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The Series
The "Playing it off" Scam |
The
Recycled Check Maneuver Recommended Aloha system process: The “Required Category / Category Count” setting can be enabled to prevent checks from being closed without appropriate items. If the establishment feels that waiters may be passing checks with common ordered items such as beverages/salads and passing them off to multiple guests, the “Category Count” feature in Aloha can be enabled to prevent checks being closed without such items. Category Count or Required Category on a check makes the waiter enter an item such as a beverage or “no beverage” on every check. The waiter would not be able to close a check without the beverage or “no beverage” item.1 Waiter performance measures should be set up on the system. Aloha provides the ability for management to monitor server performance through performance measures. Performance measures allow for tracking of sales targets and comparisons against objectives of each measure. You can define up to 99 performance measures. These measures can be easily viewed on the FOH server sales report or checkout report. It would be recommended to configure a “Sales Category to Guest” or Sales Category to Check” performance measures by waiter job code on the Aloha software. The Sales Categories would contain your most routinely ordered or most popular customer items. This way management can spot check any specific percentage discrepancies that look to be out of range. If a certain waiter has a low sales percentage in this performance measure, then corrective action and monitoring should take place.2 Managers should routinely visually spot check tables and review corresponding waiter checks for accurate items, including order time of items. Managers can easily access any waiter’s check from a FOH terminal and review the check under Financial/View Tables. The manager can then make sure that appropriate beverages or any items that the waiter gets are on the actual check. They can also verify that the items have been rung into the system in an appropriate order time. For example, the current time is 5:00pm and these beverages have been rung in at 11:00am. If the table was not here all afternoon these items could be suspect. This waiter should be monitored.3 Guest checks can have a message for a complimentary item if they’re receipt time and date does not match the window they have been dining in. Many establishments post signs such as “If you do not receive a receipt your meal is on us.” This is done to make sure that cashiers or waiters are ringing in items through the POS system. The same philosophy could be used on a guest receipt indicating for them to make sure the time and date of receipt is accurate. This will deter waiters from tryingto attempt to pass an older or wrongly dated receipt to a new customer. Guest check messages can be defined in Aloha Events under “Set Guest Check Message.”4 1
Reference: Chapter 3 in the Aloha TableService Manual for Store
Settings/Category Counts Excerpted from "How to Burn Down the House: The Infamous Waiter and Bartender's Scam Bible by Two Bourbon Street Waiters" by Peter Francis & R. Chip Deglinkta. © 2003 Promethian Books
Video Surveillance
Attacks Shrink Abacus Video Surveillance is exciting because it allows video to be captured side-by-side with Aloha transactions. Abacus offers an integrated POS and video solution that joins digital recording with the capturing and data mining of POS transactions. The search tool combines fast and easy search of archived video with the POS operation; each transaction and the accompanying video appear on the same screen. Using up to 36 cameras, data can be scrutinized on up to 60 different items, such as date, time, server, transaction type and amount. Suspicious transactions can be identified for alerts. The system is ideal for franchise operators because numerous locations can be monitored in real-time from any Internet connection. >> Works Alone
or with Aloha. See specific video events alone or
Aloha Makes it Easy Stay In Touch With Us Abacus. You can count on us.
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What They're Saying About Abacus "For us, Abacus is not just another vendor, they're a valued strategic partner."
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In
this scam, waiters take a previous order receipt with the same items requested
for a new customer and pass the receipt to the new customers for payment. As
example, a waiter has a previous ticket for two burgers, two salads, and two ice
teas. Another table orders the exact same thing. The waiter only rings in what
they cannot get themselves: the Burgers. The waiter serves the self service
items without ringing them in. The waiter drops the previous check pocketing the
excess cash for the ice teas and salads.
Shrink is a $27 billion retail headache that
is getting worse. With every dollar recovered from shrink, the bottom line
receives it as profit. Abacus Video Surveillance attacks shrink and improves
customer service by offering a combination of innovative solutions that reduce
shrink and improve customer service—all in one product.
If you have a question or comment about Aloha Tips and Tricks,please contact Abacus at info@abacuspos.com. |