The bussers are stealing our tips!

3150 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by lolar2, Dec 6, 2008

minkajane

Discussion Starter · Dec 6, 2008

I'm a waitress. The bussers (one or more of them) have been stealing the tips of the tables they clean and it's becoming more and more blatant because they know they can get away with it. A server will walk by one of her tables with full hands and see four ones on it. When she comes back, the table's clean and there's ONE dollar one it. Or even no dollars. They're taking money from pretty much every table they bus. The managers say that unless they catch one of them in the act, there's nothing they can/will do. They're really good about doing it quickly, palming the money when they move it aside to clean.

I'm trying so hard to find another job, but until I do, I can't quit this one. Is there anything I can do??

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Carita

· #2 · Dec 6, 2008

can you get your waitresses to team up and watch. when you see a table with cash tip, alert the waitresses, then have each person take turns watching until the table is bussed? I know waitressing can be fast paced, but i thought if you worked together...

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2xy

· #3 · Dec 6, 2008

I'm a waitress, too, and although I've never been in that situation, it seems to me that you can't be making much money if most of your tips are being stolen. So do you really need to keep this job until you find a new one?

I've had a rough autumn that included some job hopping, so I know it's rough when you're training and only making minimum wage. But seriously....if the managers aren't willing to help in any way, I would tell them to go screw.

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Kabes

· #4 · Dec 6, 2008

I had this happen when I was a waitress. I finally got to the point that I would ask my tables to hand the tip to me b/c we had had some problems with tips disappearing. Most guests were happy to honor my request and the language I used didn't blame my co-workers or used the word 'steal' so the managers never got upset either.

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minkajane

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 6, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2xy

Thankfully, most of the time, I get to the table before the bussers do, so I'm able to grab the tip, plus there are the ones left on the credit cards that they can't touch. Yes, I absolutely do need to keep this job. I'm the sole support for this family and we are just barely making ends meet. I've been putting in application after application, but I'm not getting interviews, much less job offers. Even minimum-wage retail is done hiring for the holidays. I can't even go to another restaurant because if I went two weeks without tips while training, I wouldn't make rent.

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Jennifer3141

· #6 · Dec 6, 2008

Tha happened to me when I waitressed at a Village Inn years ago. I simply told the manager that I didn't need bussers and would not be tipping them out at the end of the night until the theif/theives was found. That pretty much ended it.

Our bussers weren't the best and the turnover was laughable though. I always preferred cleaning my own table because I know that sitting down at a dirty table sets a bad tone for the rest of the meal.

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lolar2

· #7 · Dec 6, 2008

I would suspect that it is only one or two bussers doing this-- whenever I've been in a situation where there were a lot of petty thefts, it's always been just one or two culprits. So some careful observation (maybe in teams as a pp suggested) might catch him.

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