Restaurant Owner Is Shocked After Receiving Cash Filled Apology From Non-Paying Diners

Kilimandjaro in Middlesbrough (Screenshot via Google Maps)

A restaurant owner from the United Kingdom was stunned after receiving payment and a polite note from three customers who left the restaurant without settling the bill.

Three men who visited the Kilimandjaro, an African/Caribbean restaurant in Middlesbrough, on the busy Friday night of Dec. 8 found themselves in an awkward situation when they were told the restaurant did not accept credit card payments, reported Gazette Live.

The trio, who were not from the area, then left the restaurant in search of a cash machine, but along the way, they realized that their last train home was about to depart.

They then diverted their attention to finding the closest train station and were just about to make the train.

Kilimandjaro owner Apollo Apollinaire told the newspaper that after the group did not return, he took it as a lesson to be learned.

“I put it down to a bad experience,” said Apollinaire. “Usually people don’t walk out as a whole group for a cash machine. I just told my staff to next time make sure one of them stays or they leave some belongings until they come back.”

“We accepted they would never come back and we had lost the money,” the restaurant owner added.

However, five days later Apollinaire was shocked to receive an envelope containing a letter and £40 (approximately US$54) in cash.

The letter, that was shared on Facebook, explained why the group ran off so hastily that evening.

“On our search [for a cash machine] it was apparent that the last train to our hometown was shortly about to depart. This diverted our attention away from finding an ATM machine and led to us running down to the train station and just making our train. It was at this point, being too late, we realized our actions and decided to write this letter of apology with £40 enclosed in this envelope.”

The trio also apologized for not being able to apologize and deliver the cash in person.

The letter was signed by Tom, Alex, and Harry who said they would give the restaurant a five-star review on TripAdvisor.

“I didn’t think people still did that. I thought those kinds of people had disappeared from the planet,” Apollinaire told Gazette Live. “The saddest part is they haven’t put their address or contact number on. We can tell it was a genuine mistake. It was just amazing.”

“Everyone was shocked and people are finding it really touching,” he added.

After sharing the letter on Facebook, the restaurant owner’s story went viral.

According to indy100, Apollinaire would like to reward the trio for their honesty. He encouraged the men to contact the restaurant so that he could offer them a free meal or send them each a free bottle of the restaurant’s popular Kilimandjaro sauce.