Two women caught on camera placing their own hair on food in a bid to get a free £7 pizza

These scheming customers are unaware their shocking attempt to claim a free pizza has been caught on camera.

The two women were in the Peacock pub, in Sunderland, when they removed a hair and placed it onto their food before telling staff and claiming a refund.

Staff took the women at their word, apologised and gave them a refund but after they began to investigate it became clear the hair didn’t belong to anyone on duty – as it was a different colour.

On checking the CCTV they found footage of the women removing a hair and placing it on the pizza before lodging their complaint.

Two women were caught on CCTV at the Peacock pub, in Sunderland, adding one of their own hairs to a meal in order to claim a refund.
Two women were caught on CCTV at the Peacock pub, in Sunderland, adding one of their own hairs to a meal in order to claim a refund.

Joe Smith, operations director at Pub Culture Ltd, which owns the pub, told the Sunderland Echo: “Working in the hospitality industry, you always have to be prepared to resolve any issues and we’re always very focused on that, but you can’t really prepare for something like this.

“Our first reaction to the complaint was surprise, as we are a team of perfectionists and we’re really focused on excellent food preparation and service, but you would never suspect that someone would be malicious enough to do something like this.

“Naturally, we assumed they were genuine, offered my sincere apologies and tried to offer the women a refund and free drinks, as well as investigating the complaint. The golden rule of great service is to put the customer first, which is exactly what we did.

“We discussed it with the kitchen and waiting staff to see how this could possibly have happened, which is when the alarm bells started to ring.

“It was clear that the hair on the pizza was a completely different colour to that of any of our staff members on shift.

“Our staff went into the office to check the CCTV and couldn’t believe what they saw. It’s shocking that people actually try to pull off scams like this, which could be so detrimental to a local business that is working hard to deliver a high-quality offer to people in the city.

“It’s so disappointing that people could stoop so low as to pull off such a cynical stunt to save money on a £7 pizza.

“I find it unbelievable that people would be willing to go to such extreme lengths in order to score a few free drinks.

“It’s testament to our great staff that they not only got to the bottom of the issue but, despite their concerns, still managed to treat the customer with the utmost respect until they had the evidence they needed to prove exactly what they’d done.”

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