An Inverness chipper was dealt a blow to both their spirits and bottom line after a shameless prankster ordered 32 fish suppers – then failed to collect them.
The Redshank, at the city’s marina, ended up giving the food away for free to save it from going to waste on Wednesday October 4.
The suppers, worth hundreds of pounds, were gone within 20 minutes.
And while owners Anne Marie and Jamie Ross were disappointed to be caught out, they made the most of the situation.
Anne Marie explained that the order came from a company they had worked with in the past.
And while it was larger than usual, the team did not suspect anything.
Inverness chipper put order together in good faith
She told The P&J: “It was done under good faith; due to the fact we had ties with this company as it was.
“We have been in business five years, so we know, yes take deposits, yes take information.
“It was a last-minute booking that we thought we were doing maybe a nice thing to accommodate a business that we had already worked with.”
But it turned out the person had ordered using the company name as a guise and never picked up the order.
Mrs Ross said: “I think we would have felt a lot worse if people didn’t take it.
“I think we would have felt it was a complete waste of food, staff costs, and delivery costs.
“There’s a whole list of costs that go into a portion, that maybe people underestimate the process from that actually gets it from the boat to the box.”
The Redshank operates a van overlooked by the Kessock Bridge in the Smithton Industrial Estate and recently opened a spot in the Victorian Market in the city centre.
Mrs Ross said they already take save-the-date deposits and pre-payment for early bookings but got caught out this time.
Now they may have to re-consider taking new customers looking to pre-order and will have to take down a “lot more details” for pre-existing customers, some of whom have been coming to the shop for years.
She said: “That’s not the customer service we want to put across, we’ve always put our customers first.”
While the loss financially is not insignificant, there are other things down the line, like charities looking for donations or raffle prizes, that may be impacted by the cruel prank.
“It’s irrelevant the cost we’re out, we did it in good faith and that was the thing for us.”
‘We just hope people got full bellies out of it and enjoyed the fish’
While it was a bitter pill to swallow, Ross said she was heartened by the response the restaurant’s post on Facebook got from not just residents, but other local businesses.
Nicole MacRae wrote: “I’m sorry that you got scammed, but nice to see that you turned out into something positive, a very kind gesture.”
Fellow Inverness chipper Mcleods Fish & Chips wrote: “Sorry to hear this guys!!
“Disgraceful stuff!! Huge waste of money and great quality haddock.”
Mrs Ross added: “We dealt with the situation that we had at hand as best as we could.
“Instead of losing the stock, we just hope people got full bellies out of it and enjoyed the fish that they got.
“You could fit and be upset about it, or you can just have to take it as it is.”
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