The owner shared the CCTV footage as a ''warning to other businesses.''
Many restaurants around the world provide free meals to customers as a form of apology if they happen to find strands of hair or any unwanted items in their food. And the hope of a free meal is exactly what led one British woman to concoct a scheme to fool a restaurant. While dining at Observatory, a popular eatery in Blackburn, England, the yet-to-be-identified woman attempted to deceive the owner by planting her own hair in her food. However, she failed to notice the surveillance camera capturing her every move. The owner has now shared CCTV footage of the incident on Facebook as a ''warning to other businesses.''
According to the New York Post, restaurant owner Tom Croft had to refund the woman's beef roast dinner after she caused a scene, alleging that there was a hair in her meal. Concerned about hygiene practices in his restaurant, Mr Croft later reviewed the CCTV footage and found the shocking truth. The video showed the woman pulling out a strand of hair and placing it on her partner's half-eaten plate.
The restaurant shared the CCTV footage on Facebook and wrote, "Warning to other businesses. This is not something we like to do, but this industry is difficult enough without people like this sabotaging their own food in order to claim refunds at our expense. Hopefully, this will save other establishments suffering at the hands of these two chancers. The footage clearly shows her ripping hair out of her own head and placing it on his plate, in order to complain and claim a refund."
Watch the video here:
The owner said that he was ''very disgusted and angry'' after the incident and had never seen something like this. ''There are people out there that are willing to put a business' reputation and staff's jobs at risk for a $15.88 meal,'' Mr Croft told Southwest News Service.
He also said the woman's allegation could have hurt his business and reputation if they had not discovered the CCTV footage.
''We have a five-star food hygiene rating and adhere to all the food safety guidelines. People don't want to eat in places where you find hair in food,'' he said. He further added that he is glad that he followed his instinct and checked the cameras.