A DOZEN BARTENDER SCAMS THAT ARE COSTING YOU MONEY
by Ian Foster

I often hear operators say “all bartenders steal”. In my experience, that accusation isn’t fair. In reality, I think that there are three types of bartenders. The first group is scrupulously honest at all times. I would estimate that 25% of all bartenders are part of this group - those are the ones we all want to find and retain. 
The second group, comprised of about half of all bartenders, will play by the rules as long as they believe that you have adequate controls in place. If the controls are too loose, as in most bars, this group will often succumb to temptation - giving away drinks to their friends, over-pouring to garner tips, and occasionally “forgetting” to ring the odd drink up. 
The final group, probably 25% of bartenders, are simply thieves who are determined to take advantage of every opportunity to steal.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to identify who belongs in which group. The best strategy is to institute such effective controls that the middle group is not tempted to misbehave. This will have the added benefit of frustrating the dishonest group, causing them to leave for another establishment where it is easier to steal.
Effective controls are those that tell you how many drinks are missing by comparing the number of drinks used to the number rung up. It is helpful to understand the most common scams. Here are the most damaging ones that we have seen:

1. Just not ringing up the drink is the simplest scam
The bartender prepares the drink, quotes a price, accepts payment…but doesn’t ring it up. The money is deposited in the register along with the next legitimately rung up drink, and then removed from the cash register to the tip jar at the end of the night.
This scam is ubiquitous - it happens to some degree at every establishment. This scam is most commonly used on draft beer, as most bartenders believe that there is no way that an owner can discover a missing sleeve (or even pitcher) of draft beer. They are usually right.
On the other hand, simple theft of a whole liquor bottle is rare. After all, if the bartender takes home a $20 bottle of cheap vodka, he is up $20. But if he just sold the 26 shots in that bottle to bar customers without ringing them up, that same bottle would be worth over $100 to him!

2. Over-pouring for a better tip
Most bartenders pretend that this is not really theft. However, the fact is that the bartender took someone else’s property and gave it away, without authorization, in return for money.
This is perhaps the most common cause of losses in a bar. Our audits usually show that over-pouring costs the average owner $300-$500 per week in lost profits.
It is no surprise that over-pouring is such a big problem when you consider that your bartender’s primary source of income is tips. Often bartenders assume that an overly generous pour will result in an equally generous tip. Since they are directly responsible for portion size, the danger is obvious.

3. Under-pouring 
In my opinion, this is the worst crime in the business. If a bartender under-pours three customers by 1/3 oz each, he knows that he can now steal a drink and it will go undetected. In effect, the bartender is stealing from your customers. This is wrong all the way around but the worst part is that some of your customers are going to simply stop coming to your bar because of the “weak drinks” - an unaffordable loss, and one that you will never know about.

4. Ringing up “Open Liquor” and then under-charging
In this scam, the bartender takes an order for a drink (say a Grey Goose martini) but rings up the Open Liquor key for a lesser amount (say $4). He then charges the customer the full, correct price and pockets the difference. If caught using the Open Liquor key, the bartender simply states that he “didn’t know there was a key for the Grey Goose martini” and that he was simply doing his best to account for everything - a difficult excuse to disprove.

5. Selling individual beer bottles and ringing up the same number of off-sales
A dishonest bartender can sell individual bottles of beer to customers all night but not ring them up right away. After every six individual sales, the bartender rings up one sale for a six-pack of “off-sales,” pocketing the difference in price. If your bar sells bottles of Canadian for $4.50 but a six-pack for $15, the bartender can steal $12 for every six bottles, with little chance of being caught.

6. Substituting a well for a premium
This is simple - the bartender pours a well brand when the customer orders a premium. The bartender collects for the premium, but only places enough in the register for the well, pocketing the difference.

7. Substituting a premium for a well
This is the opposite; the bartender rings up a well sale but pours a more expensive premium brand for his friends or big tippers.

8. Sneaking in a bottle of liquor
If a bartender sneaks a bottle of Grey Goose onto the back bar, he knows that by not ringing sales in, he can sell 26 drinks at, say $7 a shot, thereby pocketing $182 - all the while knowing that the owner will not discover that any of the bar’s liquor is missing.

9. Fudging the spill sheet
When the bartender wants to steal a drink, he simply records it as a spill or a comp. Since very few bar managers actually monitor the spill sheets, this is a very easy way to steal. This is most easily accomplished by writing down a lot of spillage for non-existent draft beer foaming.

10. Ringing up doubles
Most of us sell doubles for a discounted price so if the bartender rings up one double every time two singles are ordered, he can pocket the difference.

11. Simply “forgetting” to ring up a drink
Or, as we called it when we were children, “accidentally, on-purpose” not ringing it up! This is the best way to give away drinks to friends or particularly large tippers. A recent Bevinco audit found a number of instances where a bartender was receiving a $50 payment on an $8 check - something that can really only be explained if the bartender slid a couple of “free ones” the customer’s way.

12. Bartender/Server collusion
A table orders four drinks. If the server knows that the table is paying cash, then only two of the drinks are rung in but the server verbally tells the bartender to prepare all four. The server then collects all the money but only the proceeds from two make it into the register - the remaining money being split by the server and bartender.
The beauty of this scam is that it is difficult to detect. An observer (or camera) would simply see a chit being printed and money going into the register.

One scam that is very rare is watering down bottles. There are so many easier ways to cheat a bar that watering down the booze is simply a stupid way to steal - it is too likely to be discovered when customers complain about the weak drinks. 

The good news is that all of these scams can be deterred. We advise clients that simply firing every bartender that steps out of line is not a long-term solution - their replacements always have exactly the same habits. The solution is to put the operational systems in place so that your bartenders understand that if they steal, they will be caught. It needs to be that simple.

Ian Foster is an independent auditor for Bevinco (bevinco.com), an inventory control service for bar and restaurant owners whose confidential reports uncover hidden losses. He can be reached at 1-888-329-7884.