Comp abuse in food and beverage
A comp is a deliberate giveaway with a business reason behind it. Comp abuse is the same transaction with the business reason removed.
How the scheme works
A server or a host comps a check for a guest who is paying cash, keeps the cash, and the property carries the cost as a marketing expense. The check reconciles perfectly.
A second form comps friends, family, or the employee themselves, either directly or through a colleague on another shift so the two never appear on the same ticket.
A third form applies a comp authority to a check that the authorizing person never saw. The authority exists, the sign off is real, and the guest it was meant for was somewhere else.
What it looks like in the data
- ✓Comp rate for one server, host, or outlet that stands apart from the peer group.
- ✓Comps concentrated on cash checks rather than on card checks.
- ✓The same authorizing employee appearing on comps across outlets they do not work.
- ✓Reciprocal comping between two employees across alternating shifts.
- ✓Comps applied after payment, or applied to checks with no player rating attached.
What the video has to show
- ✓Whether a guest paid, and in what tender.
- ✓Whether the authorizing person was present at the outlet.
- ✓Who consumed the comped items.
- ✓What the drawer does after a comped cash check.
What to do about it
- ✓Score comps by employee against peers in the same outlet, and separately by authorizing employee.
- ✓Cross reference comps against the player rating record, so a comp with no rated player behind it becomes an exception rather than a line item.
- ✓Review the reciprocal pairs. Comp abuse between two employees is common and is invisible to a report that looks at one person at a time.
- ✓Hold the comp lines, the rating record, and the video together as one record before any conversation with the employee.
Comp abuse, answered
- What is comp abuse?
- It is the use of a legitimate comp authority without the business reason that justifies it: comping a paying guest and keeping the cash, comping friends and family, or applying an authorization the authorizing person never granted for that check.
- Why is comp abuse hard to find in a report?
- Because nothing is out of balance. The check total is correct, the drawer reconciles, and the cost lands in a marketing budget that is supposed to absorb giveaways. The exception is not in the arithmetic, it is in the comparison against peers and against the player rating record.
- Can eConnect tie a comp to the player it was written for?
- Yes. eConnect connects to the casino management and player tracking systems that hold ratings, so a comp can be checked against whether a rated player was actually there. It also links the check to the video and to the face at the table or the outlet.
The other three schemes
A void reverses a line or a check that has already been rung. It is a normal, necessary function, which is exactly why it is the most abused one on the register.
A refund moves money out of the drawer. Unlike a void, it does not need a guest to be standing there, which is what makes it attractive.
A no sale opens the cash drawer without ringing a transaction. There are legitimate reasons for it. There are also very few of them.
See the exception, and the video, together.
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