Bartender Theft – not ringing in cash drinks.

Bartender Summary                                                     

• Bartender 1 – Xxxxxx Xxxx, approximately 6’, wearing a grey baseball cap with brown curly collar-length hair showing in back, navy blue with white stitching Xxxxxx polo shirt tucked into khaki cargo shorts. 

Agent and associate took a seat at the bar and were greeted by the bartender right away.  He approached, placing beverage napkins on the bar in front of us and asked what he could get us to drink. 

The bartender was not unfriendly, but he did not smile and acted almost disinterested.

Agent and associate chose alcoholic beverages and the bartender moved right away to retrieve them.  He placed the beverages on the napkins and moved to the POS.  Agent surmised that he was starting us a tab.  He immediately walked back to us asking if we would like to see food menus; we said yes. 

He did not suggest an appetizer.

The bartender neglected to identify a method of payment, obtain our names, secure a credit card or introduce himself.  He also neglected to ask for identification from agent or associate, both of whom are both under age 35. 

Agent observed the bartender serve a female guest alcohol without asking for identification; this woman appeared to be under age 25. 

There was an occasion toward the end of the evaluation when 2 male guests approached the bar, one of whom appeared to be 20-22 years of age.  Agent observed the bartender requested identification from this man before serving him.

To avoid liability or liquor violations, agent would suggest carding anyone appearing to be 30 or under, not only people appearing under 21.

In addition to not securing a credit card, the bartender also did not place tab chits in front of bar guests running tabs.  Securing a credit card for guests wishing to run a tab is vital for avoiding profit loss due to guest walkouts.  Particularly in an establishment such as this, with an atmosphere for moving around to play games, socialize or sit on the patio to smoke.  If a guest does not wish to have their credit card held behind the bar, the bartender could pre-authorize the credit card when opening the tab and return the card to the guest.

At the beginning of the evaluation, there were approximately 8 dirty 32-oz beer mugs sitting in the service well and 4-5 sitting on the bar rail above the triple sinks, along with the dirty glassware piled up to the left of the triple sinks.  The bartender spent approximately 10 minutes chatting with a female bar guest before he made any moves to take care of the buildup of dirty glassware.  From that point on, the bartender was observed washing glassware frequently and not allowing it to build up beyond the small are near the sinks.

The bartender returned to take our food order, immediately ringing it in, and returned with plastic baskets lined with paper, silverware roll-ups and extra napkins.   

Our food was delivered by a server who auctioned the food off to us 16 minutes after it was ordered.  Agent felt the wait time was appropriate given the volume of food coming from the kitchen at the time.  The food was hot, fresh and prepared as ordered.  (Please see food and beverage summary for details.)

The bartender performed a check-back within 4 minutes of agent’s and associate’s food being delivered.

At approximately 9:27, agent observed the bartender greet 2 guests who had just approached the bar.  He served them a Bud Light 32-oz mug and a glass of White Zinfandel.  The bartender did not move to the POS to ring in the drinks; instead, he then served another guest, who agent believes paid cash.  Bartender then returned to washing dishes. 

Later in the evaluation, agent noted the man order a pint of beer, and at that time it appeared that the bartender also accounted for the first round they had ordered.  

Agent observed the bartender serve a guest a 32-oz domestic draught and charge $4.00, which was the correct price.  The bartender rang in the drink, put the cash in the drawer and returned the change to the guest, but he did not give the man the itemized receipt, as Xxxxxx policy requires.

Agent noted a peculiar behavior from the bartender that caused the bar to appear dirty and disorganized.  The behavior was that he only chose certain items to clean off of the bar instead of cleaning up everything.  There were many dirty glasses or empty food baskets that sat on the bar for extended periods of time, but he would clean up something right next to them.  The following are examples of such behavior:

• At 9:44, agent’s empty food basket was pushed forward on the bar and was next to an empty glass that had been there for some time prior. 

• At 9:46, the bartender walked past agent, approached and probed a guest near agent about a refill on their pint of beer, which was 90% empty.  The guest ordered a new beverage and the bartender retrieved it, served it and accounted for it in the POS right away.  When the bartender served the beverage to the guest, he neglected to remove their now empty glass or another empty glass that had also been there for some time.  He still made no moves to bus the area in front of agent.  

• At 9:49, the bartender removed agent’s empty food basket, yet he left the empty glassware in front of agent and also the glassware that was in front of the guest seated near agent. 

• At 9:51, the bartender took the empty glass in front of agent, but did not bus the glassware in front of the other guest.

• At approximately 9:55, associate pushed their empty food basket forward and left the bar top for approximately 15-20 minutes.  Upon returning, the basket was still there but the glassware from in front of the other guest had been cleared.

• At 10:25, he asked agent about a refill on their beverage.  Agent said yes, and he retrieved the new beverage, moved to the POS and apparently rang it in, took the empty glass and set it on a top-opening cooler where it stayed for quite some time.

• At 10:27, agent noted an empty food basket and 2 empty beer mugs in front of bar guests.  It was 10:37 before the bartender approached to bus their area, at which time he took one of the empty glasses but left another and the basket. At 10:45, he removed the other empty mug, but still left the basket behind.

• Agent was leaving the premises at 11:19 and associate’s dirty food basket was still sitting on the bar top.

Agent observed a service issue that falls into the ‘lack of attention to detail’ category.  A guest at the bar requested a refill on their empty water with lemon because the bartender had not offered.  The bartender used the glass they had and simply added water to it.  He did not add ice or more fruit, so when he set it down there was no ice left and a sad wedge of lemon bobbing in the glass.  A small step like taking time to add more ice and even probe about a fresh garnish only takes a second and makes a huge difference in the level of service.

Agent observed a guest at the bar who was served a second Xxxxxx, yet no move was made to the POS.  When the guest paid their tab, agent observed them pay with a $100 bill.  The change was simply set on the bar without being counted back.  When the guest left, agent looked at the itemized tab they left behind and there was only one of the guest’s beers listed on the tab.

Agent and associate requested their tab from the MOD while the bartender was away from the bar and had been for some time; agent surmised he was taking a food break.  The MOD spent approximately a minute looking through the POS for our tab, printed it out and left the bar area; agent assumes to ask the bartender if it was complete and correct.  The MOD returned in short order and processed the payment right away.  Agent’s check was correct.

If the bartender would have secured a credit card or at least asked for a name at the time he started the tab, this waste of time could have been avoided.  In this instance, the establishment was not very busy, but if it would have been, the time spent could have lowered the overall level of service to the other guests.

Agent’s overall impression of the bartender was that he appeared to want to offer good service and do the right thing, but he was lacking attention to detail and was not proactive.  This sub-par service resulted in at least one alcoholic beverage given away for free, and the bar top left in disarray. 

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