Operators eat losses as more than guests walk out the door

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 10, 2003 by Milford Prewitt

He says that, in the first place, most of the theft is of "nickel-and-dime stuff" that cumulatively does not equal the deductible minimums that would make it worthwhile to file claims. On average, many of his clients have a $1,000 deductible on theft coverage, but some are as high as $10,000.

Kavanaugh of Purdue believes that customer thievery in foodservice is akin to the crazy aunt in the attic no one in the family wants to talk about, but everyone knows is up there.

Nothing confirmed that view for him more than an incident he was involved in just a year ago in a Lafayette, Lad., unit of a national steakhouse chain. He requested the brand remain unnamed.

While waiting for a table with his family, Kavanaugh noticed a young female guest with a date put every piece of silverware at her table in a salad takeout box while the server settled the bill.

When Kavanaugh introduced himself to the floor manager and informed him about what he had seen, he says he might as well have been talking to a wall.

"He didn't do anything," Kavanaugh recalls. "He didn't budge. He didn't want a confrontation.

"I understand it. He does not want to lose a customer or make a scene. But the reality is that from here on out, every time this woman walks in there, she's going to leave with some silverware until she's confronted. And until operators confront these people, it's going to be a problem."

The general manager of a popular Miami restaurant where the servers are required to "check in and out" the establishment's distinctive salt-and-pepper shakers says that no good would come out of a public discussion of guest theft and refused to answer further questions. Sources familiar with the restaurant report, however, that if any salt-and-pepper shakers are missing at the end of a shift, the replacement cost is taken from the servers' pay.

At Tru, a Chicago restaurant co-owned and co-operated by pastry chef Gale Gand, a similar method is used to cut down on customer pilferage.

Because Tru uses Lagniole knives, premier cutlery that costs about $80 to $100 apiece, captains are responsible for keeping track of them throughout the night. If any are missing at the time the restaurant closes, the replacement cost is taken from the serving staff's pooled tips, Gand says.

Gand notes, however, that she is often more amused and stunned by guest theft than she is angered by it.

She recalls a time at her earlier restaurant, Trio, when a woman stole a 14-inch charger, one of those elaborate decorative plates that mark a place setting and are removed from the table before the first course.

"We couldn't believe it, that she got that huge plate in her purse," Gand recalls. "And by the time we realized it was her, it was too late to hit her credit card."

Cooper, the Philadelphia operator who charges guests for missing vases, says he is less successful controlling the loss of the expensive potpourri he uses in the ladies rest room. Night after night, he says, some unscrupulous women empty the potpourri bowl into napkins and take it home.