Accurate inventory control helps narrow down the focus on where your problems are.
There are a lot of ways to steal. Some sneak in bottles of Smirnoff and re-fill Absolut bottles, then “sell” premium shots all night and keep track of what they’re not ringing up which they then steal later. There are lots of ways for bartenders, waiters and even cooks to steal – and the worst is when more than one employee is in on it because you’ll have to proceed very cautiously as a manager (and especially as an assistant manager), keep notes, and let on to no-one whom it is that you suspect, because they may be in on it too.
Without enough documentation a team of thieves can and will play the system to get you fired as a manager without your being aware they were working together. One extreme way to get you fired is for one of the team to come on to you (whether you’re male or female) until you respond back, and then act shocked and report you for sexual harassment (conveniently with a few witnesses). Your waitresses can also blackmail the male bartender into giving them free drinks by doing the same thing to him so that he becomes an unwilling cohort under their control. The same thing can be arranged by making things “disappear” from inventory but only when you’re on shift, so it looks like you’re the thief. A box of frozen 7 oz or 9 oz steaks always goes missing the day you work and the regular manager or owner is off for instance.
When the kitchen is in on it those sealed in plastic boxes of frozen steaks can (and do) take a nice dive into the outgoing garbage at the end of the day – and are pulled out of the trash a few hours later, still frozen, by someone sent around to retrieve them before your commercial garbage haulers come by to pick it up.
If you’re a bartender and you think you can get away with stealing, watch the video below and you’ll notice what’s in place in the inventory control system in use that tracks even the smallest variances. While not all systems are as accurate, managers and owners are no fools, and they don’t need a spotter to know who’s doing (or not doing) what, if they’re savvy enough.
Now I’ll talk about Keg Beer and How That Gets Stolen to Blame it on the Next Shift.
One of the easiest and favorite places bartenders can steal is from kegs. When a bartender empties a keg he or she is supposed to mark it as empty on their shift so it shows up as having been emptied by them. The thief will empty it and not record it or tap a new keg, they’ll just tell customers it’s out and get them to switch to another draft beer. The following shift will then be forced to mark the empty on their shift, tap the new keg and show that a keg sold out on their shift. There is no place to mark “Time Keg Replaced” on the inventory sheet. If there were then perhaps it might help narrow down who is stealing the keg beer. As it is the shortage is hidden and being blended into the following shift’s total sales and the owner/manager has no idea when it really ran out and disappeared.
Here’s how to track keg beer losses
- Take an empty keg and weigh it.
- Subtract that weight from a full keg.
- A pint of beer weighs a pound, and there are 16 oz (both liquid and weight) in a pint.
- Based on the number of pints and various ounce sized glassware draft beers served during any shift you’ll know how close your bartenders are to keeping honest.
With a bathroom scale you can easily pick up any keg and weigh it during any given shift to see how much beer was dispensed. If the combined weight of all of the kegs has gone down by 400 pounds but only 300 pints (or combined pints and mugs) of beer have been rung up, then you know who your thief is.
At that point you can put a few strong spotters on that bartender to see where else they may be stealing, record the instances, warn the employee (if you don’t outright catch them red-handed in the act) and after three written warnings – fire them.
Finally, never underestimate a crooked person’s tenacity or cunning when it comes time to finding new ways to steal without being discovered.
The One Man Ripoff Machine
One we’ll established bar I worked in had an old cash register that printed on a paper roll. Every night the bartender rang everything up and never left a single drink un-rung. The place employed spotters who confirmed that the bartender was 100% open and honest and never, ever appeared to be re-using a check, watering down a drink, or taking a dime.
The bartender was also the last guy in the place who locked up at night.
Because the register used a paper roll and wasn’t electronic, all the bartender had to do was quickly re-ring everything he’d rung up during his shift except what he wanted for himself, then take out the cash he didn’t ring from the deposit, deposit what was left with the new cash register ring, and dispose of the original.
If you do have a few thieves in the place and know you also have some honest ones, don’t think your honest ones will slow down the thieves. Your honest ones are probably only still there because of their proven ability to turn their heads the other way and keep their mouths shut. They may even have sympathy for you.
Stealing from the bar isn’t the only way it’s done. Short changing customers and weakening their drinks is another. Here’s a short video showing you how easy it is to sell weakened drinks is.
Last on this list, but certainly not the last trick or scam there is, are the members of the bar or wait staff who soak the customers who are running tabs. Soaking simply means padding the bill with extra drinks in order to deposit more or to take more from the bar owner. When I think I see it happening I start writing down each time I order a drink and what it was. The last time it happened I confronted the bartender and had the extra drinks removed. After returning another night it happened again and had the bartender remove the extra ones a second time. This time the bartender went over to the other bartender and said “Watch it, he counts his drinks”.
I’ve stopped going to that bar. It’s no fun any more. I may not be the only one, I’m sure, and I’m pretty sure the word has gotten around because the latest word is that business has fallen off. Too bad. I almost wish I could step in and help manage the problem.
Site Author, David Jonathan Curtis: David Jonathan Curtis, a seasoned professional in his fifth decade of bartending and bar management, began his career in Midtown Manhattan, NY, tending and managing bars before diving into Manhattan’s bustling nightlife scene. Over the years, he has mastered high-volume, high-pressure bartending as the lead bartender in both iconic Midtown clubs and Wall Street bars, generating over $1,350,000.00 annually in personal drink sales. He has since extended his expertise to establishments in Georgia and now Tampa, Florida. David’s roles as a Bartending Instructor at the American Bartending School in Tampa, while maintaining a second job bartending, and his years experience of managing bars, and working as a Brand Ambassador along with his extensive professional library of over 1,000 bartending books, highlight his dedication to continually refining his craft. He holds a diploma in Bar Management and is BarSmarts certified by Pernod Ricard.
