HOSPITALITY CHECKPOINT SPOTTER SERVICE
BARTENDER THEFT:
Bartender Summary
· Xxx: xxxxxxxxxxxxx female, 5’10”, medium build, fffffff hair past the shoulders (pictured)
· Bartender2: xxxxxxxxxxx female, 5’9”, medium build, fffff hair past the shoulders (pictured)
The agent initially sat at the bar at 2:36. Xxx quickly approached the agent one minute later, presenting a beverage menu and offering the agent a drink. The agent needed a little time, and Xxx returned a minute later, at which point the agent ordered.
At 2:39, Xxx returned with the agent’s drink, not introducing herself or offering the agent anything further.
The agent paid in cash, saying “keep the change.” Rather than ring the drink in, Xxx placed the agent’s cash on top of the closed drawer of the bar POS farthest from the front door. Three minutes later, she rang something into the POS, and put some quantity of cash in, taking out some number of bills and placing them on top of the other POS’s drawer. The agent could not explain this series of motions, but it is definitely unusual and most likely a sign of something dishonest going on.
At any rate, Xxx presented the agent’s drink without a cocktail napkin. To be fair, the agent had a room-temperature drink in stemware, but in general, neither bartender was ever seen to use a cocktail napkin at any time during the agent’s visit.
In general, both bartenders were never seen to interact with guests in any way less than positively. That being said, they certainly kept guest interaction to a minimum. They tended to quickly greet guests as they sat down, but almost never surveyed how guests were doing, offered another drink, nor encouraged food sales in any way. And it was not as though they were busy. There were a few service well orders to put together here and there, but for the most part they just passed the time by talking between themselves.
For example, neither bartender was ever seen to approach a guest whose drink was nearly empty in order to offer another. In the agent and associate’s case, both of their drinks were empty for a full nine minutes from 2:28 to 3:37, and the bartenders still did not offer another round. Instead, the agent just chose to close out. There is a definite danger that other guests are coming to the same conclusion because of the lack of service. During this waiting period, the agent and several other parties sat there with their glasses empty, leaving the bartop full of empties and looking quite bad.
And this was not even the extent of the bartenders’ neglect of the agent and associate alone. The associate came in twenty-eight minutes after the agent, and the associate had to wait a full fifteen minutes before being addressed by either of the bartenders, who weren’t even busy. What’s more, when Bartender 2 finally got around to speaking to the assistant, the first thing she said was “You all set?” This seemed to suggest to the agent that in spite of not having spoken to the associate once, Bartender 2 did not even have the slightest idea of how long the associate had been there, not to mention sounding like a down-sell.
Even so, both bartenders’ pouring technique was ideal, with a consistent four-count (1 1/2 oz) every time.
Unsurprisingly given their general lack of attention or interest in improving their own sales, both bartenders did a very poor job of encouraging food or drink sales. Neither bartender was ever seen to provide or even offer food menus. Additionally, they were never heard to attempt to upsell guests to a higher priced brand of spirit when one ordered a type of liquor generically, like a “gin martini” for example.
In addition, neither bartender was ever seen to ask for ID from any guest under 30 at any point. This included multiple guests who were clearly under 30 years of age, but were not borderline legal. This is something of a judgment call, but the agent would emphasize that the danger of not asking for ID greatly outweighs the savings of a few seconds here and there. By failing to do so, the bartenders risk the establishment’s liquor license as well as there own livelihood, with the potential for severe fines if they are caught serving minors. If nothing else, if the bartenders were insistent on not taking the time to request ID, they could at the very least ask guests whether they were twenty-one or older, as youths involved in sting operations are not allowed to claim to be of age if they are not. Even this is an unnecessary gamble though, as a dishonest youth could be served and then the service could be traced back to the establishment. This is a dram shop liquor liability issue that should be addressed by management.
In addition to Xxx’s odd process of ringing in the agent’s cash tab, there were a number of irregularities with payment. Neither bartender was ever seen to secure a tab with a credit card. No guest was ever given an itemized check after each round.
Also, in addition to waiting several minutes to ringing in the agent’s cash order, when Bartender 2 eventually got around to preparing a drink for the associate, it was never rung in. Once the agent got fed up enough with the non-existent service to ask for the check and prepare to leave, Bartender two said the agent’s soft drink had never been rung in, telling the agent “don’t bother.”
All the same, there was no sign of any other irregularities between servers and bartenders at the service well. Other than the above, the agent did not note any signs of a lack of professionalism, whether eating or drinking behind the bar, incomplete or damaged uniforms, other than generally being off task.
Michael Zenner – CEO
Hospitality Checkpoint LLC
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
bartheft.com (blog)
PO BOX 995 Gilbert AZ 85299
Office: 480-777-7056
Toll Free: 800-880-0811