BARTENDER THEFT:
Bartender Summary
There were three bartenders on duty during the duration of the agent’s visit. Bartender A was the day bartender who was finishing up her shift during the time when the agent arrived. This bartender had on Xxxxx as a nametag. Xxxxx is a Caucasian female with long dark hair. She was wearing khaki shorts and a blue Xxxxx’s tank top.
She presented well to the public, but was notably unfriendly to this agent. She did very little to greet the agent at the bar top and almost seemed reluctant to serve the agent.
This bartender was observed during the first portion of the visit and was seen using an ice scoop and ringing in all beverages on the POS system. Xxxxx was seen bouncing bottles to apparently cheat the pour spouts control or over pouring beverages, but was not seen committing overt theft of money.
At the end of Xxxxx’s shift, she was seen consolidating money from both POS register drawers into one drawer by simply amassing the cash and moving it to the primary drawer for her, which was the POS closest to the door. This concerns this agent greatly and the agent can come up with no reasonable explanation why any single bartender would need two operating banks on separate POS machines at one time. This makes the checkout system very convoluted.
In observing her checkout, there was an inordinate amount of “yellow scratch pad math” going on for this checkout was very alarming.
This is a fairly up to date POS system that this agent is familiar with. The bartender should simply be running a checkout in the presence of a manager and the checkout should tell exactly what the drop is. This agent is confused about this checkout and highly suspicious of this procedure.
Xxxxx was also seen counting out tips to her drawer and this should be avoided at all cost. If bartenders want to change singles out to the bar, they should do it with the manager on duty after their cash out has been completed.
Xxxxx was also observed taking a split of what looked like Sutter Home Chardonnay and putting it in her tip bucket on the way to do her checkout. This was not seen rung in.
This is also an ADLLC Violation as she is consuming alcohol while performing an act of “work” duty. TITLE 4, CHAPTER 3
4-244. Unlawful acts
12. For a licensee, when engaged in waiting on or serving customers, to consume spirituous liquor or for a licensee or on-duty employee to be on or about the licensed premises while in an intoxicated or disorderly condition.
Xxxxx was heard saying that she has been with Xxxxx’s for over ten years. This type of long term employee knows the systems very well and knows where the holes in the system exist. Agent found a lot of her actions to be highly suspicious.
Bartender B came on duty wearing the nametag Xxxxx. This bartender was wearing a white Xxxxx’s T-shirt that was worn un-tucked with shorts and a backwards baseball cap with a heavy metal band decoration on it. This bartender did not present well to the public, looked slovenly, and would not entice any guest to the bar other than regulars that have been coming to the bar for years.
Xxxxx was overheard having a conversation with Xxxxx where she was upset about someone “coaching” her on her pours. Xxxxx was overheard saying something to the effect that they were watching and something was going to happen. This lead this agent to the conclusion that these bartenders know that first, there are issues at the, second, they have been told or intimated to that there needs to be changes, and third that they are being watched.
Agent’s analysis of this is they are aware that wrong-doing is happening and are on alert. Agent has concern that the investigations may be skewed because they are aware they are being “watched.” Last, it is a concern that this information is being spread and discussed within full earshot of paying customers – most of which are regulars. Agent suggests that the bartenders be instructed not to discuss such matters in front of paying guests or else face disciplinary action if they do.
During this visit, the agent was seemingly the only person seated at the bar that the bartenders did not know personally. This made it very difficult to ascertain theft. Xxxxx was also seen ringing in every beverage and going to every extent to hit the POS immediately after every transaction.
Bartender C was Chris. She was a petite female Caucasian with light brown hair wearing shorts and a Xxxxx’s T-shirt.
Chris was the only friendly bartender that this agent encountered. Because of the changeover from Xxxxx, Chris was forced to delay her rings until Xxxxx cleared her drawer. Although all drinks were seen apparently rung in once Xxxxx cleared her drawer, these bartenders have swipe cards and there should be no reason for delaying drink rings because the sales go directly to the server or bartender associated with that card. Again all of this was rather concerning. This having been said, the agent did not witness overt theft from Chris either.
Though no overt loss of product other than the split of wine taken by Xxxxx was witnessed, this agent has serious concerns about this bar. Those will be briefly outlined: There is not active management presence in this bar from anyone who doesn’t directly profit from tips. As noted earlier, the case of multiple banks in use by one bartender on separate POS systems is concerning and something that this agent has not seen before in any bar, club or restaurant either managed or evaluated.
There was also a curious POS screen seen after one of the regulars cashed out. The total came through from Xxxxx and instead of issuing a price like the agent’s $3.75, this screen read -$10.00.
The only thing that this agent can think of is a system of house accounts where the clientele is sold on credit or pre-sold alcohol. This is a gray zone in understanding for this agent and should be investigated by the owners both in terms of loss and in terms of liquor law compliance. For liability purposes, all guests should have a record of what they have consumed on that visit. There were no visible receipts at all during the entirety of this visit.
Lastly, another employee, female with a tribal arm band was seen drinking alcohol heavily on this shift. This is a bad practice and will inevitably lead to massive losses behind the bar. It is this agent’s opinion that these bartenders are most likely consuming much of the loss.
Michael Zenner – CEO
Hospitality Checkpoint
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
bartheft.com (blog)
Hospitality Checkpoint PLLC
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