Bar Spotters – All Bartenders Steal

Kristine G. Bottone – LA Bartender Examiner

November 3rd, 2009

I’ve stated this before, all bartenders steal. The theft could range anywhere from having an extra shift drink, heavy pouring, giving away more than the allotted amount of comps to get bigger tips or pilfering glassware, napkins, toilet paper or other bar supplies. Bar owners are well aware of this and accept it as one of the hazards of the bar business. But when the bar begins to lose profits, it’s gone too far.

The idea is to prevent in house theft before it starts. Surveillance cameras in bars is a growing trend and is a good way to cut back on theft but not always as effective as a bar owner might hope. The view of the cameras, depending on their location, can be limited and will only tell part of the story. If you’re an honest worker then it won’t matter where the cameras are. But bartenders looking to steal will find a way to avoid detection. This is when bar owners use another theft detection method called Spotters.

Spotters are essentially secret shoppers who come into the bar to spy on employees, mostly bartenders. They’ll sit at the bar and observe, watching the bartender for signs of theft or misconduct. Most reputable Spotter services employee former bartenders who are quick to pick up on scams that would go unnoticed by a regular customer. Spotters are often equipped with hidden cameras and record every exchange of a bartender suspected of stealing. At the end of their visit they’ll review the video and present their findings to the owner. Depending on what the tapes reveal the bartender could wind up with a warning or immediate termination. In some cases where the bartender has been caught stealing money outright charges have been pressed and the evidential tapes held up in court.

Some bar owners choose a Spotter service because the company boasts that they employ retired cops. While that may look good on paper, 9 times out of 10 they have no idea what they’re looking for. They’ll hone in on “suspicious behavior” but a lot of things a bartender does behind the bar can be misconstrued or deemed suspicious. Cash over rings are a perfect example. Instead of complicating the matter further by trying to find a manager to void it; bartenders usually make up the difference over the next couple of cash sales. The money goes into the register but they don’t ring it up until they make up the difference. This can easily be misinterpreted as ‘padding’ the register.

Bar owners have also been known to send friends and family into their establishment to spy on employees. They’ll offer them free food and drink in return they report what they see. Again, this leads to the issue of the Spotters not knowing what they’re looking for or at for that matter. Sometimes friends and family Spotters feel compelled to embellish the truth of something negative in order to justify what they ate and drank on the owner’s dime. True story: I was working full time at a bar, going to school full time and interning at a radio station. One night behind the bar my energy level wasn’t what it normally was and a customer asked if I was OK. I said I was fine, just a little tired and left it at that. The customer later asked why I was tired. I simply told him work, school, an internship and not enough nearly caffeine. That was that, or so I thought. The next day I got a call from the owner telling me that a Spotter, a friend of his, reported that I complained to him that I was tired. I was able to recall the entire exchange perfectly, pointing out that the Spotter failed to mention that he asked what was wrong and why I was tired, other wise I never would have mentioned it. He also failed to mention that he spent the majority of the night hitting on women and buying them drinks. It was never brought up again nor did I ever see the face of that Spotter in the bar after that night.

For the most part bartenders are hard working and straightforward people. It’s only a handful of dishonest self serving bartenders that give the rest a bad name. In all my years of bartending I have found that if the bar is making money and the bartender isn’t then the bartender needs to reevaluate their work ethic. If the bartender is making money and the bar isn’t, it’s safe to assume the bartender is stealing. Slow nights aside, if the bartender is doing their job well then the bartender and the bar both make money.

BARTENDER THEFT:

Michael Zenner – CEO      
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