So What Are You Supposed To Do In This Kind Of Situation?

[Pizza Reverend]

So we get this late night call for dine-in, and we all groan. Late Night Dine-Ins are the worst. But you know what, these people were cool!

They were friendly, cheerful, clean, and out by 10. Awesome. But one of their group...

The leader of the group, a cheerful nice guy, left me a cash tip. He put on the counter in front of my register - about 5$ (I never got to count it for reasons that will become clear). I thanked him, but I didn't have a chance to collect it - the phone was on hold, and I had to get his pizzas to his group.

I head back toward the counter to get the phone, and one of his groupies was standing there. He asks if he could get change for a 20. We're not technically supposed to, but why not? His 20 looks fine, so I change it out and grab the call on hold.

As I do so, out of the corner of my eye, I see him ruffling through the tip.

But the guy on the phone sounds like Charlie Brown's Teacher (Mwa Mea MWA Mwa Mwa) and so I devote my full attention to trying to get his order sorted out.

When the order is finally taken care of, I reach for the tip.

And it's gone.

I look around, on the floor, on the counter, behind the register.... nada.

That guy stole the tip that his friend left for us.

Well. This is awkward. What are you supposed to do in that situation?

I elected to... not do anything. What am I going to do, walk up to the table, point my finger and yell THEIF? No. I'm not about to do that. It's only (at most) 5$ so I'm going to let it slide.

But still. Who does that? I hope his friends don't find out that he's a rat. Or maybe they should...

[Pixilated]

That sucks, not least because unless you actually saw him pocket the tip, there's not really much you can do. (If you saw him, at least you could call over cheerfully, "Excuse me, sir, that's not your change; I'm just getting it now!" which might hopefully draw attention to what he was doing.) I had a table do that to me once, and when I pushed the matter, the guy got all righteous and demanded angrily whether I was accusing him of stealing. Well, yeah, but I had to back off, because like you, I was kind of between a rock and a hard place.

This is why I no longer EVER leave cash tips on the table. I'm sorry you got cheated like that and I hope the twit's buddy finds out what his "friend" is like.

[EricKei]

Yeah, I have found that it's best to hand the server the tip, whenever possible.

[MoonCat]

That guy was a disgusting thief. $5? Really? He's that broke?

I gave a tip directly to the server not too long ago. We were at very popular restaurant and the place was starting to fill up, she was really busy and I just didn't want to chance some bozo grabbing the cash off the table.

[Food Lady]

If he was that broke he should've been eating at home.

[UncleImpy]

I have, unfortunately, dealt with this situation before. If you have a chance to catch the group, then ask the original tipper (within earshot of the suspected thief) if he took the tip back, because you looked away for a moment and it was gone - sound genuinely confused. When, of course, he says no, shake your head and put the blame on yourself 'I should have been watching things better then. Seems we have a thief in the house. Thank you, regardless.'

If that doesn't SHAME the thief into fessing up, he's a lost case...and you get to accuse him of thievery without accusing him of thievery.

[Jester]

The professional thing to do, if you don't actually see the person taking the tip, is nothing. It sucks, yes, but as has been pointed out it is only $5. And it is the best way to handle such things while staying within the professional boundaries of the job.

[An Haddock]

I obsess over stolen tips, even though I don't think it's ever happened to me.

I purposely sit there and wait for my server to take it, just in case, whether I'm at a restaurant or a bar. Sometimes get stuck waiting ten minutes because they think I'm done and have moved on to other customers.

It's too bad the OP couldn't have grabbed up their tip real quick once they saw the asshole rifling through it. Or even better, grab him in the act. Tell the person on the phone to call back in 2 minutes because of noise on the line or something.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Is this a thing?

I have always left any cash tip on the table. My thinking was I didnt want to take more of a servers time, and that they could get the tip at their convenience. I'll have to rethink that...

[sms001]

Is this a thing?

'fraid so. Busboys, other waitstaff, heck, I even saw some kid who probably didn't know better ("Hey! Money just lying on a table!") snag one. If there isn't a receipt book, I just hunt down the waitron and hand it to them.

[An Haddock]

'fraid so. Busboys, other waitstaff, heck, I even saw some kid who probably didn't know better ("Hey! Money just lying on a table!") snag one. If there isn't a receipt book, I just hunt down the waitron and hand it to them.

That's exactly why I wait until my server takes the tip... if small house trolls are wandering around, I don't trust them to keep their damn hands to themselves.

This is especially the case at a certain kid-friendly restaurant I eat at... when they're busy, there could be 20 or more tables with dozens of kids ranging from a few months to pre-teens. And of course most of their parents can't be bothered to do their jobs and they let them wander all over the place, getting underfoot and getting in mischief.


The bar I frequent usually has a very good clientele so I worry less about someone making off with a tip there than usual, unless some drunk idiot is giving me a bad vibe. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often there.

[Jester]

Stolen tips do happen, but in my experience, from working in the food service industry for almost three decades, at many establishments, and with many coworkers, it is far rarer a thing than this thread might lead people to believe. Don't get me wrong, it does happen....but it is hardly common.

Of course, depending on the establishment, clientele, and area, your mileage may vary.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Yeah, I have found that it's best to hand the server the tip, whenever possible.

Agreed. Although I found out that it was my children who were palming the tips.

Had a lengthy discussion (which went in one ear and out the other) and decided to start handing out the tips to the wait staff directly.