Coffee & Tipping

I've asked about buybacks at the last two places I've worked and have been told that they are against KY law. That no alcohol of any sort can be given away for free. At the place I worked in NY every third drink was a buyback (at the bar only)

I've asked about buybacks at the last two places I've worked and have been told that they are against KY law. That no alcohol of any sort can be given away for free. At the place I worked in NY every third drink was a buyback (at the bar only)

Where did you work in New York, Gary?

I've asked about buybacks at the last two places I've worked and have been told that they are against KY law. That no alcohol of any sort can be given away for free. At the place I worked in NY every third drink was a buyback (at the bar only)

Make sense to me. Seems a friend told me that the casino does not comp drinks, because someone has to pay the taxes on comps?

I should clarify.... I'm not talking about getting free booze. When we go out for an evening of dancing, for example, I have maybe two beers (sometimes three) over the course of something like three hours or so, and the rest of the time I drink diet coke, otherwise dancing just ain't gonna work. We routinely get free diet coke. I know that's probably not a big deal, except it always seems like a nice gesture to me, and I suspect they don't do it for folks they don't find particularly generous or what have you. I'm a generous tipper too.... Although just thinking back, I recall getting free booze now and again as well, but I'm not sure whether that's been here or some other geographical location....

I've had the odd experience on occasion of servers telling me I'm one of the nicest folks they've served. I try to listen attentively and respond to folks in the way I'd like in return, which a cursory glance around any establishment invariably convinces me is rare. Too many patrons seem to treat wait staff as if they'd prefer they were invisible. On the other hand, I was stunned by my very first ever unpleasant experience at our New Year's Eve venue when the dj literally told me to get out of her face when I made a request. That sort of thing has never happened in my life, and it was so remarkably unpleasant I wrote an email to the place. It struck me later that she must have some serious mental issues going on.

I've asked about buybacks at the last two places I've worked and have been told that they are against KY law. That no alcohol of any sort can be given away for free. At the place I worked in NY every third drink was a buyback (at the bar only)

yeah, it is against the law, but it still happens. kind of hard to enforce, especially if it is happening $15-$20 into a bill.

There's a local watering hole I frequent where my bill comes out one (...or three) beers light on a regular basis. The group I go with, in one form or another, has been frequenting this establishment for all of this century, if not part of last century as well. Like someone else said, it would be impossible for "the law" to tell if I had five drinks and am only paying for four (or three).

When I worked at Tumbleweed, there were no free drinks and no extra strong pours (everything was measured). Bartender said it was impossible to get good tips because he couldn't treat customers well. He kind of got around it by writing things off as "spills" and the like.

There's a local watering hole I frequent where my bill comes out one (...or three) beers light on a regular basis. The group I go with, in one form or another, has been frequenting this establishment for all of this century, if not part of last century as well. Like someone else said, it would be impossible for "the law" to tell if I had five drinks and am only paying for four (or three).

When I worked at Tumbleweed, there were no free drinks and no extra strong pours (everything was measured). Bartender said it was impossible to get good tips because he couldn't treat customers well. He kind of got around it by writing things off as "spills" and the like.

I owned a bar a long time ago.

If your current bar is doing this by the owner or with the consent of the owner, it is fine. If the owner is not consenting to this and the bartender is doing this to increase his tips or to be buddies, it is called stealing.

The Tumbleweed bartender was stealing.

And I am aware that this practice goes on all to often.

I'm with Steve here,

Now if Matt over at Derby City Espresso wants to give a good customer a free drink, no problemo. Because he is the owner. But if Jane at Ray's (we don't have a Jane at Rays, I just made up the name) wants to give out free drinks so that she can get a three dollar tip, then it is a problem. Like steve said, it really is theft. From the business.

I've been club manager at a large establishment in Tucson (Hotel Congress), where we had four bars, a restaurant, and banquet facilities. Yes, I had to look closely at portion sizing and freebies. Common bartender tricks to improve their tips. But a "free" drink isn't really free. The owners are paying for it, and losing the three, four, five dollars or whatever should have been charged. We know it is common in the biz. And quality, honest bartenders are hard to find.

As an owner who also works behind the counter, I see this dynamic constantly. I do cut people breaks or deals occasionally (for various reasons, price discrepancies, order changes, etc), and you see that they usually put what they would have paid in the tip jar. When I'm working, it doesn't matter, the money basically goes in the same place (to the bank where it gets sucked away in various directions). But for an employee it would be in their pocket instead of to the company, so it would matter. The temptation is obvious.

We've been lucky to have some very honest employees here at Ray's. I had one guy who honestly didn't understand why we had to Z out at the end of his shift before the next person took over. I explained accountability and such, but he really didn't even think about the theft aspect. If only all of our employees were so young and honest. (I've had private investigators document theft before firing bartenders at a previous biz. It sucks. But it really kills your bottom line when staff is stealing)...

blah blah blah...in short. If your server, bartender, barista, whatever, is giving you free stuff without permission from the owner it is nothing short of theft. And you, as the recipient, are an accomplice....But I do agree there is some grey area, especially when it comes to stronger drinks. Jeez...I'm sounding old.....

Cheers...tip well!!!!!

I'm not really sure why you guys assume when asking about buybacks that a bartender or another employee would willingly do it without management approval. I didn't ask about it to encourage anyone to steal from their place of employment. As far as I see it, buybacks exist as a sort of informal customer rewards program, and was interested in talking about it as such.

I'm not really sure why you guys assume when asking about buybacks that a bartender or another employee would willingly do it without management approval. I didn't ask about it to encourage anyone to steal from their place of employment. As far as I see it, buybacks exist as a sort of informal customer rewards program, and was interested in talking about it as such.

Joel, I'm with you.

Although I very much respect Nimbus and his opinion, I'm uncomfortable with the idea that one who is given free drinks is an accomplice in theft.

As a patron, I walk up to the bar, place an order, and hand over a CC that should be used to document the items I order while I remain at that establishment. I have no control over what the bartender does or does not add to my tab, and I do not tip in such a way to motivate such action.

While the bartender may be stealing from the owner or may be giving the drinks away without the owner's knowledge, I don't think it's my role as patron to check such facts. The second situation is on the up-and-up between owner and bartender, while an active and observant owner should uncover the first situation through inventory and the balancing of books (I'm ordering bottled beer after all).

I also don't agree with Nimbus's claim that "owners are paying for it and losing..." Yes, they may be paying for that particular drink, but such buybucks can and probably do generate future business, word-of-mouth advertising, and the like. In the bigger picture, such owners may be gaining much more than the cost of that drink.

I'm not a bartender or restaurant owner, but I seriously recommend that owners avail themselves of a weekly bar auditing service. I'm guessing it easily pays for itself by discouraging theft AND giveaways. We use one at both Lou Lous and it will change your life if you're worried your bar employees are taking you for a ride. (Disclaimer: far as I know, all our bar employees are perfect angels and I've never heard otherwise!) But it can give you a sense of confidence that a new, un-vetted employee will not get away with anything for longer than a week.

I should clarify that my standpoint comes as a small business owner and not as a thieving employee. My beer, I'll give it to whom I please. And as far as that goes, with my permission, I have no problem with an employee of mine doing so on occasion in the interest of good customer relations.

I'm not really sure why you guys assume when asking about buybacks that a bartender or another employee would willingly do it without management approval. I didn't ask about it to encourage anyone to steal from their place of employment. As far as I see it, buybacks exist as a sort of informal customer rewards program, and was interested in talking about it as such.

Joel,

I don't assume anything.

No. But as a former owner of a brewpub (20 employees), and a club manager with five bars (30 employees), I pretty much have seen what happens among bartenders. The owners are often totally out of the loop. The manager might or might not condone giving out free drinks, but they often don't know either.

It is often just the bartender giving a free drink, or extra shots, so that they can get a big tip. Simple as that.

I do agree that it is nice to hook up your regulars, and I did give explicit permission for my crew to do so when I opened Ray's. I set a limit per month however. What I've seen, in real life, is that bartenders give out freebies to get big tips.