There have been a few other articles on this guy. The story keeps changing.
For me the lesson is - if I plan to consume the products and services of a company I should probably take steps to ensure I can pay for it.
Sure mistakes happen, so does theft.
There’s a long, sordid story I have about a NY restaurant and a wallet.
I was taking my son and his GF to a day in the city. We were eating at the Tribecka Grill and when it came to pay, I noticed my wallet was missing. Between them, the two guests didn’t have a nickel . Neither should they have, b/c they were my guests. I lost $300. in cash and all my credit cards....and ID. Fortunately, the maitre-d’ was understanding, and helped me negotiate a cash advance, with one of my card companies., to pay for the tab and tip, and enough cash to get a cab up uptown to our garaged car. Imagine the embarrassment and concern. We called the NYPD...and their basic attitude was *forget it* . *The wallet is gone, you’ll never see it back.* We even canvassed the trash cans ourselves, up and down the area, in hopes they only took the cash, and dumped the wallet and IDs.
Well, the thieves were pros. They tried my cards in a gas station to learn that they were *good* and proceeded to buy metro passes, concert tickets, yada ‘til the cards were maxed out. The years that followed were a nightmare straightening out my credit and cancelling stuff they ordered in my name.. It was a full 2 years before I felt I free from their shenanigans.
So if this tourist was an *innocent abroad*, I don’t know...but restaurant managers are not heartless, when there is a unusual situation...this is NYC, they’ve seen it all.