Dine and dashers shamed for appearing to pluck hair from their own head and put it in their food have been caught at it for a second time – more than 200 miles from their first strike.
Charlie Hester, the owner of The Clover Club in Newquay, Cornwall, shared the footage after spotting the same duo hit the headlines last week for appearing to use the same trick in another restaurant miles away in Staffordshire.
The pair struck a second restaurant in Cornwall and refused to pay their bill
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The 29-year-old claims one of the two men walked up to him and said they would not be paying their £70 bill for their meals and drinks, as there was hair on top of their bowl of chips.
The owner claims the pair were swearing at staff before he asked them to leave the premises.
Upon reviewing the CCTV after the incident last July, Charlie was shocked to see what appears to be one of the men pulling his hair and placing it on the plate.
Charlie thought it was “crazy'” when he saw a video shared by The Dial restaurant in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, earlier this month, appearing to show the men performing the same stunt.
CCTV footage was shared online by Jez Hives, The Dial’s general manager, showing the customer pulling on his head three times before looking closely at his plate.
Jez said the pair went into The Dial on February 11 and said they would not be settling their £165 bill as hair in their steak had “put them off” the food.
Charlie Hester, owner of The Clover Club in Newquay, Cornwall, was shocked when reviewing the CCTV
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The manager made the similar claim the pair were swearing and being aggressive with staff before walking out without paying.
Charlie wants to raise awareness and warn other independent businesses – since the two incidents are seven months apart and stretch across the country.
He said: “They walked in, didn’t make a reservation, they were actually quite polite to start with. I guess that’s what they do to trick you.
“They got some cocktails. They spent around £70, they were eating their food and then the guy complained there was hair in his food. It was like a clump of hair on his bowl of chips.
“He said ‘I’m not paying for it’. I said I can take his chips off the bill because that’s what had the hair in it but they ate all the other food so they will be paying”.
After arguing with the pair for some time to no avail, Charlie flipped through the CCTV to see what happened, where he saw him “literally pull a hair from his head and put it in his bowl of chips”.
He added: “They refused to pay and said they hated everything before walking out, we had a full restaurant so everyone knew what was going on.”
The restaurant owner came across the video posted by The Dial, and immediately recognised the two diners by the “motion of him grabbing his head”.
Confrontation ensued between owner Charlie and the two scammers
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“There was no doubt other restaurants would recognise them. Clearly that’s all they do, go around, eat in restaurants and walk out.
“I’ve been in hospitality since I was 15, I know what a hair in food looks like. It would be in it, not on top. I find it quite silly because it’s an absolutely ridiculous thing to do. It’s crazy what people do to just get a free meal”.
The hospitality worker fears the two men are doing the same thing to other independent businesses and that things like this make the industry struggle.
“The fact two restaurants have CCTV of it might mean something will come out of it”, he said.
The dine and dash duo recently hit The Dial in Staffordshire
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Jez from The Dial said he thinks the “dine and dash” at his establishment was premeditated and other restaurants near him had claimed they’d been hit with similar incidents.
He said: “It’s unbelievable. I’ve been doing this for 25 years and at The Dial and I’ve never witnessed anything so mind-boggling as to why they’d do that.
“It’s just another hoop we have to jump through in hospitality to try and survive. It’s really tough.
“The staff knew something was amiss. We know we do things right in the kitchen, all the chefs wear hats. It was very argumentative words coming out of their mouths. I think they just wanted to shock and leg it”.