Catching Bar Scams

[DTSMAN]

Can some of you share some of the more popular bar scams going around that are used to get around the different systems?

One we found were staff using counting methods on how much they put in the drawer without ringing it up. A stack of nickles would represent every 2.50 they put in w\o ringing and a stack of quarters would represent every 3.75 they put in w\o ringing. Then when afforded the chance they go in grab the cash and throw it in the tip jug. Then start stacking again.

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[alohaakamai3]

lol, thats an old one, as is this one:

The floating beverage/employee transfer is probably the most common one I hear about. I won't go into detail about how it works, since it's been discussed on here before, but the basic premise (for those who don't know it) is that you ring in something 1 time thats commonly ordered this:

You order two sodas along with your meal. I print your bill and give it to you, and see that you're paying cash. Before I close the check, I transfer the sodas to another table or tab, and pocket the cash for those two sodas. Those two sodas are still out there in limbo, and at some point, I will have to pay for them. But not before I transfer them around to 20 different guest checks (so they show up on the guests bill when they pay), before moving them on to the next bill.

Nothing looks out of place to the guest, since everything is correct on his bill. Nothing looks out of place to the owner, since it appears that the check has been paid in full.

All POS systems that allow employees to do their own transfering are succeptible to this. I've even seen a little crime ring going on when 3 or 4 employees were in on it together, transfering sodas back and forth to one another for YEARS.

 

[DTSMAN]

Stopped at a gas station to buy something the other day and the clerk punched in the item total with tax and hit the no sale key. I didn't call her out there. I called the store the next day and asked to talk to the manager. Discovered that she was the manager and said never mind.
I wonder if retail owners accept and\or expect a certain level of theft.

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[Tyler121515]

Well in my experience the most classic bartender scam is not ringing up drinks made and overpouring to increase tips. Not ringing up drinks can either due to outright theft or incompetent bartenders who can't handle tending a busy bar and forget to do what they need to do. This is why at our place we implemented the weigh system with measured pour spouts. Yes, its a pain in the ass for the bartenders to have weigh all the bottles at the beginning and end of every shift and write down the weights on a spreadsheet, but every last sip of alcohol is accounted for. Even the foam from the keg goes into a spill bucket which must also must be weighed. But as much money as they make every night, they are in no place to be complaining. If they want to give away a drink, each bartender has a $15 spill tab each night. Aloha makes it incredibly easy to do all this accurately.

 

[alohaakamai3]

Well, they should, and if they don't, they're kidding themselves.

A friend of mine got once got a speeding ticket. It was going to cost him like $100, and we were pretty young back then, not making crap for money-it was pretty much like 2-3 or three days pay. I would have been pissed. But he sort of shrugged and said, "Hey, I just look it as the cost of driving. Drive your car enough, eventually something breaks and needs repair, and we have to pay to fix it. We're not happy about it, but we accept it. Likewise, do enough driving, eventually you're going to get into a fender bender or get a ticket. "

He was right, and it was a good attitude to have. I learned the same when I starting hiring people to help me with my business. When they made mistakes, it cost me money, and it was frustrating. When they work for you, you're now responsible for their incredibly stupid actions sometimes, and it's kind scary when you think about it. I have heard some horror stories-like a POS system who's credit cards were left in DEMO mode for two weeks before anyone caught it. NONE OF THE CREDIT CARDS ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH. Some tech forgot to take it live after then installation, and the POS company had to pay like $4000!

Anyway, sorry for taking the long way in getting to the point. But restauratuers and retailers should expect to loss some money to theft, whether something like a pack of smokes and employee just took, or cash taken from the register on sales like Bo described.

Try miminimize it, but don't drive yourself crazy trying to eliminate it. Unfortuantely, it's a cost of doing business.

 

[alohaakamai3]

Btw, Tyler, I think that that's a good way to reduce theft. Corporate-owned restaurants often give managers and even some bartenders "Tabs" do what ever they want with-buy friends drinks, regulars, etc (I have heard of some being as high as $400 per month for managers).

Not only does this work to get that employee away from the mindset of thinking how to beat the bar-they dont have to invest time and enegry even going there, they are allowed to have or give away some drinks for free-BUT, it also acknowledges that the hospitality business is about schmoozing.

Giving a regular customer or a good strong drink or giving them the occassional free beer makes them feel special, important, and welcome. It increases the bartenders tips, makes them happy, and makes customers-who are sometimes in there several times a week, if not daily-associate good feelings with the restaruant.

In my opinion, it's just good business.

 

[DTSMAN]

Caesar's casino boat in southren Indiana uses a liquor dispensing system for all wells. Why aren't theses more popular?

Bo

Remember,
If the women don't find you handsome,
they should at least find you handy.
(Red Green)

http://www.redgreen.com

 

[alohaakamai3]

Couple of reasons I can think of-

First, there are various styles to chose from-ones that you actually have to weigh the liquor, ones that you have wireless spouts on the bottles that caculate the poor, the Berg type system you mention that casinos use that actually meter the liquor coming out. In a nutshell, it's easy for a prospective buyer to become overwhelemed with all his options and just say the hell with it.

Second, they can be really expensive. We had a customer put the Berg-type/Wunderbar system in with some other company-I'd say probably 4 guns, for service areas on two levels (upper and lower)-and the owner told me it was over $50k!

Hell, that's almost twice as much as what we charged this same customer for a 5 terminal POS system! I'm not knocking the pour systems, but geesh-come on, $50k?

Third, even touch screen POS systems have really only become a "must have" in the last 7 years or so. Most places have had them longer, but now the general concensus you'd be crazy to open a restaurant without one. Right now, the liquor dispensing systems are very much a "would be nice to have", not a "must have".

And if $50k is anything even remotely indicitve of what it takes to get into these things, they may very well remain a "would be nice to have" for a while.

 

[suchasynic]

One scam I saw in a hotel was a bartender would stop at the liquor store on their way into work and buy a bottle of rum -- selling drinks out of their "own" bottle all night for cash -- pocketing it. This didn't appear on inventory as it was their own bottle.

We implemented a sticker system -- every bottle that was behind our bar had a hotel logo sticker on it. Out of place bottle could easily be identified on CCT (cameras)

 

[DVRGuy]

Here are 45 ways:

http://www.insightcommander.com/45WaystoLose.htm

Sleep well.

Brian

 

[TheMagicJBone]

There are almost as many ways to stop scammers as there are to scam. Bottle weighing and dispensing systems are nice, but in my mind, mechanisms like that take something away from the experience of being in a bar. You can lock a bar down so that the bartender is only capable of pouring X ounces of whatever for every X dollars received, but then you've turned your bartenders into automatons, like pop machines for booze. I agree strongly that it's important to keep costs down, but a balance has to be struck between rock-solid accountability and the bartender leeway this industry requires. The best way to keep scamming down is to hire trustworthy FOH staff, and give them as little reason as possible to scam.