Family-run Indian restaurant releases CCTV of dine and dashers who racked up £287 bill before complaining about the food and refusing to pay

A group of shameless dine and dashers racked up a bill of nearly £300 - which included ordered extras - at an Indian restaurant before complaining about the food and refusing to pay.

Jumeira, the family-run business in Staplehurst, Kent, released CCTV of the greedy customers who ate in their restaurant a fortnight ago.

Faheem Ahmed, 26, said the group of four adults and four children finished a selection of main dishes and said they were happy with them when waiters checked.

The brazen customers even ordered extra helpings and dishes to take away before quickly hurling insults after being handed the bill.

Despite staff checking in several times throughout the night, Mr Ahmeds team received no previous complaints about the food or the environment.

It was only when presented with coughing up the £287 bill for all their food that the group claimed they were not happy with the meal and service and quickly became aggressive, intimidating and abusive to staff. 

The 17-year-old waiter was stunned and asked for help from another member of staff when a woman in the group allegedly became increasingly aggressive and began shouting and throwing insults.

Frustrated Mr Ahmed, who wasnt on shift that night, believes the cheeky family noticed there were no managers present so felt they could get away with not paying. 

Shameless dine and dashers racked up a bill of nearly £300 before complaining about the food - despite ordering extras to take away

Diners at tables nearby are said to have even stepped in when a row kicked off, interjecting that you ordered extra food - how bad could it have been?.

Mr Ahmed explained that 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.

He added: They took the order, took it back to the car, came back and said were not happy with the service.

The waiters were confused because this has never really happened to us, especially when there isnt a manager there.

The waiters said "you are happy with the food because youve taken a separate takeaway because you enjoyed the food so much" but they were just not having it at all.

As tensions rose, Mr Ahmed said it became quite heated and the shameless customers started using abusive language.

With them being a large group they were quite intimidating and we didnt want to cause any complications with them, he said.

A staff member tried to diffuse the escalating argument by offering a reduced bill but the family refused every concession. 

The group of eight began to be aggressive with the staff at Jumeira before leaving only £30 to cover their cost

Finally, one of the diners threw £30 on the table before walking out.

The food wasnt bad, the food was great. They even asked for a separate takeaway order.

They had the intention of coming in, ordering food and not paying for it, thats the only explanation, Mr Ahmed added.  

Tariq Ahmed, Managing Director told KentOnline we put a lot of care into what we do, so for a group to enjoy their meal, order more, and then walk out without paying, its frustrating and disheartening.

The restaurateurs also said the customers children had been misbehaving throughout the evening, running between tables and disrupting other customers. 

When the group were reported to the police, Jumeira, who recently won an award at the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards, was told it was a civil matter between the restaurant and the customer.

The CCTV images were released in the hopes the group would settle what they owe.

Manager Faheem said the response to his social media post was amazing as many criticised the customers behaviour.

They had the intention of coming in, ordering food and not paying for it, thats the only explanation, Mr Ahmed said

He said he aims to raise awareness of the dine and dash attempt as he claims its happening at many restaurants.

Faheem said: Weve been in the trade for more than 20 years and we have an established restaurant in the area so were not going to die over £300 but its 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 its amazing what social media can do nowadays.

Were not going to hunt them down, its just to raise awareness.

It is going to come back to them one day.

Their families will know what theyve done seeing them all over Facebook.

We just won an award and, if you see our reviews, were always maintaining our food and our service above and beyond.

This is not just happening to just us, its happening somewhere as we speak but you shouldnt let anyone get away with it.