The “cheeky” family brazenly refused to pay the £300 bill before they rushed off out of the restaurant in Kent where they reportedly abused staff, leaving behind a measly £30
A restaurant manager slammed a shameless family who refused to pay their £300 bill after complaining, he said – despite ordering more food to take away.
Faheem Ahmed’s staff shared CCTV images on Facebook showing customers “kicking off” following their meal at Jumeira Indian Restaurant in Staplehurst, Kent, on March 16.
The 26-year-old claims the group of four adults and four children finished a selection of main dishes and said they were ‘happy’ with them when waiters checked. Despite reportedly ordering more food to take to their car, the manager said they then bizarrely refused to pay the night’s £300 bill.
He said they told staff it was because they were ‘not happy with the meal and service’ and quickly became ‘aggressive, intimidating and abusive’ to staff. The customers were said to have left £30 in cash and fled the restaurant.
‘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. Kent Police confirmed the alleged ‘dine and dash’ incident was reported, but said it deemed it a civil matter.
Faheem, from Cranbrook, Kent, said: “It was frustrating. Throughout the night we 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.
“With them being a large group they were quite intimidating and we didn’t want to cause any complications with them. The food wasn’t bad, the food was great. They even asked for a separate takeaway order.
“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.
“They had the intention of coming in, ordering food and not paying for it, that’s the only explanation.” Jumeira Indian Restaurant recently won an award at the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards (ARTA).
Manager Faheem said the response to his social media post was ‘amazing’ as many criticised the customers’ behaviour. He said he aims to raise awareness of the ‘dine and dash’ attempt as he claims it’s happening at many restaurants.
Faheem said: “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.”
