angry that this has happened to you. I have eaten at the restaurant twice and thoroughly enjoyed not only the food, but the way your staff looked after us all. They are a credit to you. This shouldn't be allowed to happen, you definitely need to report this. I hope they get the Karma that they deserve!"
