Scams that waiters and bartenders use!! TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: The Buffet Scam 3 Chapter 2: The Bastards 4 Chapter 3: Suggestive Stealing 5 Chapter 4: Houston...We Have A Problem 6 Chapter 5: Putting Them On Ice 7 Chapter 6: El Cannibal 8 Chapter 7: Leftovers 9 Chapter 8: Evil Incorporated 10 Chapter 9: Su Casa, Mi Casa 12 Chapter 10: Friendly Delivery 17 Chapter 11: Jail Break 18 Chapter 12: The Private Reserve 19 Chapter 13: The Pawn Game 21 Chapter 14: Oops! Wrong Check! 23 Chapter 15: Our Man In Amsterdam 24 Chapter 16: Extra! Extra! Read All About It! 25 Chapter 17: The Potemkin Voucher 26 Chapter 18: The Package Deal 27 Chapter 19: The Finishing Touches 28 Chapter 20: The Wagonwheel 29 Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 3 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 1: The Buffet Scam The Scam: The premise of the buffet scam is the same check being used over and over throughout the shift on different guests. This scam only works if the customer is paying cash. A very important part of this scam is the ability to reprint guest checks. Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Limit the server’s ability to reprint guest checks to a pre-defined number. 2. In Aloha TableService, a manager can “View Tables” in the manager functions. This gives the manager the ability to see how long a check has been opened as well as how many times the check has been printed. 3. Managers should flag the setting to NOT give the server the ability to transfer checks. With no transferring ability, the tab cannot be transferred to another server or to tables in an empty section. 4. The POS system should be set so that table numbers can only be used one at a time. If the server has table 101 open with a tab, they cannot open a second tab with the same table number. 5. Assign table sections for each server. If the server is only responsible for 3 tables per shift, assign only the ability to access those three tables and no others. 6. Managers should use the floor plan view. With the floor plan view, the manager has the ability to visually see server table sections with table color changing triggered by predefined time intervals. Not only does the manager have the ability to see table times, he or she also has visibility of the last time an item was placed on the tab, server ID and how long the tab has been open. With all of the above items in place, the server will not be able to run the scam of using the same tab for multiple guests. Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 4 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 2: The Bastards The Scam: The premise of this scam is using alleged “walk out” guests as an excuse to have the tab voided by the manager and pocket the money. Once again, this only works when cash is the form of tender. Any server that uses this scam more then a couple times will be exposed. Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Aloha’s audit reports make it easy to see a pattern of comps due to guest walk outs from the same server. After a pattern has been discovered, the manager can then take action as necessary. Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 5 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 3: Suggestive Stealing The Scam: The premise of this scam is to influence the guest by suggestive selling certain items on the menu, in order to use the same tab over and over again. The core of this scam is exactly the same as the Buffet Scam above; the only difference is the waiter is leading the guest to select items from the menu that the waiter wants on the check. Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Managers should routinely visually spot check tables and review corresponding waiter checks for accurate items, including order time of items. Managers can easily access any waiter’s che ck from a FOH terminal and review the check under Financial/View Tables. The manager can then make sure that appropriate beverages or any items that the waiter gets are on the actual check. They can also verify that the items have been rung into the system in an appropriate order time. For example, the current time is 5:00pm and these beverages have been rung in at 11:00am. If the table was not here all afternoon these items could be suspect. This waiter should be monitored. Chapter 4: Houston...We Have A Problem The Scam: The premise of this scam is that the POS system goes down and checks must be written by hand. Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Coomputer Full Redundancy If one of the terminals goes down, all other terminals still function normally with no problems. The levels of redundancy are endless protecting you even when more than one terminal goes down. 2. Radiant Systems Four-Hour Service Plan With the four hour Radiant hardware service plan, a newly refurbished terminal will be arriving at the client’s location without extended exposure. Chapter 5: Putting Them On Ice The Scam: The premise of this scam is faking that the credit card terminal is down or having problems in order to get the guest to pay using cash. Recommended Aldelo System Process: 1. If the restaurant is using high speed credit card processing and it goes down, there should be a backup modem that it will rollover to. Even if the internet goes down and the there is no back up modem, Aloha will go into spooling mode and provide offline credit card processing until the connection is back up. 2. The mag readers on the P1200 and P1500 series Radiant terminals have a 1 million swipe life expectancy. Chapter 6: El Cannibal The Scam: The premise of this scam is taking and transferring another server’s credit card slip, which has not been closed yet. The culprit conspires to collect on the tip. The server also has to know the other person’s number and log in as them, then perform the transfer. This scam is the easiest to stop. All you have to do is flag the ability to transfer checks. No transfer checks, no scam! Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Flag the ability to transfer checks. 2. Mag cards and/or biometrics can help prevent this scam. Chapter 7: Leftovers The Scam: Waiter shows a food or item order that a custom er did not touch or hardly ate to a manager to try and get him to “void” the item off the check. The waiter has already presented the check and received a cash payment from the customer. If the food or item order is voided, the waiter is then able to retain the value of the voided menu item in his/her pocket. Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Managers should NEVER “Void” a prepared menu item: Managers should be trained to never void an it em off a check once the menu item or product is created. The correct process would be to “Comp” the item under appropriate reason code. A void should only be completed if the product has not been created. Voids generally do not affect inventory. An example of a valid void would be when a waiter rings in a menu item incorrectly, tells the kitchen not to make the menu item and that item is not cooked. The manager should void this item under a created reason code such as “server over- ring.” Using Aloha software, users can create specific reasons for voided items. In addition, there should be a reason code that forces every manager to select the appropriate code when performing a void. This way the manager must accurately indicate why he/she is voiding and corporate management can understand and correct the problems appropriately. 2 If the item has been prepared and needs to be removed from the check, the manager should perform a comp. An item that is comped should be evaluated to see if they need to reduce inventory for control purposes. Examples of a manager comp could be defined as “customer dissatisfaction with item” or “overcooked.” Corporate operations can then review manager comps by reason code to address situations or comp percentages that are not acceptable. 3 2. Managers should perform a table visit on every dissatisfied customer order. If a waiter tells a manager that a customer is dissatisfied with what they have ordered, it should be company policy for the manager to make a table visit to the customer to understand why the customer is dissatisfied. The manager will then be able to best understand the customer’s complaint. For example, the manager might be able to re- cook or adjust the order without taking the item off the check. If the manager must remove the item from the check, he can appropriately add the reason code to the comp allowing corporate management to monitor customer complaints or service issues. Aloha Inventory offers a complete comprehensive way for an establishment to track and manage all products at specific stocking location. Utilizing Aloha Inventory and recipes, you can create a liquor recipe for all the dr inks that you carry. If the employees are giving away menu items there will be variances associated. Chapter 14: Oops! Wrong Check! The Scam: Hoodwinking guests into paying slightly higher yet similar checks is a sure way to increase a waiter’s slice of the money pie and cover themselves at the same time. Waiters look for ripe candidates that don’t glance at the check at all. The waiter then produces a guest check that is closely similar to the actual check, but is higher in total price. . Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Aloha allows the reprint function of a check to be turned on and off by access level. Only give this functionality to managers and not servers. 2. Aloha Manager offers an audit report that allows the owner to track the number of checks that have been re-printed and the number of checks that have been re- opened by employee. 3. Enterprise has an audit report that should allow managers to see how many checks were reprinted by each employee for a specified amount of time. Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 24 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 15: Our Man In Amsterdam The Scam: The waiter settles up a sizable cash check, but doesn’t finalize the transaction. The waiter brings this to the attention of the buddy manager. The manager voids the transaction leaving the waiter with all the cash. The cash is then split between the manager and waiter. . Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Enterprise offers a void report that can notify an owner of how many voids occurred and the monetary value of those voids. If the numbers get high like in this scam example, the owners know they have a problem. 2. Enterprise also offers a void alert that produces the same information as above. Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 25 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 16: Extra! Extra! Read All About It! The Scam: Promotional Coupons being used for free money to servers – when an owner decides to get coupons, the wait staff takes a lot for themselves. The wait staff may clip as many coupons from publications as possible and keep with him/her during their shift. After the customer has paid their check, the waiter applies the coupon to a check with the appropriate item. This leaves the waiter with the cash incentive intended for the customer and makes the owner/manager think that a lot of people are taking advantage of his promotional coupons. Also works with Gift Certificates. . Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Enterprise allows for an audit report that tracks promos applied to checks by employees. 2. Restrict discounts to manager approval. 3. Enterprise also allows for an alert to be created notifying the owner that a predefined threshold has been reached of promos being applied to checks. 4. eCard provides reports on eCard activity by the same employee. eCard also protects the restaurant by allowing the manager to define the amount of times a card can be used on the front of house without manager approval. (This occurs before the employee even gets caught on the reports or by the alerts.) Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 26 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 17: The Potemkin Voucher The Scam: Selling the same credit card slip to other servers for cash – A waiter prints an extra copy of the credit card voucher. He then takes the original voucher to fellow servers for cash. He finds another server who is willing to buy a copy and tells him the customer walked out with the original. Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Aloha keeps a record of transactions by employee. When an employee finalizes a sale and closes that check, they are responsible for that credit card voucher at the end of the shift during the checkout process. 2. Aloha can also activate Payment reconciliation where employees have to verify every credit card voucher they received by entering them during the checkout process. If they don’t match the Aloha reports for that employee, a manager is notified before the employee can clock out. Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 27 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 18: The Package Deal The Scam: Meal Vouchers in a buffet type environment in hotels – Servers count all vouchers that they collected and access a voucher screen to enter in the correct amount of all the vouchers they have received (ex. $12.50). The server enters in $112.50 instead of the $12.50 and uses the excuse that it was a slip of their finger that entered the wrong number. Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Aloha allows for payment reconciliation to be activated by job code at the end of each shift. Before that server can clock out, they have to verify that all of the forms of payment they received that day, match the total that Aloha has recorded in the Back of House. If these totals don’t match, then the system will prompt for a manager password before the employee can clock out. Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 28 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 19: The Finishing Touches The Scam: Adding Automatic gratuity and not letting the guest know – The waiter smears the gratuity stamp so it cannot be read. The waiter then writes or circles the final total and writes a message to the customer to distract them. The waiter then writes the final total on the back of the check and serves it with a distraction (mints). Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Enterprise allows for us to track the auto gratuity by tender type and create an alert for this line item. If this amount is beyond a pre-defined amount, it will notify the owner. 2. Print an “additional tip” at the bottom of a check, if an auto grat has been applied. This will further alert the guest that it’s already been applied. Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 29 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Chapter 20: The Wagonwheel The Scam: Separate check scam – This is when food is moved from the original check to newly created seats and then checks are reprinted for extra money. Recommended Aloha System Process: 1. Monitor check reprints and split checks by waiter in the BOH Aloha Audit Report. Use this report to verify functionality is at acceptable operation levels and that no specific employee falls outside normal processes. Generally the establishment will have a consistent ratio from employee to employee. If an employee falls outside that realm they may need to be monitored or spot checked. 29 2. Enterprise provides an audit exception report that provides details on how many split checks and split off items of those checks occurred by each employee. 3. Enterprise also shows transfer check counts. All of these can be in a report form or an alert that would be sent to the manager. 4. The “Required Category / Category Count” setting can be enabled to prevent checks from being closed without appropriate items. If the establishment feels that waiters may be passing checks with common ordered items, such as beverages/salads, and passing them off to multiple guests, the “Category Count” feature in Aloha can be enabled to prevent checks being closed without such items. Category Count or Required Category on a check makes the waiter enter an item such as a beverage or “no beverage” on every check. The waiter would not be able to close a check without the beverage or “no beverage” item. 30 5. Waiter performance measures should be set up on the system. Aloha provides the ability for management to monitor server performance through performance measures. Performance measures allow for tracking of sales targets and comparisons against objectives of each measure. You can define up to 99 performance measures. These measures can be easily vi ewed on the FOH server sales report or checkout report. It would be recommended to configure a “Sales Category to Guest” or Sales Category to Check” performance measure(s) by waiter job code on the Aloha software. The Sales Category(s) would contain your most routinely ordered or most popular customer items. This way management can spot check any specific percentage discrepancies that look to be out of range. If a certain waiter has a low sales percentage in this performance measure, then corrective action and monitoring should take place. 31 6. Managers should routinely visually spot check tables and review corresponding waiter checks for accurate items, including order time of items. 29 Reference: Chapter 5 – Aloha Reports Guide for Audit Reporting 30 Reference: Chapter 3 in the Aloha TableServi ce Manual for Store Settings/Category Counts 31 Reference: Chapter 4 in the Aloha QuickService & Tabl eService Manuals for Performance Measure Configuration Leveraging Aloha’s Strengths Against Waiter & Bartender Scams 2006 © Radiant Systems, Inc. Page 30 of 30 Proprietary and Confidential Managers can easily access any waiter’s che ck from a FOH terminal and review the check under Financial/View Tables. The manager can then make sure that appropriate beverages or any items that the waiter gets are on the actual check. They can also verify that the items have been rung into the system in an appropriate order time. For example, the current time is 5:00pm and these beverages have been rung in at 11:00am. If the table was not here all afternoon these items could be suspect. This waiter should be monitored. 32 32 Reference: Chapter 1 in the Aloha TableService Add-Ons Manager Guide for Viewing a Tab or Table
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 00:59:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015