Servers paying for wrong orders?

Hello all - I'm a longtime lurker, but don't think I've posted before. I love food and Louisville's incredible restaurant scene, but I've never worked in the restaurant business myself and have a question about a certain practice I'm hoping someone with experience can answer.

I was at a new restaurant the other night, sitting at the bar. One of the servers walked behind the bar to the computer, cursing and shaking his head. He then proceeded to complain to another server for several minutes how he had put in an order wrong, and now he would have to pay for the mistaken order himself. He told the bartender it was a new policy the owners had just imposed - servers have to buy all of their wrong orders. I was pretty appalled at this, but then I thought - maybe I'm just being naive. Is this common? It made me not want to return, but if this is a normal thing and I've just got my head in the sand, that's another story.

Again, I know nothing about the restaurant business. I apologize if this is an awkward or sticky subject. Please blame it on my ignorance!

(Purposefully not including the name of the restaurant here since it's not my objective to bash anyone. Also, yes I'm a horrible eavesdropper, I know.)

I've heard of this practice as well but I don't get the sense that it is common....VERY interesting question however and I'm looking forward to reading the replies from those in the know.

BTW...a hale and hearty welcome to the forum. Nice post for your first "go round". OH....and just so you know. Don't get hurt feelings when (eventually) this post gets morphed (hijacked) into something about pizza, craft beer or crappy servers...All the good posts do.

BTW...a hale and hearty welcome to the forum. Nice post for your first "go round".

Well, ain't you Mr. Congeniality today.
'Winger

I know that during my thankfully short stint as a server, if what I was expected to have at the end of the night did not match what I actually had at the end of the night (due to me counting change wrong, or mis-ringing an order) it came out of my tips until the two balanced. Bottom line was if your checks said you should have X, then you have to turn in X and if that came at the cost of your tips it taught you to be more careful in the future.

Then again, that was nearly 20 years ago...

as per the letter of the law, NO employee can be forced to pay out-of-pocket for misrings, walk-outs, etc., be it in retail, food/beverage, or otherwise. I haven't read it in a while, but it's clearly statetd on the 'right to know' information poster that should be posted in plain view in every legitimate restaurant in the country. If a server rings an order wrong, or the customer is unhappy, or whatever the case may be... there is a comp/void system in place to make these situations right. And as long as the server follows protocol, alerts management promptly, and informs them of the problem, all should be taken care of from the higher-ups. HOWEVER... if a server comes up short on their cash turn in at the end of the night, THAT is on them. Regardless of a natural disaster, theft, or if money is lost, whatever the number is on the cashout slip is the number they must turn in to the house, and vice-versa (most times charge tip totals will exceed cash money tendered and the house will pay out the server at the end of the night).
n
Now, having said that, as long as people use currency, there will some that try to take advantage of what others 'don't know' in order to 'hedge their bets' and not have to come out of their own pockets, lose on product cost, etc. and basically extort their own employees by making up absolute lies and claiming them as 'policy' or 'law', using their employees' trust and loyalty against them. That doesn't happen very often, but probably more often than you would think.
I've experienced it once or twice myself. I have had to pay for lost money a couple of times, as it should be. And once or twice (or more) I've voluntarily offered to my boss to pay for a mistake that I know I shouldn't have made. But pay my own money for ringing an order in wrong against my will... not a chance! Like I said, there are systems in place and laws to prevent this from happening.
One more thing, EVERYBODY makes mistakes, we're humans. But too many mis-rings and then tha't where the 'at-will-employment' law will kick in and thin the herd a little bit.

BTW...a hale and hearty welcome to the forum. Nice post for your first "go round". OH....and just so you know. Don't get hurt feelings when (eventually) this post gets morphed (hijacked) into something about pizza, craft beer or crappy servers...All the good posts do.

I bet it was a pizza place that did this!

BTW...a hale and hearty welcome to the forum. Nice post for your first "go round".

Well, ain't you Mr. Congeniality today.
'Winger

The day is young Winger

I don't know that it's super common, but it's not unheard of either. While I don't know that I agree with it, I can understand it from a business perspective.

BTW...a hale and hearty welcome to the forum. Nice post for your first "go round". OH....and just so you know. Don't get hurt feelings when (eventually) this post gets morphed (hijacked) into something about pizza, craft beer or crappy servers...All the good posts do.

I bet it was a pizza place that did this!

They probably rang a two-hearted ale instead of the blue yummy the customer ordered.

BTW...a hale and hearty welcome to the forum. Nice post for your first "go round". OH....and just so you know. Don't get hurt feelings when (eventually) this post gets morphed (hijacked) into something about pizza, craft beer or crappy servers...All the good posts do.

I bet it was a pizza place that did this!

They probably rang a two-hearted ale instead of the blue yummy the customer ordered.

thats the plight of the amateur expert, in a nutshell

The things that I saw in restaurants when I worked there....
One place, the servers often entered a wrong order - especially when they arrived from school - so that they could have a free meal. Depending on the cook, you might be able to actually eat the mistake or they would dump it in the garbage. It could be the reason servers are forced to pay for mistakes - and whether that is legal or not, I don't know.

If I remember right, one place I worked the servers did not have to pay for mis-rings, but they couldn't eat their mistakes, either

Also, every place I've worked except one (and they provided a decent "family meal") employees could eat almost anything they wanted, anytime. Not expensive proteins (and even those on occasion) but almost anything else.

During my brief career as a server, I witnessed the threat of making servers pay for mis-rings, but nothing ever came of it. Granted, regularly occurring mistakes were "punished" in other ways - bad sections, early cut, less shifts, etc.

Management has to find a working balance between the bottom dollar and recognizing that making mistakes is human. Wasn't there a thread a while back regarding robot waiters? That would solve mis-rings.

I don't think I'd continue patronizing a place if I knew they did this.I hope it is not common.