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[UPDATE on Mar. 23 at 3:08pm: The man involved has reached out to Mothership with his side of the story. The article has been updated.]

The owners of a Korean barbecue restaurant have released CCTV footage of two diners — a man and a woman — who apparently left without settling a S$269.55 bill.

They did so, hoping that someone would recognise them and remind them to pay up.

While the restaurant managed to contact both diners, the man apparently said that it should be the woman paying, as she was the one who had made the reservation.

He also claims that the woman had offered a treat as an apology for standing him up on two previous occasions.

The woman, on the other hand, declined to pay, sharing her suspicion that she was the victim of a dating scam, and that this was her first meeting with the man after getting connected with him on a dating app.

The restaurant's owner has since made a police report on the matter, to try and get back the money owed.

The woman has since forked out half the bill amount, though the rest remains unpaid.

What happened

According to a Facebook post by Pa Bul Lo Korean BBQ, the diners visited the restaurant at around 7:15pm on Mar. 15 and were apparently on a date.

At around 8:32pm, the couple both left their table, with the man walking out of the restaurant and the woman going to the restroom within the premises.

The woman then left the restaurant a few minutes later, with neither of the two stopping at the counter to pay the bill.

Woman says she suspects dating app scam

When the restaurant realised what had happened, they called the woman, who had given the restaurant her number when making the reservation.

Screenshots of their subsequent correspondence with the woman were shared with Mothership.

The woman then told the restaurant that her friend was "on his way back to pay" and provided a contact number.

However, when the restaurant called the number, the man apparently said that the woman should settle the bill as she was the one who made the reservation.

When the restaurant relayed this to the woman, she insisted that he was supposed to pay, and told the restaurant to "pls go to the police".

She also said that she had met the man "on the dating app", and said "we can share to pay" (sic) though she did not expect the man to leave.

She later added that it was their first meeting.

The restaurant replied that the two diners should "please resolve this conflict among yourself", setting them a deadline to make payment and saying it would make a police report otherwise.

It also asked for the woman to provide evidence to back up her claims that she asked the man to "share the cost" with her, but she claimed that she could not retrieve the chat records as he had blocked her on the dating app.

She also shared her suspicion that she was a victim of "dating app fraud".

The restaurant replied to this by saying that it would provide both parties' contact numbers to the police when making a report on the matter.

It also maintained that the diners should resolve the matter between themselves and make payment.

Woman makes payment on Mar. 20

The restaurant later informed Mothership that the woman has since made payment for half of the bill amount.

This only happened after repeated calls to her, along with a warning that if she did not pay, the restaurant owners would commence a civil lawsuit.

The woman explained over the phone that she had left the restaurant after using the restroom as she believed that the man had already made payment.

According to her account, the man had left the restaurant repeatedly throughout their time there to answer phone calls, and offered to pay for the meal as he felt sorry.

Man says woman had offered treat as apology for standing him up

Meanwhile, the restaurant has yet to receive any payment from the man.

According to a representative of the restaurant, the man laughed and told the boss to do whatever he wants, even after being told that the restaurant would be taking the matter to the authorities.

The man also reached out to Mothership on Mar. 22 with his side of the story, rebutting the woman's claims that he offered to pay for the meal.

Although he said he deleted some of his chats with her after leaving the restaurant, he offered a detailed account of what happened in the lead-up to the Korean BBQ dinner on Mar. 15.

He also provided screenshots of text messages they exchanged after the dinner.

Woman allegedly did not turn up for two previously-arranged dates

He confirmed that the two had indeed met through a dating app, and made plans to meet at a Korean restaurant in Clarke Quay.

However, the woman did not turn up.

This was in spite of the fact that she texted the man 10 minutes before their appointment to say she was "on the way".

According to the man, she also told him she was looking for the place around half an hour later.

She then became uncontactable, and the man left after waiting for another half hour.

Her explanation to him the next day was apparently that her phone was flat. "She was apologetic and offered me a dinner treat at near my area," said the man.

He then decided to take up her offer and chose Pa Bul Lo Korean restaurant, but she became uncontactable again on the day of the meeting.

Woman allegedly offered treat as apology

"Then she texted me again saying 'she was too hungover and slept'. Then again offered me a dinner treat. So I set same restaurant then she eventually turn up," said the man.

He took up the offer as he was "curious what kind of person does not turn up two days in a row," he explained.

"Then she chose the menu which is expensive beef set. So I thought she is really apologetic," he said.

He claims that he thanked her for the dinner when they were about to leave, and offered to wait outside while she used the washroom.

"She came out and I thought she paid," he said, adding that they parted ways soon after.

He said she then texted him to ask him to return to the restaurant to pay the bill, promising to transfer him the money via PayNow.

The man told her to PayNow the restaurant instead.

He explained that he did indeed ask the restaurant to proceed with a police report or a lawsuit, as he felt that he did not do anything wrong.

"I can pay easily"

The man says the woman later found him on Facebook, and threatened to reach out to his friends about the matter.

"Bill I need to pay, it is not the matter. I can pay easily," said the man.

"However I believe I should not let her get away from this matter since she must have been doing this and would keep doing this if I just let her get away from this matter."

He also shared that he is seeking legal advice on how he can take action against the woman.

Restaurant exhausted all means

"We are a small, family-owned business in Singapore, struggling to get by in such difficult times," wrote the restaurant in its Facebook post, while appealing for anyone who recognised the diners to reach out to them and "remind them to pay".

The restaurant said they have tried approaching various authorities, from the police, small claims tribunal, civil court, and even to engaging a pro bono lawyer, for a resolution to the matter, but to no avail.

The restaurant is also unable to further the case with the small claims tribunal as they lack the identification number and address of the diners.

Their pro bono lawyer will be sending a letter to the male diner via messaging platform WhatsApp.

But they are reluctant to take the matter further by starting a court case because of the potential legal fees, especially during a time when business had just started picking up for the eatery.

The restaurant now hopes to raise awareness of this incident for other F&B places.

"What would happen to not just our restaurant but to the other F&B sectors if every customers decided to dine and bail?" it added, pointing out that it is "extremely difficult, or even close to impossible" to identify such customers since all of them are wearing masks.

Top image screenshot from Pa Bul Lo KBBQ on Facebook

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