Answer to Question 1
C
Answer to Question 2
The answers for this question can be numerous.
The bar is the most profitable revenue producing area in most food and beverage establishments, but also one of the most vulnerable areas that is susceptible to pilferage and theft. Even the small-scale skimming, such as a free drink to the bartender's friends here-and-there ultimately add up to lost revenue and or decreased profit margin due to increased costs.
The Short Ring Ringing incorrect items is one of the classic and easiest techniques for stealing behind the bar. The ring up occurs when a customer orders an alcoholic beverage from the bartender. The bartender will serve the drink, tell the customer its selling price,
then ring up a soda on the register and input the cash received for the drink into the register drawer. The difference between the drink and the soda may typically range anywhere from 3 to 7 cheaper. At the end of the night, the bartender will remove the
extra money.
The Giveaway This technique involves the bartender giving away products (free drinks) to regular customers, co-workers or friends/family who frequent the bar without recording the sale. The bartender's intention is to get repayment through a larger tip or just simply looking favorable.
. A variation of the giveaway is when a customer has several drinks throughout the course of their visit and the
bartender conveniently forgets to update the guest check in order for the customer to obtain
the drinks for free.
The Void This technique allows a bartender
to ring up items on a guest check,
present a check, and collect payment. Just prior to cashing the check out, the bartender will void the check and place the cash in the drawer to be removed at a later point.
The Dilution This allows the bartender to dilute or add product by pouring small amounts of water into the existing spirit bottles so there is not a discrepancy when management reconciles inventory. This allows the bartender to give drinks away or consume drinks while working without having beverage costs percentage be affected, or to identify any form of caution or concern to the manager.
The Phantom Bottles This technique involves the bartender bringing in their own bottle of spirits to pour from and to pocket the cash sales. By doing this, once inventory or reconciling of beverage cost percent will not show any caution or discrepancy.
The Phantom Drinks This technique is easy to carry out when there are large groups of people or an event that requires a host bar. The group of people order drinks sporadically throughout their visit, and at the end of their visit, they obtain a single tab/check with all the drinks. Illicit activity occurs when bartenders or management add-on drinks that were never ordered by customers in order to inflate the guest check.
The Substitute This method involves the bartender substituting a cheaper brand for a premium brand that usually sells for a much higher price, yet charging for the premium brand and pocketing the difference.
The Missing Bottle(s) This technique may be carried out in collusion with bar backs and/or bus people. It involves carrying out full bottles of alcohol along with the empty bottles to the dumpster. Then removing the full bottles from the dumpster at the end of the evening.
The Short-Pour This method involves the bartender pouring less than the standardized amount of alcohol into a customer's glass. This short pour allows the bartender to over-pour later on or for the giveaway for their desired customers to obtain bigger tips.
A Platypus swimming in Broken River, Eungella National Park, Queensland, Australia.