It is important for technicians to know the weak points in the automation system. Firstly, restaurant administrative staff often turn to technical specialists for help on these issues. Also, often in case of controversial or incomprehensible issues, users of the program claim that this program “chemically” something, and the specialist is obliged to professionally weigh all the arguments and give his authoritative opinion. It is sad if a specialist could not defend the “honesty” of the program on the spot, and the programmer is forced to go through the code of an often harmless program, not always knowing the logic of the system.

In most cases, fraud is associated with dishonesty of staff, sometimes it is due to incorrect operation of the program, and staff takes advantage of this. Therefore, it is so important to have fraud protection and control measures in the program and to present various diagrams of typical loopholes. So, unfair personnel schemes:

• The classic scam in restaurants is “underdoing” and “underreporting.” The counter to this scheme is a “mystery shopper”, a check by a chef, a technologist or a quality specialist. The dish or product is weighed as a whole or by ingredients.

• Often, especially in a bar, there is a method of selling your product. More complicated is diluting expensive types of alcohol with similar cheap ones. And the released elite alcohol is sold bypassing the system. Control of this scheme - entry and exit of personnel only through one door, all checked by a security guard.

• Sales bypassing the program are controlled by administrative personnel permanently located in. Counteraction to this scheme - in the shops, cooks serve dishes only according to orders, bartenders are prohibited from serving visitors at the bar counter, customers are allowed not to pay for the order if the waiter handwritten the bill or did not hand it out at all.

• Re-grading is a popular word in retail, essentially selling one product and writing off another. As a result, the first is a plus, and the second, accordingly, a minus. In inventory, such situations are clearly visible, because these are usually goods of the same type. It is considered fraud if the cook intentionally used an ingredient that was not on the recipe sheet (usually a cheaper one). Classic examples: using pollock meat instead of crab meat or using cheaper varieties of cheese than stated on the menu. Such misgrading rarely happens in isolated cases; most likely, the cook deliberately deviates from the production technology. As a result, this deviation is clearly visible in the inventory. Eliminating mis-grading in the kitchen - strict control over production technology.

• Removing entire orders or some lines from it. Using this scheme is considered quite rude, and often requires accomplices in the kitchen. The waiter deletes the order from the system, and when returning the proceeds, he claims that the guests made an order, and then abruptly abandoned the order and left, thereby increasing their profit by the cost of this order. A subtler version is that the waiter has an accomplice in the kitchen, opens the paid order, removes the dish that was being prepared in the kitchen, the accomplice intercepts the order and destroys it. In total, upon delivery, the waiter, if necessary, claims that there was no dish and increases his profit by the cost of this dish. Counteraction to this scheme is all deletions and cancellations only from the administrator’s card, the program records these actions and at the end of the shift a corresponding report is generated, an explanatory note is written for each deletion, waiters do not have access to closed orders.

• The most beautiful scheme is carried out through an order at a discount. There was an order with a good discount, the client pays the invoice, payment (closing) is not made. All subsequent orders are calculated according to the invoice, and after the client pays, all items from the current one are transferred to the order with a good discount. As a result, the waiter closes the order, which is already quite full, with a discount, and hands over the proceeds, keeping for himself the difference between the cost of real orders and the cost of the order with a discount. Counteraction to this scheme is to print the invoice (even better for payment) only once, transfers and discounts only by the administrator, constantly viewing the discount report, using discounts through the discount system.

• A technical problem with “inexpensive” programs, or those that have been extensively redesigned, is when the program runs on several computers and at one of the stations the time is deliberately or accidentally greatly confused, and the current time of this station is entered in orders. As a result, when generating reports in which the selection is based on the opening and closing dates of the cash register shift (this is logical, it makes sense to look for orders outside the shift), orders with the “missed” time are not included in them. Accordingly, these orders are a plus for the waiters, but a minus for the kitchen and establishment.

• The simplest scheme for “hurrying” customers (order for takeaway), when the customer stands next to the station and the waiter punches the order in front of him. When all positions are filled, the client sees “Total” on the screen, but the order has not yet been saved (!), the client begins to pay. After receiving the money, the waiter clears the order and, accordingly, it is not saved in the program (and without deletions or cancellations!). Such an action is considered normal by most programs and is not recorded, since the waiter may make a mistake, and if he did not save the order, then this position can be deleted without obstacles. Now the waiter just has to persuade the kitchen to prepare what the client ordered. Typically, an accomplice or arguments like “the program is not running” or “the computer is busy” are used for this.

Very often, all these problems can be solved by simply implementing a good accounting program!

It often happens that there are no announcements about the cost of entry or a table either at the entrance or on the menu. Maybe entry and a table are generally free, and if they are paid, then they rarely tell anyone about it, therefore, when they bring you a bill, you can see in it any extra amount for entry or a table, it turns out that you were not notified about the payment, but They demand money, which is a scam. We recommend that you read

KITCHEN

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PAYMENT BY CARD

04.06.15 262 842 0

An additional card will save you

Three years ago, two waiters robbed Muscovites of 10 million rubles.

The scammers worked in cafes and restaurants, serving dozens of visitors a day. When the client gave the card for payment, the waiter took it to the cash register and copied the data - this took several minutes. Then the card was returned to the owner, and after a few days all the money disappeared from his account.

Sasha Volkova

editor, economist

Bank employees advise not to let the card out of sight. But in life, only paranoid people follow this advice. Imagine: you are sitting at a bar, having a good drink, arguing with friends about politics. The waiter brings the bill. Will you stop the argument and go after him to check if he is copying your card? And even if you go, it won’t always save you: scammers have come up with a way to read card data unnoticed. Therefore, we will give other tips: realistic and simple.

3,5

billion rubles earned by card fraudsters last year in Russia

How a waiter steals money

The waiter has a notepad and pen - even this is enough to zero out your bank account. If there is also a special device - a skimmer, the fraudster will do whatever he wants with the card.

The easiest way to steal money is to write down visible card details and use them for online purchases. Some banks process online payments without confirmation with one-time passwords. If you have a card from such a bank, then the fraudster only needs to know your name, card number, expiration date and the code on the back of the card. He will order an iPhone from an online store, and you will pay.

Another way is to make a duplicate of your card. The waiter takes it to the cash register and runs it through the skimmer. This device steals data from the magnetic stripe. Or the scammer is doing the same thing before your eyes: you insert the card into the reader and do not notice that there is a thin board hidden in it that steals the card data.

68%

Fraudsters carry out transactions using visible card details

At home, the fraudster uses a special device to record your data on another card - and the duplicate is ready. Most payment terminals will not notice the counterfeit. The scammer will go to an electronics store and buy a laptop at your expense. Or he will sell the duplicate to another scammer, and he will pay with your card somewhere in Singapore.

21%

Fraudsters carry out transactions using fake cards

Another option is to steal both the magnetic stripe data and the pin. The waiter will look over your shoulder, look at the camera recordings, install an overhead keyboard on the reader - and find out your PIN. Then he will make a full duplicate of the card and withdraw your money from an ATM.

Issue an additional card

Leave the card on which you store a lot of money at home or in your passport. For payments in cafes and restaurants, use an additional card - it is linked to the same account as the main one, but it has different details: number, name, pin and secret codes.

Many people do not block the card, even if they suspect that a fraudster copied its data. This does not happen out of stupidity - the person simply does not want to be left without money for a week until they issue him a new card. But if you block a subsidiary card, you still have the main card - you can withdraw money from it until they issue you an additional one again.

To issue an additional Tinkoff Bank card in the Internet bank: click “Actions”, select “Issue an additional card” and set a time and place for meeting with the courier:

The same can be done in the application: go to the “Accounts” section, click on the settings icon in the upper right corner, select “Issue additional. card." Enter your passport details and wait for the operator to call - he will coordinate the place and time of the meeting with the representative.

Set a limit

For an additional card, set a cash withdrawal limit. For example, no more than 5000 R per day. If you suddenly need more cash, change the limit - this can be done in a minute:

In the “Accounts” section, select an additional card. Then go to the “Security” section in the menu. Select “Limits” - “By card” and indicate the required amount.

You can also limit payments, but only for a month. For example: spend no more than RUB 30,000 per month from an additional card. The scammer will not get to the rest of the money.

To hide all the money, the monthly limit will have to be reset every now and then. They set a limit of 5000 R per month; as soon as it is exhausted, you increase the limit to 10,000 rubles. No matter how hard the scammer tries, he will not receive more than three or four thousand at a time.

Disable online payments

Ban online payments for the card you use to pay in cafes and restaurants. If a fraudster looks at the details, he will not be able to use them. When you need to pay with your card in an online store, you can temporarily remove the ban - it will take less than a minute:

To disable online payments in the application, go to your account settings (in the upper right corner of the screen) and select the “Services” section. In Internet Banking - go to the “Limits” section

Pay at the cafe in cash

Paying in cash is inconvenient: you need to withdraw money from an ATM on time, fiddling with change and change. But you can use these inconveniences to your advantage.

Decide how much you are willing to spend in a cafe in a week. Withdraw this amount from an ATM and carry it with you. Pay in cash in a cafe - the waiter will not be able to steal your card details, and it will be easier for you to leave a tip. But the main thing is that you will have to limit your spending in order to fit into the planned amount. This will help you save money.

The downside of this approach is that you won’t find out which cafes you spend more money in. And if you spend cash on something else (transport, gasoline, shopping), then they will be indistinguishable in the above expense statistics. This is inconvenient if you are watching your budget.

How to return what was stolen

If money has been stolen from your card, contact your bank immediately. By law, he must compensate for the loss if money is debited from the card against the client’s will. But here the legal nuances begin:

1. You must report fraud no later than 24 hours later. Therefore, contact the bank immediately and save the evidence: write down the time of the call and the name of the operator, duplicate the request in a letter. This will be needed if the bank denies that you informed them about the debit on time.
2. The message must be “in the form prescribed by the contract.” Check what is written in the contract. Otherwise, the bank will refuse to return the money because you sent an email instead of a fax.
3. You must not “violate the rules of use” of the card. If the bank proves that you wrote the PIN on the card or gave the card to the bandit yourself, it will not return the stolen money.

The bank is based on two principles. First, you cannot give money according to any demand. Otherwise, the fraudster will withdraw money from his own card, report it stolen and receive a refund from the bank. Secondly, every dispute cannot be brought to court. It's expensive and bad for your reputation. In practice, the bank makes a decision depending on two factors: the amount and internal policy.

If the fraudster only got 3-4 thousand, most likely the bank will compensate for the damage. But if we are talking about hundreds of thousands, the bank will study the situation in detail. Don't risk large sums - you won't have to go through the courts.

Refund policies vary from bank to bank. Some will not give back a ruble until they have studied all the circumstances, while others are more relaxed about returns. Before applying for a card, read reviews about the bank.

conclusions

1. Issue an additional card and pay only with it in the cafe.
2. Set limits on the card.
3. Disable online payments.

With restaurant industry professionals about the lengths guests go to in order to eat for free.

Blocked credit cards

I have been working in the Moscow restaurant business for the last 10 years and I can say with confidence that the deception schemes remain the same as in the 2000s. They have just transformed to modern technologies. For example, a guest pays with Apple Pay. The phone doesn't work, and I don't have the card with me. Then he starts blaming our system, saying that there are problems with it, and not with his phone.

A well-known story: before closing, a man came to the restaurant - respectably dressed and looking adequate. When the check arrived, he tried to pay with credit cards - all in the same name, but the payment did not go through - the cards were blocked. Here the man begins to swear that he will pay another time. Sometimes they offer to leave a phone or passport as collateral. But we have no right to agree, just as we have no right to detain a person without security. We called the police, but by the time the squad arrived, the man had left. His photograph circulates in restaurant pages. When asked why he does this, he replies that it is for self-satisfaction. The motivation of deceivers is pleasure, adrenaline. This is a hobby.

The staff suffers from these frauds - they are the ones who pay for it out of their own pockets or divide the amount from someone else’s account per shift. There is only one solution to the problem - call the police. On behalf of the restaurant, an application for the provision of the “Unpaid Check” service is written, then the court. True, in my practice the matter was never completed.

A hair in the plate and an expired card

The situations are usually the same. There is a category of freeloaders who understand that the restaurant is ready to pay the bill, and begin to constantly find fault. Either there is a hair in the plate or the dish is tasteless. Two girls came for the first time, just to eat. And then every time they started to get hair - and they asked to remove the dish from the bill. At some point, we replied that we were ready to remake the food, but we would not exclude it from the check. The girls reacted negatively, but we explained that we see how often they come to us and have noticed a pattern in their behavior. Since that time they have not appeared again.

Another story: a guy came, ate, and when the bill arrived, it turned out that his card had expired. We called the police and drew up a report, the guest wrote a receipt that he undertakes to pay by a certain date. Then there was a sharp jump - and there were many such cases. It happened that in the end they did not pay.

It happens that a guest does not like a dish. There are two options: either it was poorly executed, or the person simply doesn’t like exactly those ingredients, textures or combinations. Then the chef or chef checks the dish and then either corrects it, treats the guest with a compliment, or takes it off the bill. We cannot reject the complaint, because word of mouth works and you can leave a bad review about the establishment on Facebook. This is a blow to your reputation.

Fraudulent minors and counterfeit bills

Two weeks ago, a girl wrote to us on Instagram. She threatened to sue and call Rospotrebnazdor because her child was poisoned by seafood in our restaurant and was dying. To hush up the matter, she asked for half a million. We started to figure it out and asked when they visited us? She answered that on Friday. That is, at the time of her complaint, four days had passed, and if the symptoms of poisoning appeared only on Monday, then it is unlikely that we are to blame. After our message, the girl disappeared.

Another story. A brutal bearded man came to us, he looked 30 years old. I ordered whiskey. The waiter brought it without asking for documents, but it turned out that the guy was underage. Here a comrade with an inspector's hand joined him. He introduced himself as Rospotrebnadzor and asked for 25,000 rubles so as not to bring the case of selling alcohol to persons under 18 to court. We suspected something was wrong, because 25 thousand is not enough for a bribe in Moscow. They called the police, and while they were waiting, the guys retreated.

But it is not only visitors who are deceived. We always have change in the cash register - 30,000 rubles. Our former cashier once said that he accidentally threw it in the trash. The whole team began to search - to no avail. And the next day the cashier disappeared. There were still counterfeit bills at the cash register.

How to deal with deception? As part of HoReCa, conduct lectures for restaurateurs. Like PIR Expo, but legal. Experienced businessmen share practical stories with beginners. If something happens, it is better to immediately contact a lawyer; doing it yourself will cost more.

Kleptomaniacs in restaurants

Visitors are cheated regularly. We recently had a banquet and regular guests came. The waiter who served them came up to me and laughingly said that one of the girls had our cloth napkin sticking out of her bag. I approached her and asked what this meant. She unfolded the napkin to reveal a salt and pepper shaker. The girl blushed, returned it and explained that she really liked them. We did not make this story public.

Here's another funny story: in one of the Italian restaurants I worked at, they served aged balsamic vinegar and olive oil with carpaccio or fish. Vinegar, by the way, RUB 4,000. worth it per bottle. The guests ate, paid, and after they left we noticed that the vinegar was gone. Then our Italian manager caught up with these people and suggested taking olive oil along with the vinegar. It's probably excitement or kleptomania.

Well-dressed homeless people and an eating, disappearing gigolo

We had a story with a male repeat offender. He sat down at a table with the girls, ate, drank, and then disappeared. Legally, we couldn't combine the bill between the man and the girls he dined with. Therefore, the ladies paid only for what they ordered. This repeat offender came not only to our restaurant. The case was referred to the police, but the man was never found.

Once, decently dressed visitors came, but in reality they turned out to be homeless. When they refused to pay, we called the police. The police asked them for documents, but these people didn’t even have passports. I had to let them go.

In general, if the bill is up to 10,000 rubles, the police will not deal with the case. At most, the freeloading guest will be brought to administrative responsibility. If the amount is above 50,000 rubles, then maybe you should count on law enforcement agencies. In most situations, the restaurant suffers losses.

Refusal to pay an invoice

A standard situation for restaurants - a guest comes, eats and refuses to pay. There is only one scheme, and no one has invented a new one. They call the police, they sort it out, it’s like that everywhere. There were no fights in our practice.

Poisoning and sale of alcohol to minors

I have been working in restaurants since 1993, during which time I have accumulated a whole portfolio of curiosities. When a person says that he was poisoned in our restaurant, we ask to see the bill from our establishment. I always check it for food compatibility, because it also happened that a girl ate 12 oysters and washed it all down with a milkshake - it’s not our fault. Then I assess the seriousness of the guest’s intentions, check whether there is a doctor’s certificate, proof that the person was admitted to the hospital or called an ambulance. If there is evidence, I will raise all products from the receipt. I present the “victim” with quality certificates, proving that the products comply with the standards.

Poisoning is a delicate matter; most people don’t know what makes them really sick. When I worked at Erwin, guests often complained of feeling ill after eating oysters. Then we found out that symptoms of seafood food poisoning appear within 1-2 hours. And the chance that a spoiled product will end up on a guest’s table is small - the dish goes through four stages of quality control: receiving the product, cooking, tasting by the chef during serving, and evaluating the waiter.

Of course, it is more difficult to test thermally unprocessed products. For example, if burrata was purchased from a bad supplier, it may contain milk stick. But these are very rare cases. The main causes of “poisoning” are incompatibility of products or protein poisoning. When a guest complains, we always try not to lead to a conflict; we give a bottle of prosecco and fruit. It is important to be able to negotiate.

We also had alcohol supplies. The scheme is classic - girls on the verge of 18 years old are heavily painted and powdered, and seated at the table. They drink cocktails and beer, and the guys are sitting at the next table and, when the waiter brings out the drinks, they say that we have broken the law. In this case, the waiter is responsible. When hired, he signs an acquaintance form regarding the regulation of the sale of alcohol to minors. This means that the protocol is drawn up for a private individual, and not for an LLC.

Many of us have experienced that awkward moment when paying a bill in a cafe or restaurant. If a woman invites a man to a business lunch, who should pay? How to avoid uncomfortable situations when a girl on the first date wants to pay for herself, but the man insists otherwise? What to do with a check if you find an error in it? How much should you tip the waiter if you liked the service or didn’t like it at all? Tricky questions to which we tried to find the right answers.

Invited - pay

First of all, you need to remember that the inviting party always takes responsibility for paying the bill, but you need to be able to distinguish such an invitation from a friendly offer to have dinner. If you want to pay the bill at the end of the meeting, then it is best to indicate your offer with a clear and concise phrase: “I invite you to dinner.” If you say something simple: “How about we go out and have dinner?” it sounds more friendly and may mean splitting the bill.

Friendly get-togethers

The answer to the question “who pays the bill?” becomes completely simple when it comes to friendly evening gatherings at a pizzeria or going to your favorite restaurant on a Sunday. Friends often agree on two options for paying the bill: everyone pays for themselves or by pooling, when the amount of the bill with tips is divided by the number of people. In any other case, you can agree in advance, before going to the restaurant, who exactly will pay the bill.

Romantic date

Often on dates, especially on the very first, there is a slight embarrassment when presenting the bill. A man who invites a girl on a date can pay for two, but he also has every right to split the bill, as is customary in Europe or America. In Russia, in most cases, the man pays for dinner, so often the girl even forgets to reach for her wallet for the sake of decency.  In fact, it is the man who must make the decision on how to deal with the bill, because according to the rules of etiquette, the waiter serves the bill to him. Here comes the time for a responsible decision. Do you pay for the lady or offer to split the bill with your companion? If a girl basically wants to pay for herself, then she must definitely ask the waiter to bring a separate bill for each person. She can ask for this before ordering food or at the end of the meal. If a man resists this gesture, then he needs to politely explain that you are pleased to pay for yourself. This is your personal desire, and your date should respect it. In fact, in most cases, a lady will be pleased if a man decides to settle the bill himself and makes this process easy and unnoticeable for her, so that at the end of a romantic dinner she can only be surprised and thank her gentleman for his generosity.

Business lunch

At a business dinner, the situation with the bill is completely different than at a date or friendly get-together. The nature of the meeting obliges us to behave more formally. However, there is often some tension when receiving a bill. If you are a lady, and your companion at the table is a true gentleman, then he will certainly want to pay the bill. This impulse, of course, deserves respect, but you are not having a romantic rendezvous, so to avoid such situations, try speaking to him on behalf of the company. “Our company expresses gratitude to you and wants to treat you” or “You are our regular client/companion, so allow us to treat you at the company’s expense.”

In most cases, at a business lunch, the host pays the bill, so if you are the initiator of this meeting, then make sure that you have the funds to pay the bill for yourself and your guests. It is best to discuss in advance the moment of payment of the bill, for example, when you invite guests, you must emphasize that this is an invitation and your company will certainly take care of paying the bill.

Disputes in front of the waiter

Never argue in front of the waiter about who will pay the bill. This point needs to be decided in advance and very tactfully. Try to inform the waiter before the meal begins who will pay the bill, or ask him to bring separate bills at the end of the meal. If there are many guests at the table, then it is better for one person to resolve the issue of paying the bill. Remember that the waiter always brings the bill to the person who placed the order. Place the money or card in a folder and leave it on the edge of the table.

Error in account

Waiters are people too, so if you notice an error in the bill, the first thing you should do is quietly and discreetly solve the problem. You should not announce to all guests at the table about the misunderstanding that has occurred, make a row or wave the bill. Take the bill and quietly leave the table, go to the head waiter or manager to resolve the situation.

Invisibility check

The process of paying the bill should take a minimum amount of time and be completely invisible to your guest. You have several options on how to accomplish this. In the first case, you can arrive at the restaurant in advance and give your debit, credit or corporate card to the head waiter. At the end of lunch or dinner, you simply sign the receipt on the bill that the waiter gives you and collect your card. In the second case, you can ask the waiter in advance to bring the bill to you at the end of the meal. This way, the procedure will be less noticeable, and you won't have to worry about your guest trying to pay for himself, depriving you of the pleasure of treating him to dinner.

Every time you pay a bill and take out your wallet, try to do it at a level below the table so as not to attract the attention of others. Under no circumstances should you demonstrate the contents of your wallet at the table, pulling out stacks of business cards and cards from there, and then counting the bills in front of embarrassed guests. Ideally, no one will even have time to notice how cleverly you paid the bill.

Tips

Naturally, only you can decide whether the waiter deserves a tip or whether you didn’t like the service at all. In any case, the usual tip in Russia is 10% of the bill. If you really liked the service in this establishment, then, at your discretion, you can leave a larger amount. First of all, tips are an indicator of the quality of the waiter’s work, so their absence indicates his poor qualifications, while the better and more attentive the service, the more the waiter receives for his work.

If you hurry, you will make people laugh

Do not rush to leave the restaurant, even if you are going to a new meeting. It would be very rude of you to ask for the bill while your guests are still eating. This will put them in an unpleasant position or, God forbid, make them rush into eating. Only after everyone has finished lunch or dinner can you ask for the bill. Try to give yourself time so as not to rush and not constantly look at the clock. Enjoy the conversation and time spent together.

Let's leave together

In most cases, the suggestion that it is time to leave the restaurant comes more often from a man than from a woman. According to the rules of etiquette, this privilege remains on the side of the person who invited, who is the initiator of the meeting. You must leave the restaurant together.

Don’t forget to say goodbye to the restaurant staff by saying “thank you” for a delicious dinner, because your gratitude can and should be expressed not only with tips, but, first of all, with warm words, which are always nice to hear, both to the waiters and the chef.