Their Scam Is As Flimsy As Those Highchairs Are Sturdy

I just started work at a Chinese restaurant as a waitress. I was new at the job, but at this point, I had enough training on everything but the cook’s job and the register.

I had just served a family of four with a baby and had given them one of our high chairs that sit on the benches themselves. Now something to know about these, they are one piece. They do not come apart at all. They may have been old, but they were extremely sturdy. They were also much preferred for older kids so they could sit with their family instead of at the end of the table. Apparently, how they were made escaped this family.

Me: “Hey, how’s everything going? Food pretty good?”

Customer: “Yeah, food is good but we’d like to see the manager please.”

Me: “Everything all right?”

Customer: “No, no, everything was fine, it’s just… we want a free meal.”

Me: “I’m sorry, I can’t just give you a free meal. Matter of fact I have your receipt here and it’s well over $100.00.”

Customer: “Yeah, well, my child got hurt.”

Me: “I’m terribly sorry! May I ask how?”

Customer: “That chair thing fell apart and they hit their head! They were screaming for an hour!”

Now the restaurant may have had multiple rooms, but it was tiny. And I could clearly see the baby babbling away and making a mess with the duck sauce on the table with no mark on their head in sight.

Me: “…I’ll be back.”

I left to get the owner. She was obviously better at spotting scammers than I was, but even we both knew this was nuts.

Me: “Hey, [Owner], I got a customer out there that said their kid’s highchair, the one that sits in the booth, broke, the kid hit their head and screamed for an hour.”

Owner: “I didn’t hear a thing.”

Me: “Neither did I and I don’t think they saw me at my spot out there at the bar where I can see everyone.”

Owner: “Those chairs don’t break.”

Me: “I know. You wanna tell them or me?”

Owner: “You can, I’m busy cooking.”

I went back out to threats of getting a lawyer involved, a very embarrassed wife and what I assume are friends or siblings of the couple and a one-cent tip. I did see them later and was told a lawyer was involved, and I asked if they needed the camera’s video tapes for proof as we had security cameras. I have never seen someone leave that restaurant that fast before.

A lawyer never contacted me. It’s been over ten years now.