HOSPITALITY CHECKPOINT SPOTTER SERVICE
BARTENDER THEFT:
Bartender Summary
· Bartender 1: Named Adam; Caucasian Male, thin build, approximately 6’2, with short light brown hair, wearing a plaid collared shirt, a dark gray vest, black pants, and a tie.
· Bartender 2: Named Tom; Caucasian Male, medium build, approximately 5’11, with shoulder length brown/black hair, wearing black collared shirt under a tan sweater.
· Bartender 3: Caucasian male, approximately 6’, medium build, with light brown hair, wearing a light long sleeved, cotton shirt, a gray vest, a gray paperboy hat, and large glasses.
· Bartender 4: Caucasian female, approximately 5’5, thin build, with long, dark, curly hair, wearing a black shirt, with a gray vest, and jeans.
· Bartender 5: Caucasian female, approximately 5’7, medium build, with long brown hair, wearing a black shirt with ¾ length sleeves, a black vest, and jeans.
· Bartender 6: Caucasian female, approximately 5’4, small build, with long brown hair, wearing a black tank top, a gray vest, and jeans.
When the agent and associate entered the establishment the bar was full with no seats available and a standing row behind the bar stools.
The agent stood next to a patron who was furious and stated that he had been standing at the bar waiting for a beverage for over 20 minutes. Ten minutes later the agent was observed and approached by Bartender 5 who yelled across the bar top asking what she could get the agent. The agent placed a beverage order (please see Food and Beverage for details). The agent asked the patron next to him what he would like but the patron thanked the agent and stated that he would wait because he had a large order for his friends.
Bartender 5 quickly served the patron his beverages and, noticing that the agent had placed money on the bar, Bartender 5 took the money to the register without stating how much the drinks cost.
Bartender 5 was then observed doing something that is a serious integrity issue (please see Food and Beverage Summary for more details).
Bartender 5 dropped the change and moved to another section of the bar. The patron next to the agent was not served again and continued to wait.
Throughout the evaluation the bartenders were extremely busy and appeared to be unable to keep track of which patrons had been waiting. Instead of having some sort of system and acknowledgement of the patrons each bartender appeared to just randomly pick patrons out of the crowd to serve. This system was noted to anger several patrons while the agent was observing the bartenders.
Bartender 1 was observed mostly serving the servers and those patrons around the service well. Bartender 1 appeared to perform his duties very quickly and efficiently with accurate pour counts.
Bartender 2, Bartender 4, and Bartender 6 were also observed moving quickly and efficiently through the crowd, pouring beverages with accurate pour counts and ringing each beverage into the POS.
Bartender 3, however, was noted to be particularly slow in his movements, appearing to pour only 2/3 of the drinks the other bartenders were able to pour in the same amount of time. Bartender 3 was also observed continuously checking his cell phone, which was resting on the register, and taking the time to send a text message on his cell phone at 11:36pm.
Throughout the evaluation several bartenders were also observed chewing gum in a smacking manner:
At 11:10pm Bartender 3, Bartender 4, and Bartender 5 were all observed chewing gum.
At 11:37pm Bartender 6 was observed unwrapping a piece of gum and placing the gum in the mouth of Bartender 3.
None of the bartender handled fruit with tongs or gloves. Although the agent understands that this is common practice in the industry and using tongs is time consuming, lacking these measures is a health code violation.
Throughout the observations no free drinks were observed being served, however, due to the high volume of service and loud volume of the crowd, it was difficult for the agent to overhear the conversations between patrons and bartenders.
Overall, although the agent understands the bartenders were very busy, the bar top was a complete mess throughout the observations. There was dirty empty glassware, napkins, straws, and spills all over the bar top.
Food and Beverage Summary
Like the rest of the patrons the agent and associate stood in line and waited to enter the facility. The agent and associate waited 35 minutes in line. During this time period several groups of four or more patrons got discouraged and left the line stating that they were not going to return to the establishment due to the long wait and the fact that there appeared to be no order in which patrons were let into the facility. There was no consistency regarding the number of patrons exiting the establishment and the number of patrons entering the establishment. Often, more patrons exited than entered.
The agent and associate were finally IDed and escorted into the establishment through the gate of the right patio. The agent and associate walked around the patio, into the facility. The agent and associate walked around the facility making observations.
Finally the agent and associate fought for a spot close to the bar to place an order for beverages. After waiting about ten minutes, at 11:06pm, the agent was noticed by Bartender 5 who yelled over the bar top asking that agent for the drink order. The agent ordered a jack and coke and a sprite. Bartender 5 poured the jack and coke with accurate pour counts, poured the sprite, and placed both beverages on the bar in a large spill. The agent had placed a $20 bill on the bar and Bartender 5 took the bill without stating the price of the beverages. Bartender 5 rang NO SALE into the POS, pulled money out of the drawer, took a bill out of the stack of money next to the POS and placed it into the tip cup, and handed the rest to the agent.
Michael Zenner – CEO
Hospitality Checkpoint LLC
bartheft.com (blog)
PO BOX 995 Gilbert AZ 85299
Office: 480-777-1919
Toll Free: 800-880-0811
© Hospitality Checkpoint LLC 2014