I’m curious about some of the ways you’ve “heard” to rip of your employer. I once heard of some servers printing up gift certificates.
Apparently, the restaurant had these $25 and $50 gift certificates that didn’t have bar codes or anything. So, duplicated them meant free food and free cash. Apparently the gift certificates were bonuses, during the Christmas holidays, that tried to motivate people to buy large amounts of gift cards. It sounds like these employees figured out a way to “print money”.
Another work hustle I’ve heard of is doing what’s called a “double drop”. I’m not even sure what this one means. I guess I could Google it, but I’ve had a long day. If you would like to leave a comment, explaining what it is to “double drop”, I would be very happy.
Finally, I’ve heard of servers figuring out ways to remove sodas from the orders of tables that paid in cash, and keeping the extra few bucks. I’m guessing this one isn’t easy to do anymore because I remember needed a manager’s key to make any and all changes to my tickets.
So, what are some hustles, at work, you’ve heard of people doing?
Best Work Hustle; How To Rip Off Your Employer.,
I never did the double drop but I did work for a crooked restaurant owner who short paid his staff whenever he could. I did however mention to another employee after a bitching session in which we all felt the owner deserved to get screwed over that it was possible to rip off the owner if you worked the Sunday brunch. This was a shift that wasn’t as busy as the dinner shifts were so tips weren’t as much but most brunches were couples and many people had a tea or coffee so quite a few tables on Sunday had the exact same bill. I explained how customers didn’t know what table number they were sitting at so you simply only needed to drop the bill from table 5 onto table 9 and if they paid cash it was all yours, if not punch it in. That employee worked every Sunday brunch that he could from there on out. About two months later I was in for the buffet and noticed the head chef was working so I asked why he was working a Sunday. He said he was there to count buffet customers. I mentioned that to the waiter and he said “Yeah, everytime he’s in I have to split the double drops with him’. LOL. I guess when you steal from your staff you get as good as you give.
I first witnessed employer theft about 20 years ago at a fine dining restaurant within a local Atlanta hotel. At lunchtime we offered a “pasta bar” where the chef would custom prepare each pasta dish with various sauces, meats, etc. When a guest would pay cash, the server somehow got the manager’s POS void authorization code, voided the transactions from the POS and pocketed the cash. Albeit tempting, I never worked up the nerve to go through with it. However, when I was a room service attendant for the same hotel chain in another city, I worked with a punk ass thug one night who actually filled in the gratuity blank onigned guest checks. I will usually mind my own business and stay out of the shady behaviors of others, but since I was splitting the tips with this little twit, I, in essence, could be implicated in his dshonesty; moreover, he was stealing from a paying hotel guest, and that’s where I draw the line. Knowing I could lose my job for what he did, I ratted him out and he was fired. Call me a narc if you want, but I’m not taking the fall for somebody else.
Narc
Read the book How to Burn down the House. A Bartender and server guide to scam.
How To Burn Down The House – The Infamous Waiter and Bartender’s Scam Bible by Two Bourbon Street Waiters
I worked for a movie theater for quite some time when I was in highschool. I used to sell people the part of the ticket stub that the theater kept instead of giving them new tickets. I would pocket like $20 every time a couple came in.
The most I can say is that I’ve “heard” of this. I too worked at a movie theater.
And people wonder what is wrong in this country? One guy not only ripped off the newspaper vendor, but his boss.
I don’t care how poor you are why would you steal from anyone?
Stealing money from cash registers is the way to go. Straight out good old fashioned theft.
We offer 10% discounts to students. But no one really knows about our discounts. So when somebody pays in cash, I check them off as if they were students. So I’ll make whatever tip they leave me (if any) plus the 10% I knocked off.
A friend of mine told me about this one. I am yet to do it and don’t know if I will but it’s definitely worth talking about. For an employee meal, we get 50% off. Well let’s say a customer comes in and buys a $20 dinner for himself. Let’s say he also pays in cash. My friend will sometimes mark it off as an employee meal and keep an extra $10 bucks form himself plus whatever the guy wants to tip him. Of course, he can’t actually eat an employee meal that day. But who cares? He’s making at least a 50% tip for a total of somewhere around a 70% tip. Quite intelligent.
I’m sure there’s other things I’ve heard and do but it’s late and those are the ones coming to me right now.
Now I would never do this now, but back when I was in college many many moons ago (during my first adventure in serving), I used to wait tables for a large nation chain of seafood restaurants named after a certain scarlet colored crustacean. lol
Well, about once a month they would run a “coupon” in the paper saying “Buy one dinner, get one free”. This was always on a Friday night & on those nights myself & 2-3 other servers would pile into my car at 11:30 when we got off work (I was the only one that had a car!) and we would ride all over town & hit every newspaper box we could find. We’d drop a quarter & pull all the newspapers out…& each one had a coupon! Some nights we’d get 100s of these things & then we’d divide them up & report back to work the next day with a pocket-full of coupons. Anytime someone would pay with cash we’d deduct the 2nd meal & keep the difference.
Like I said, I would NEVER do it now, but back then (the early 90s) I was broke & needed the extra cash…& I wasn’t nearly as honest as I am today.
Funny side story though…the manager TOTALLY knew what we were up to. When we were cashing out each night most servers might have 1-2 coupons (if any) & my crowd would always have 10-15 each (I never said we were subtle!).
The manager would just take them & kind of chuckle & say “I KNOW what you’re doing…I can’t prove it, but I KNOW what you’re doing!” LOL
Double drop is when you keep the printed ticket for a table that has already payed in cash, then instead of closing out that table you drop the same ticket on another table. If they pay by card then close it out, if not keep running the same scam and pocketing the money. This would be easier at lunch I’d assume, when there are limited choices and the tickets have an easier chance of matching up, or at a buffet. I think in most restaurants it’s almost impossible now because of computers. It only really works at a place where you call out orders (instead of putting them in the computer and having them sent back to the kitchen). You should read “Burning Down the House” it’s all about scamming restaurants, I would never do it, but it makes for a great read.