Bartender Theft – stating incorrect price to customer.

Bartender Summary

• Bartender Xxxxx:  Caucasian female with dark Xxxxx hair.  She wore a black bustier.

When the agent found a seat at the bar, the bartender approached immediately.  She did not say a word and simply put a cocktail napkin in front of the agent.  She then turned away to go make drinks for a cocktail server.  This seemed like a rude introduction.  Even if the priority is to get cocktail drinks out, Xxxxx should at least smile and say something to the effect of “I’ll be right with you” or “hello.”  When she returned to get the agent’s order, she simply said, “What do you want?”  She did not introduce herself or any other form of greeting.  The agent ordered an alcoholic beverage, and Xxxxx promptly prepared it.  She quoted the agent a price and provided the appropriate change when the cash payment was made.  She did not ask the agent for ID even though there was no doorman or host on duty.

Xxxxx was diligent with her pouring style, as she seemed to rely on the posi pours for precision liquor levels.  Furthermore, she was prompt to enter orders into the POS immediately following service, and did not tend to group orders.

The agent did note that Xxxxx had the tendency to tally drink totals in her head before ringing them into the POS.  For single drink orders that are repetitive and learned, this makes for more efficient service; however, when a customer orders multiple drinks, this is more problematic and prone to miscalculations or manipulation. 

At approximately 4:58pm, a customer approached the bar and ordered several drinks for him and a couple friends.  Xxxxx prepared the order and quoted a price.  Fortunately, the customer was astute enough to sense that the charge might be imprecise and asked for Xxxxx to go through the order.  When she calculated the order aloud, she quickly apologized and said that the customer owed $18 dollars rather than her original $24 quote.  Agent scores this as a possible theft occurrence.

The agent has no way of knowing whether this was intentional or an error, but relying on arithmetic skills to handle complex monetary transactions opens up many potential problems.  Xxxxx should enter the order into the POS to find out the correct tally, then quote the price if unsure.

At approximately 5:20pm, the agent observed Xxxxx drinking from a clear plastic cup without a lid.  The agent could not confirm what was in the cup, but felt it noteworthy.

From approximately 5:15pm – 5:26pm, the agent sat with an empty glass.  Xxxxx made no note of this and did not offer an additional beverage; although, she was present in the bar serving other customers and cocktail servers.  At this point, the agent decided to move to a table.
BARTENDER THEFT:

Michael Zenner – CEO      
hospitality checkpoints Inc.
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
bartheft.com  (blog)
Hospitality Checkpoint PLLC
PI Lic. 1597616
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
liquorassessment.com
PO BOX 995 Gilbert AZ 85299
Office: 480-777-7056
Toll Free: 800-880-0811

© hospitality checkpoints Inc. 2010