Tell me this is not common among wait staff

[csquared]

I was wondering about that, I many restaurants these days, nothing comes out of the bar without the bartender pouring it. You have to enter it into the systems to get the bartender to pour it. That would mean that the order was entered, the glasses poured and then the tab was changed.

[Jester]

Of course, merchandise in airports are marked up, too. I guess doing background checks on staff is expensive.

Marked up, yes, but I've never seen a glass of wine for $34 at an airport.

Then again, come to think of it, I've never seen the prices on wine at an airport, because I'm always getting beer, with the occasional shot or Bloody Mary. Still, my friend's shock at the price tells me a lot, since she does drink wine at airports.

What would the server have to gain by running a scam like that? It's not like they can just pocket the difference - if there's an itemized bill listing the higher price, then the restaurant is going to get the money, not the server.

From the scam perspective, there are a couple possibilities. The first is that the bottle price gets the total bill price up, and thus increases the chances for a larger tip. The other more direct possibility is that the server, before cashing out the check, would correct the price to the glass price and pocket the difference. Such a thing might be possible if the server had manager access, or the managers frequently gave their card or number to the staff to fix things without actually seeing what they're fixing.

[Canarr]

From the scam perspective, there are a couple possibilities. The first is that the bottle price gets the total bill price up, and thus increases the chances for a larger tip. The other more direct possibility is that the server, before cashing out the check, would correct the price to the glass price and pocket the difference. Such a thing might be possible if the server had manager access, or the managers frequently gave their card or number to the staff to fix things without actually seeing what they're fixing.

Ah, okay; didn't know that, thanks. So, a server/manager could still make adjustments to a bill, even after the customer has paid it? I can see that work with cash payments, but even with a credit card?

[Jester]

On petty much every system I've worked on, adjustments can be made. Not always by the server, of course, but they can be made. Now, doing so if the customer pays by credit card would of course be more problematic, but I suppose with some systems there might be a way around that. On the systems I've worked on, I don't really see a way, but who knows, there might be. And even if they can't make adjustments, we revert back to my other idea: higher bill equals higher tip. No shenanigans with the bill necessary for that particular scam.

[Canarr]

Food for thought; thanks. And you're right about the inflation of tip through the inflation of the bill total; I didn't consider the fact that 15-20% tip is standard in the US, so upping a bill could actually pay some serious dividends to a server.

[wolfie]

I was thinking tip inflation via another route - after it's rung up, change the price to the per-glass price but keep the total (including tip) the same. The money released by the correction gets added to their tip.

[Jester]

I was thinking tip inflation via another route - after it's rung up, change the price to the per-glass price but keep the total (including tip) the same. The money released by the correction gets added to their tip.

Works with cash, but much harder to do with credit cards, as the slip will show the original total and original tip, not just the final total. Good way to fuck yourself out of a job if you get caught.