Bartender Summary
As would be the case with any high volume club of this type, there were a multitude of bartenders working on this visit. The agent found that there were at least six rotating bartenders working behind the bar at all times. Because there is a rotation up to the poles, and into the bar from the floor, it is often very difficult to watch all of the bartenders. What this agent witnessed was two bartenders per side of the bar, one bartender primarily on the point, and one bartender primarily in the well, with others that would rotate from the poles or in from the floor as others would take the poles.
To make matters more difficult, there is not a lot about the uniforms of these girls that will make it easy to differentiate between bartenders. With the noise volume in Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, it is difficult, and sometimes awkward to try to get a bartenders name. Under the circumstances of this club, if the agent were to ask, it is yet again questionable if a real name would even be given. So with these parameters given, there were several incidents of questionable integrity witnessed and this is with the understanding of the disclaimer concerning bartender assignations and tabbing within the POS system. There were also massive over pours noted on several occasions.
During this visit, there were two bartenders noted wearing black tank tops. One was wearing a cowboy hat and one was not. The one not wearing the cowboy hat had long straight black hair and was very attractive. She was working on the north side of the bar, on the side with the ATM. She had several rings, including the agent’s first drink at about 9:55 PM, which were not finished on the system. The screen on the computer did not finish the display like all of the other girls ringing.
On one occasion she was fighting with opening the drawer and this appeared to be a NO SALE ring because nothing printed and the screen was simply a grey box. Because this was the agent’s first drink and it was paid in cash, the agent took time to note how the screen appears when a bartender cashes out a drink. On at least three other occasions, with this same bartender, this was also the case.
It is this agent’s strong assumption that if this bar drawer were to be audited with reports for all bartenders ringing into that till, that the manager or owner would find the drawer to be massively over what it should be. This agent believes that this bartender is selling into her drawer and pulling the money out later at the time that they cash out tips. In auditing this drawer, look for coins in the wrong coin slots or paper clips, hair bands, etc in odd coin slots in the drawer. This will designate an accounting system for cash sold into the drawer
Agent suggests doing mid-shift drawer pull audits. If management is unaware of hoe to execute this process, please contact the Hospitality Checkpoint office for further instruction.
The cocktail well point bartender was the most easily identifiable bartender on staff for the night. She was wearing a red tank and had body art on both arms and shoulders. At about 10:20 PM, she was seen pouring a massive 12 count of Patron tequila into two shots. This was an astounding amount of alcohol. Because of the location and point of view of the agent at the time, the pour was observed, but the ring could not be seen. However, this was an unimaginably strong drink that poses serious risk to patrons and the club.
Similarly at about 11:15 PM, another bartender on the ATM side of the bar wearing a red tank with wavy dark hair was seen pouring two Jack Daniels mixers with a solid 8 count in each. This is a free pouring bar, and is part of the atmosphere and ambiance involved in the southern rock saloon. However, money and risk is being levied every time there is a pour that strong. The patrons, who are not inexperienced drinkers, probably know about how much they can safely handle considering their food intake for the day and if they are driving or not, etc. When a curve is thrown at them like that, there can be serious implications. This agent has not witnessed over pours to this extent in a very long time.
Another issue that this agent witnessed on both sides of the bar is called bumping. To illustrate: Bartender A approaches the POS and rings a drink legitimately into the POS. As the bar drawer opens to accept the sale, bartender B bumps into the drawer and deposits cash before ringing the drink that the money is for. This can result in two things. It can be money safely stored for later, or it can be a legitimate ring for the wrong thing for example someone might order Jack and be rung for well liquor. This bumping happened on multiple occasions on both sides of the bar and is masked very easily on a busy night by simply being busy. Something to watch on these bumps would be variances in draft beer sales.
Agent would recommend hiring the services of BEVINCO to track these losses. Please contact the Hospitality Checkpoint office for further instruction.
BARTENDER THEFT:
Michael Zenner – CEO
hospitality checkpoints Inc.
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
bartheft.com (blog)
Hospitality Checkpoint PLLC
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