Restaurants have long had to deal with this and similar nonsense.
First are the check dodgers, who use all sorts of schemes to get a free meal then get away. At their worst, they try to foist their tab on some innocent person also there.
Related to these are the insect droppers, who put a bug in their mostly eaten food, and refuse to pay for it. Some of these threaten the restaurant with a lawsuit while making a big scene to gross out the other customers.
Waitresses typically spot families that try to cheat an all you can eat, because only one person orders food. Funnier is when they start putting food in their pockets, because they will often try to steal runny or juice food (Mmmm, a pants pocket full of pistachio pudding!). Lower down are those that steal tableware, salt and pepper shakers, condiment and artificial creamer cups.
Then there are the non-tippers, who just hurt the workers, and worse, the tip snatchers, who steal other people’s tips.
Last but not least are when really filthy vagrants come in, order and pay for a cup of coffee, and nurse it for a few hours, or want endless refills.
Waitresses typically spot families that try to cheat an all you can eat, because only one person orders food. Funnier is when they start putting food in their pockets, because they will often try to steal runny or juice food (Mmmm, a pants pocket full of pistachio pudding!). Lower down are those that steal tableware, salt and pepper shakers, condiment and artificial creamer cups
My wife and I saw a new version of this at the Boulder Station Casino Buffet in Las Vegas this past spring. A family of four was seated at the table across from us, a mother, a father, and two kids around 5 or 6. Ten minutes later, the mother was no where to be seen, and there was an older woman in her place.
Then the two little kids were replaced by two teenagers. In the course of about 30 minutes, we counted 13 people run through that table for four.
So they ate for about $3.50 each.
We also saw a guy on one of those electric scooters bypass the line after telling the cashier he was meeting someone. Later we saw him driving along the buffet line, eating as he went.
Then a little later, he replaced a guy at a table who had finished up and left. Nobody gave him a second look.