Waitstaff rant - the tip thieves

[Raskal]

True, your employer has to make up the difference between what you actually make and minimum wage. It was merely an example, bust your ass, deal with loud annoying drunks, people shouting, and still offer service with a smile and as fast as you can possibly work.

true and you certainly can leave with less than minimum wage for a shift... even a week, but tip makeup only comes into play for the entire payroll period. So if you have a "good" day it makes up for it.. But then again it also depends on how much you preach about them claiming their tips truthfully.

[black2002ls]

You can't make less than minimum wage.

True, your employer has to make up the difference between what you actually make and minimum wage. It was merely an example, bust your ass, deal with loud annoying drunks, people shouting, and still offer service with a smile and as fast as you can possibly work.

[War Machine]

if they added money over what you gave, then reverse the charges on your card due to fraud.

[TX_92_Notch]

If that's the case then I already said she should be taken care of. But to assume I don't think it is right. The manager called back in three minutes saying she made a mistake on two cards. Sounds more like he made up some random excuse. I can't walk from the front of my building at work to my office in 3 minutes let alone find records.

He was already on the computer looking when I talked to him the first time. He called back and said he found it (and it could've been 5 minutes) and I could tell he was reading numbers off the screen. He told me the amount of mine plus another that had similar numbers in it.

Either way, this happens a lot and I would like to see more people stand up against it, or change the way we checkout at a restaurant.

And I agree, maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I doubt it.

[black2002ls]

I was more trying to talk about micros pos system more than anything, the system I'm working with now i get to fix multiple "miskeys" a shift because a slip of the finger and it's gone... The micros stopped and asked them to confirm to make sure they didn't screw up.

I gotcha. Sorry for the mix up. I wish our system was as sophisticated. We have an old school POS system, and the only way the credit card system is tied into it is when you close tabs as credit cards, all of the actual monetary transactions are done on the credit card terminal, not through the POS

[Raskal]

I understand that side of things. However, I closed credit cards 4 days a week for a year and a half with no errors or complaints. I'm sure if it was intention, the thought of credit fraud never crossed the servers mind. All they had in mind was their own pocket book, not the consequences.

I was more trying to talk about micros pos system more than anything, the system I'm working with now i get to fix multiple "miskeys" a shift because a slip of the finger and it's gone... The micros stopped and asked them to confirm to make sure they didn't screw up.

[black2002ls]

Not saying it didn't happen on purpose but I have been in the industry a long time and have yet to see someone risk credit card fraud for just a dollar.. The scams do exist but for a dollar? Micros have it set up best imho. When finalizing a credit card it asks for the total then has a screen that pops up and says is this the tip amount... any decent server will look down and see if the numbers match before entering yes.. obviously if they don't match then you have the lil moral situation as far as what was intended and what was written.

I understand that side of things. However, I closed credit cards 4 days a week for a year and a half with no errors or complaints. I'm sure if it was intention, the thought of credit fraud never crossed the servers mind. All they had in mind was their own pocket book, not the consequences.

[black2002ls]

LMAO

I'm sure you were just stirring the pot. However, if you have ever worked in the service industry, you know that its a very sore subject when it comes to tips or the lack there-of

[Raskal]

Its not about the dollar. Its about the principal and moral issue of the matter. 20% is a decent tip amount on any check. She felt like she deserved more and altered the amount.

Not saying it didn't happen on purpose but I have been in the industry a long time and have yet to see someone risk credit card fraud for just a dollar.. The scams do exist but for a dollar? Micros have it set up best imho. When finalizing a credit card it asks for the total then has a screen that pops up and says is this the tip amount... any decent server will look down and see if the numbers match before entering yes.. obviously if they don't match then you have the lil moral situation as far as what was intended and what was written.

[mustangguy289]

are you black?

Look at it this way: if you didn't have to tip then the businesses would have to pay their employees better and they would jack up the rates on all of the food. Wouldn't you rather have some say in how much your server deserves to earn?

And I guarantee you that the increase in food price would be much greater than the amount you pay in tips because the employees then have to be compensated for the hours of dead time they spend waiting for it to get busy.

waiters/waitresses make like $2/hr. If you're not going to tip, don't eat out, it's bad karma.

I'm not a food server, but a bartender. I work 2 nights a week at a local club/music venue I used to run. We make 2.13 an hour. Try standing there for 3 hours, busting your tail, serving 200+ patrons, and walk out with less than minimum wage.

What REALLY irks me, is when I serve fellow wait staff. There is a guy who comes in who works at one of the busiest mexican food restaurants in the area. He NEVER tips. EVER. Wait, he left 18 cents one time.

TIPS, To Insure Professional Service.

LMAO

[black2002ls]

Yeah most places have them reconciled by a member of management while they are doing a checkout... Add to that the huge amount of people that can not add.. ie... 36.42 +8=42.42 and shit like that... Servers would get upset with me when I made them go by the total amount. But usually just sighed and walked away when I explained that 42.42 is the amount Joe Blow is expecting to see on their statement next month so to avoid any charge backs that's the number you need to put.

I settle my own credit cards at the end of every night, and a lot of times, the credit card slips at the main bar. This sometimes equals 100 slips. I ALWAYS go by the total amount left by the patron. For the very reason you explained.

[black2002ls]

I'd take the free food fosho. I also wouldn't have gotten so butthurt over a dollar though. Lulz.

Its not about the dollar. Its about the principal and moral issue of the matter. 20% is a decent tip amount on any check. She felt like she deserved more and altered the amount.

[Raskal]

as the son of a restaurant owner and as someone who has been the GM of a restaurant, let me give you my two cents...

she very well may be doing this on purpose, and if that is the case she should be terminated. quickly...

on the flip side, sometimes at the end of a shift when a server goes to put the credit card tips into the restaurant's point-of-sale system, she may have upwards of 25 credit card slips to go back in and add the tips to. say the tip amount on your slip was $20, and the very next one was $21, she may have just gotten them mixed up. that being said, as the GM and the one who took the money and credit card slips that the servers turned in, it was my job to check each and every slip and cross reference the tips on them with the tips she entered, which are on her check-out slip. this is not always fool-proof, but does provide something of a safety net and should be standard practice...

but i will say that it is good on you that you keep an eye on your money. i do the same...

Yeah most places have them reconciled by a member of management while they are doing a checkout... Add to that the huge amount of people that can not add.. ie... 36.42 +8=42.42 and shit like that... Servers would get upset with me when I made them go by the total amount. But usually just sighed and walked away when I explained that 42.42 is the amount Joe Blow is expecting to see on their statement next month so to avoid any charge backs that's the number you need to put.

[black2002ls]

I still don't see why we need to tip. Fuck it.

I'm not a food server, but a bartender. I work 2 nights a week at a local club/music venue I used to run. We make 2.13 an hour. Try standing there for 3 hours, busting your tail, serving 200+ patrons, and walk out with less than minimum wage.

What REALLY irks me, is when I serve fellow wait staff. There is a guy who comes in who works at one of the busiest mexican food restaurants in the area. He NEVER tips. EVER. Wait, he left 18 cents one time.

TIPS, To Insure Professional Service.

[Cooter]

waiters/waitresses make like $2/hr. If you're not going to tip, don't eat out, it's bad karma.