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Why Me, And What's A Body To Do?

J

JoeChartreuse

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About 2 weeks ago the owner of my Wednesday night venue complained to me that the ring is no longer what it used to be- and that it had dropped a LOT in the last two months.

While this can happen, in this case I knew something didn't fit, because this is a VERY successful venue, always full, and all serious ( to the point of many walk-in - rather than drive- patrons) drinkers. Well, me being the ex-bar owner/manager/bartender, I began some watching...

There are two bartenders, and while one is on the up and up, the other is stealing the place blind- to the tune of over $500 per night ( the place usually rings around $1800 or so during my shows).

Just turn him in, right? Um....no. Here's the problem. The Thief is the owner's son. He started about a month after the honest guy- about two months ago. The other bartender knows what he's doing, but says if the son gets accused, he'll just point to the him, his father will believe him, and he will lose his job. Also, the owner is buddies with other owners in the area. In effect, the honest bartender will be black balled.

Nothing like a lose-lose situataion. Now what? The son's stealing threatens both my show, and the other bartender's job.

At this point, I'm thinking of taking other offers for the night, but I really like working at this place. A great crowd, and it's about eleven blocks from home....
 
Very sticky situation...sorry to hear that :(
If i was in that position i might see what other options are available in case things go bad where your at and then i would talk to the owner. It may be his son but make sure you have some evidence or at least you're 100% sure he's stealing so you'll be able to explain the situation to the owner. Depending on how well he knows his son he may not even be surprised?
 
Therein lay the problem. No overhead cameras- no evidence except what I saw with my own eyes. The customers that put cash on the bar are actually putting cash in this guy's pocket. Also, those folks he knows leave money on the bar, but he doesn't charge them. He averages about $20/person with that run- stealing not only money, but booze inventory via the giveaways.
 
with or without proof you tell the owner that money isn't getting rung up and that is why his money is down, then tell him to look close to home.

I had an owner who had the same problem (only his daughter) he started watching the bartenders and ended up catching her red handed with marked bills he had put into the hands of a couple of friends.
 
Without going into detail, I would just plant the seed. "Really? That's really weird because I see MORE people buying and drinking than a few months ago. Are you sure you counted right?", etc.

Let him come to the conclusion on his own. And while you fear what might happen to the other bartender, nothing has happened yet. In the words of a good friend "You don't have a decision to make, until you have a decision to make".
 
Tell the owner that you think he needs an overhead secret camera... and that he MUST TELL NO ONE that it is there - period. He'll easily see who is pocketing money.
 
Along with the above suggestions, are any of the people in there friends that you could have mention it? We had a similar situation except it wasn't a relative. But eventually a customer that the bar owner trusted mentioned it and he started to keep an eye out and had to fire her. Our show still took a hit in attendance as all the people who got to drink for free got angry and quit coming but the till actually went up a bit on less people.
 
What we need is a Federal Agency to tap evey bar in America with cameras, agents, computers to monitor every sale, every transaction, every potty break,every tip, every song, every manager, every owner, every kj, every dj, every customer, every employee, every meal etc.etc. every everything! OBVIOUSLY we aren't smart enough to do it ourselves, and there is no way we could do it and make everyone happy WINK WINK.
 
Mantis1 said:
What we need is a Federal Agency to tap evey bar in America with cameras, agents, computers to monitor every sale, every transaction, every potty break,every tip, every song, every manager, every owner, every kj, every dj, every customer, every employee, every meal etc.etc. every everything! OBVIOUSLY we aren't smart enough to do it ourselves, and there is no way we could do it and make everyone happy WINK WINK.
Click to expand...


Your either joking or a Republican. HA HA HA HA
 
Mantis1 said:
What we need is a Federal Agency to tap evey bar in America with cameras, agents, computers to monitor every sale, every transaction, every potty break,every tip, every song, every manager, every owner, every kj, every dj, every customer, every employee, every meal etc.etc. every everything! OBVIOUSLY we aren't smart enough to do it ourselves, and there is no way we could do it and make everyone happy WINK WINK.
Click to expand...

Or you could just dispatch the Sopranos & Snookie! :laughpill:
 
If you're absolutely sure, I would take the bar owner aside and just tell him. He needs to know, and like someone else pointed out, he probably already knows what his son is like. If he doesn't, then it's time he did know.
I would preface it by saying that you are worried about not being believed and that you could lose your own job for this, but that what you see happening every night is not right. Encourage him to either have some people work "undercover" or install a camera but to make sure his son doesn't know. Let him know that you are 100% confident that the camera/undercover people will back you up on this.
In the end, you may just lose the job anyway, but you can sleep well at night knowing that you did the right thing and in the end, you DID try to help the honest bartender.
That's what I would do, anyway.
 
Diafel said:
If you're absolutely sure, I would take the bar owner aside and just tell him. He needs to know, and like someone else pointed out, he probably already knows what his son is like. If he doesn't, then it's time he did know.
I would preface it by saying that you are worried about not being believed and that you could lose your own job for this, but that what you see happening every night is not right. Encourage him to either have some people work "undercover" or install a camera but to make sure his son doesn't know. Let him know that you are 100% confident that the camera/undercover people will back you up on this.
In the end, you may just lose the job anyway, but you can sleep well at night knowing that you did the right thing and in the end, you DID try to help the honest bartender.
That's what I would do, anyway.
Click to expand...

I think you said exactly what I planned on saying.
 
Thank you all for your suggestions! I have a feeling that what's going to happen is that I will take some of them, and I will also take an offer for that night from another local venue.

While my ethics tell me to do the right thing (and I will), practicality still tells me that somehow I will get caught in some bad feelings somewhere, and it's best to just report it and then move on.

Mantis, you're definitely a Rebublican...:laughpill:

Wall, I wouldn't let Snooki within a hundred feet of me, even if she were immersed in a barrel of Purell. What a pig.
 
The answer is very simple - and it comes from the very pickle that you describe.

You are damned if you do and damned if you don't - the lesson being that you have no control over the actions of other poeple.

Inform the owner about his sticky-fingered son, your concern for how it affects and reflects on you and others working in the bar, and then let the chips fall where they may.

The possible end results don't change - you'll either win or lose.
 
Diafel said:
If you're absolutely sure, I would take the bar owner aside and just tell him. He needs to know, and like someone else pointed out, he probably already knows what his son is like. If he doesn't, then it's time he did know.
I would preface it by saying that you are worried about not being believed and that you could lose your own job for this, but that what you see happening every night is not right. Encourage him to either have some people work "undercover" or install a camera but to make sure his son doesn't know. Let him know that you are 100% confident that the camera/undercover people will back you up on this.
In the end, you may just lose the job anyway, but you can sleep well at night knowing that you did the right thing and in the end, you DID try to help the honest bartender.
That's what I would do, anyway.
Click to expand...

Joe, throwing my 2 cents in agreement with Diafel...closest to what I would do. If you are in peril of losing your gig anyway, you have nothing to lose...if you get fired for a slow night, or fired for being a tattletale or talking crap about the boss' son. I would just be sure, before being the messenger, that you have some credible proof and are sure you are not out of line by making that accusation, but if you are sure or have proof, by all means, and with all the diplomacy you can muster, share this with the boss...or send him a link to this thread and let him do the math, LOL!.
 
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