The 20 Most Common Ways Bartenders Will Rob You Blind

The 20 Most Common Ways Bartenders Rob You Blind

If you think that your bartenders are honest and would “never steal from you” you’ve got another thing coming. Having worked as a bartender for over 27 years, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. As you’re about to find out, these are the 20 most common ways bartenders rob you blind.

How You Are Robbed

1. No Ring – Simply take the cash and don’t ring in the drink. A common way this occurs is a guest orders two beers for a total of $10 and hands the bartender a $20 bill. Bartender turns and rings one beer into the POS and gives $10 change. Undetectable by the cameras because it appears as though everything is being rung in and that cash is being put in the drawer.

2. Short Ring – Ring in a soft drink or beverage of lesser value than the drink ordered and keep the difference.

3. Overcharge – Tell the guest that the total is more than it is.  For example, if four drinks comes to $28, bartender tells the guest that they owe $33. $5 goes in their pocket.

4. Claim That Guest Walked – The guests actually paid, but when the drink or food is comped by the manager, bartender keeps the money.

5. Short Pour – This way bartender can pocket the money on drinks not rung in and it won’t affect the liquor pour cost.

6. Give Away Free Drinks (Most common) – This is done for friends or for good regulars in hopes of receiving a larger tip.

7. Bring in Own Bottle of Liquor – Bartender can charge for his own bottle and keep the money without it showing up on the liquor pour cost.

8. Watering Down Bottles – Not extremely common but it does happen.

9. Giving Free Drinks to Employees – Getting their fellow employees involved in their theft

10. Stealing Bottles From Liquor Room – No Ocean’s Eleven genius going on here. Just flat out robbery.

11. Claim Guest Didn’t Like Drink – Drink is comped, cash is pocketed.

12. Claim Drink Was Spilled – Same result:  Drink is comped, cash is pocketed.

13. Drinking on the Job – Very common in bars, but without permission, it’s stealing.

14. Pouring Well When Premium Was Ordered – Bartender can charge for the premium liquor but only ring in the well that was poured and keep the extra money.

15. Claim Drawer is Short – At the beginning of the shift bartenders can take out cash and claim that the bank isn’t what it’s supposed to be at.

*A good way to test your staff’s integrity is purposely leave the drawer OVER what it’s supposed to be (i.e. leave it at $350 instead of $300) and see if they say anything.

16. Pouring Strong – This is usually done for regulars in order to receive a bigger tip.

17. Fudging the Spill Tab – Bartender will give away drinks and put them on the Spill Tab and claim they were returned or wasted in some way. They should be telling the manager at the time of the spill so there isn’t just a huge tab at the end of the night, unaccounted for.

18. Ringing in Modifiers – Ringing a drink as Up or Rocks usually means extra liquor is poured, but some bartenders will ring in the modifier but not pour the extra liquor, providing a surplus of liquor to play with.

19. Using “Open Liquor” Button – Bartender uses open liquor button to undercharge the guest and keep the extra.

20.  Claim Wine is “Corked” – Bartender determines that a bottle of wine is bad so it goes on the Spill Tab but he/she sells it anyway.

How To Fix The Problem

If you have noticed one or more of the above “problems” in your bar or restaurant and don’t know how to fix the problem, give us a call to arrange your FREE Consultation.

Head over to https://www.fandbserve.com and check out all of our products and services to see how F&B Serve can help you!!