Two “aggressive” diners refused to pay an £165 bill after finding “hair in their food”, but CCTV footage appears to show them plucking strands from their own heads before placing them on their plates.
The Dial restaurant in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, posted the CCTV footage online, showing two men having dinner before one of them appears to start pulling on his own hair to purposefully spoil the food.
Jez Hives, general manager, said the two men visited The Dial on February 11, where they ordered a sharer steak, a fillet steak, sauces, fries, onion rings, and cocktails - totalling £165.
The 43-year-old claims one of the men walked up to a manager and said they would not be paying their bill as there was hair in the steak that “put them off”.
Confrontation continued between the pair and staff outside the restaurant
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The manager claims the pair were “swearing and being aggressive” with staff, before walking out without settling their bill.
Upon reviewing the CCTV the next morning, Mr Hives revealed his shock at seeing what appears to be one of the men “sprinkling” his own hair on the plate.
Footage showing the customer pulling on his head three times before looking closely at his plate was posted online to raise awareness and warn other local businesses.
Mr Hives said: "Two chaps came in and sat down. They got their food, perfect as always, and when they were eating the food the chap started sprinkling hair on his food.
A customer was spotted appearing to pull strands of hair before placing them on his plate
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"You'd think that he'd complain then, but he carried on eating his own hair.
"When the guy went to get one of the members of staff to tell them, the other chap on the table immediately got up, put his coat on and walked outside.
"The chap walked up to the manager on shift and was just not pleasant at all, explained he wasn't going to pay anything and just turned around and walked out.
"The manager chased after them saying they will call the police. There was lots of swearing. There were cocktails on the table as well, and quite a substantial amount of food”.
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The Dial restaurant in Burton upon Trent
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The manager said the scene “wasn't a conversation,” but rather a steadfast refusal from the two men to cooperate, resulting in other customers looking on “in shock as to what was going on”.
Having worked at the restaurant for 25 years, he claimed to have never seen anything like this before.
However, Mr Hives believes the “dine and dash” was premeditated, as perpetrators often target restaurants and businesses with predetermined opportunity, or a reputation for poor dealings.
While he said other restaurants in the area made him aware of similar incidents, they did not have CCTV footage.
The customer stared at his plate before refusing to pay the £165 bill
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"It's unbelievable,” he added, “I've been doing this for 25 years 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.
"It’s so brazen. Even to think of doing that is just awful. Unbelievable, it was definitely premeditated.”
Mr Hives said he wants to “unite as a town” in light of the incident, “welcoming genuine customers and preventing anyone from taking advantage of our businesses”.
The incident has not been reported to the police.