Dine and dash sends shivers down the spines of hospitality business owners and managers. It’s a frustrating experience that impacts your bottom line and demoralises staff. While you can’t completely eliminate the risk, you can take steps to deter these opportunistic thieves significantly.
Having worked with hospitality businesses for over two decades, from hotels to pub chains, sports venues, golf courses, big and small bars and restaurants, we’re often engaged in the conversation – how do operators best protect themselves from dine and dash? We’re seeing an increasing number of hospitality and leisure venues, both large and small, experiencing dine and dash issues. In fact, one in three calls to our customer service team is motivated by a customer walking out without paying their bill.
Prevention is Key in Deterring Dine and Dash
1 in 20 customers walk out without paying their food or drink tab, and in the current climate, things need to be looking better. The hospitality industry has been plagued with dine-and-dash since the cost-of-living crisis and the pinch on everyone’s wallet. A few bad apples leaving a bar, pub or restaurant without paying can cost the venue hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds every year.
The best approach is to prevent dine and dash incidents in the first place. You can make it much harder for opportunists in the first place without making your customers feel like they are under suspicion. While no system is foolproof, staying vigilant, training staff, and adopting technology can create a safer and more profitable environment.
CardsSafe is a proven and genuine deterrent for walkouts and chargebacks. It helps staff upsell and increases trust between the venue and customers. This is why major chains like Young’s pubs, Hilton Hotels, Lord’s Cricket Ground, and many independent restaurants and bars utilise the system.
Trond Rornes, Director of CardsSafe Ltd., told us. “We’ve experienced a significant increase in enquiries relating to dine-and-dash. Most recently, a chain restaurant business with 43 venues took on our CardsSafe system because of far too many cases of customers making off without payment. We offer a solution to a national problem.”
The wireless CardsSafe units can sit discreetly behind the bar and work alongside existing POS. In addition, the system does not capture data, so it never breaches GDPR. The tab-keeping system is straightforward to use, so it requires minimal training and helps venues and customers ensure secure tab-keeping.
At just £9.95* + VAT per unit (for 10 cards) per month rental, CardsSafe really pays for itself.
x1 £120 dine & dash = CardsSafe unit rental cost for 1 year
CardsSafe is cost-effective – it pays for itself – just one £120 walkout or a chargeback is the cost of one unit with ten draws per year. In addition, each hire comes with customer service troubleshooting, free replacement keys, and additional units that can be added at any time.
The question is, can you afford not to have CardsSafe as a part of your business?
For more information, please visit www.cardssafe.com Or contact the sales team on 0845 500 1040
*Plus, new customers have a sign-up fee of £39.95 and £9.50 P&P (plus VAT).
