On the House

Jane Mundy

From the August 2005 issue, BC Business Magazine

What’s being cooked up behind the counters that restaurants don’t want you to know about?

John Kinninmont strolls into a popular Yaletown restaurant full of thirty-somethings, finds a seat near the bar and orders a gin and tonic. A few minutes later his über-friendly server, a young woman with the de rigueur assortment of tattoos adorning her mid-section, delivers his drink and the bill. Kinninmont pays her cash, including a few dollars for a tip. He looks at his watch. After about 20 minutes he orders a second gin and tonic; this time it arrives solo, no bill. The server takes Kinninmont’s cash and, as he surreptitiously looks on, strolls behind the dark mahogany bar to speak to the Aussie bartender with the shaved head. The two shake hands.

Kinninmont orders a third drink (again, no bill arrives) and puts a $10 bill on the table before leaving.

That money is also pocketed by the server and likely split with her bald accomplice. Obviously the bartender and server are colluding to rip off the owner, and Kinninmont – who secretly noted the times he ordered each round and the amounts – can prove it. A sales report generated the next day busts the thieving pair when it reveals that Kinninmont’s second and third drinks were never rung into the restaurant’s computerized cash register system. Both employees were confronted and fired. It was all in a day’s work for a restaurant ‘spotter’ like Vancouver-based John Kinninmont of JK Management.

Restaurant rip-offs are rampant. And most of them are not your amateur dine-and-dash event. Not only are employees stealing from owners, but customers are getting ripped off by servers and restaurants are getting scammed by customers.

There are almost 10,000 restaurants, bars, cafeterias and caterers in B.C. and, according to the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association (BCFRA), the restaurant and food service industry generates $7.4 billion in annual sales and creates one out of every nine jobs in B.C. In particular, the industry creates employment for one in five B.C. residents under the age of 25. B.C. happens to lead the nation in food services growth. But if Kinninmont’s busy ‘spotting’ schedule is anything to go by, the province’s booming restaurant industry is also creating fertile ground for petty thieves and con artists.

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