waiting for restaurant to take payment - how long reasonable

tir21

The offence is making off without payment; this can be in full or in part.

if i had paid the amount specified on the bill, then i would have paid in full. it is not a requirement of the customer that he tells the restaurant how much is owed

The guilt or innocence would be determined by application of the Ghosh test.

the ghosh test is only applicable when some triable offence has been committed

dishonesty is not in itself a triable offence or chris broad would be facing trial

it cant be regarded as fraud unless the customer did something that meant an incorrect bill was offered to them

tir21

Idiophreak wrote: »

So if, out of interest, they'd billed you for only a penny, your moral compass would be perfectly happy with that, too?

id rather sick to the law than get into too much detail about each of our moral compasses

halibut2209

tir21 wrote: »

all you are legaly [sic] required to do is pay the amount they ask you to pay.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. If there is a mistake, they have 6 years to chase you for it.

lukerichardson40

Really OP, you knew what you did was wrong. You can go on and on about how legal what you did is, but morally it was wrong. If you live your live based purely on what the law states and not on what is morally correct then you must be a pretty mean/horrible person. And to do what you have done (willing try and pull a fast one on a restaurant then complain that you had to pay) and to try and back it up with the law is disgusting.

Valli

tir21 wrote: »

if i had paid the amount specified on the bill, then i would have paid in full. it is not a requirement of the customer that he tells the restaurant how much is owed

No you would have paid the bill; not the amount you actually owed - and agreed to pay when you ordered the food and drink.

Or would you pay ANY bill without question - if, for example, your were overcharged on a bill would you pay it?

No?

Thought not.

halibut2209

To be clear, the contract here is that you agreed to pay the price indicated on the menu. That is what you owe. What was on the bill is legally irrelevant. You owe the money from the menu, not the bill.

tir21

all you are legaly [sic] required to do is pay the amount they ask you to pay.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. If there is a mistake, they have 6 years to chase you for it.

no -im right - the fact they have six years to chase me does not mean i have acted unlawfully in the first instance by paying what they originally asked me to pay

tir21

Valli wrote: »

No you would have paid the bill; not the amount you actually owed - and agreed to pay when you ordered the food and drink.

but its not the legal responsibility of the customer to query any difference between the bill and what is owed

Or would you pay ANY bill without question - if, for example, your were overcharged on a bill would you pay it?

No?

yes if it were £10 and i were a billionaire

halibut2209

I didn't say you acted unlawfully. I said you owed them the money.

tir21

halibut2209 wrote: »

To be clear, the contract here is that you agreed to pay the price indicated on the menu. That is what you owe. What was on the bill is legally irrelevant. You owe the money from the menu, not the bill.

no that cannot be right - because that puts a requirement on the customer to know what the cost of the item they order is. But many people may order something off a menu without looking at the price or committing it to memory

the following is taken from yahoo answers:

If a restaurant undercharges me am I breaking any law (UK) to only pay what was asked?


A - You are not.

The law looks at the menu prices as 'an invitation to treat' (this is the legal term, 'treat' as in to deal).

Your offering the money is the legal offer, their acceptance is the legal conclusion of the contractual arrangement.
If a restaurant presents you with a bill for say £100, you are at liberty to say "I'll offer you £50" and they are at liberty to accept or reject your offer.

If the restaurant wishes to charge you £75 for a meal which on the menu comes to £100, that's up to them (equally, they could ask you to pay £125 for the same food and you'd be entitled to tell them to get lost).

The fact that the restaurant inadvertently presents you with an 'incorrect' bill is (in law) a unilateral mistake, which does not invalidate the bill.
Source(s):

I'm a lawyer. I know 100%.