First dates don’t always go as planned, but one woman’s dating misstep turned into an instant regret moment after she accidentally sent an insulting text—not to her friend, but directly to her date.
Reddit user u/Affectionate_Base827 shared his experience of a date gone wrong, explaining how a mistaken text message led him to walk out mid-meal, leaving his date stuck with the bill.
Couple enjoying their first dateRepresentative Image Source: Pexels | cottonbro studio
A promising start that quickly fell apart
The man met the woman on Match.com, and after a few days of messaging, they decided to meet for a sit-down dinner.
"We had been messaging back and forth for a good few days and we were getting on great. She seemed laid back, fun, and pretty easy to talk to," he wrote.
Wanting to make a good impression, he booked a table at a nice restaurant, opting for a full meal rather than a quick coffee date.
But from the moment they met, something felt off.
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Ketut Subiyanto
A disastrous message sent to the wrong person
While she seemed friendly at first, the man quickly noticed a shift in her energy.
"I got a feeling early on that I maybe didn’t meet her expectations looks-wise," he admitted.
She became somber at first but loosened up after several glasses of wine. Just as the main course ended, she excused herself to go to the bathroom.
Then, his phone buzzed with a message—from her.
The message read:
"This date is rubbish, he’s brutally ugly and I’m not having fun. Can you call me in about 5 minutes and I’ll pretend there’s an emergency?"
She had meant to send it to a friend—but accidentally sent it to him instead.
The ultimate payback
Instead of confronting her, the man decided to flip the script.
He flagged down the waiter, grabbed his coat, and calmly said:
"My wife has gone to the bathroom and I’ve just had a call from work. There’s an emergency I have to deal with. She has the credit card, she will square up the bill."
Then, he walked out, leaving his date to deal with the consequences of her mistake.
The internet loved his response
The post quickly blew up on Reddit, with users applauding his reaction.
User u/Some_Random_GTI wrote:
"Great job, mate. She didn’t have the decency to tell you it wasn’t working but had the audacity to act like it was going well just to get a free meal. I would have walked out too."
Image Source: Reddit | u/thegloracle
Another commenter, u/Am-I-Done, wished he had stuck around for the fallout:
Image Source: Reddit | u/MorganArthur13
Lessons learned in dating etiquette
Some commenters pointed out the risks of dinner dates with strangers, with u/nahman201893 sharing their personal dating rule:
"Yeah, I stick with coffee. No exceptions. That way both parties can excuse themselves at any time without feeling stuck."
Others, like u/Dioscouri, suggested that while bad dates happen, there are better ways to handle them:
"I’ve gone on more than one date where it was obvious that it wasn’t going to work out. The worst-case scenario? I spend a little extra time with someone. There’s no need to be cruel about it."
A first date neither of them will forget
The woman thought she could insult her date behind his back and make a quick escape—but she ended up with a very different exit than she planned.
And for the man? He may not have found love that night, but he certainly walked away with a story to tell.
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