Simple POS system and procedures to eliminate hotel cash sale thefts by staff

[simon43]

Firstly, I do not have any theft problem right now at my small hotel - I am on-site all the time and handle/monitor the cash.

But in a few weeks I'll probably be working in KL from Monday through Friday, commuting to/from my hotel in Phuket. That means that my staff will be handling the cash, and I want to avoid un-necessary temptation.

I have 3 staff.

Staff #1 is on-site between 7am - 4pm and I can trust her 100% with anything. I pay her well and she has never given me any cause for concern. She can be trusted to bank cash amounts or hold them until I return each Friday.

Staff #2 and #3 are a Thai husband and wife team who look after the hotel in the evening/night. They live on-site. Because this is an airport transit hotel, most of the guest arrivals and departures occur in the evening and throughout the night, when staff #1 is not on-site.

I do not trust #2 and #3 because they are relatively new employees. They have given me no reason not to trust them so far. They are well-paid and their job is a doddle.

The cash sales in this business stem from cash payments for guest rooms when the customer checks in, and cash sales for food and drink.

For tracking the room cash sales, it is unlikely that theft will occur here, because #2 and #3 cannot claim that a customer failed to check-in and therefore no payment was received. I can see the guest rooms via my CCTV over the web. Additionally, the travel website will email the guest to confirm that they did not check in, because I'll report this 'no-show' to the travel website to avoid paying the commission on that room booking.

So if the staff claim that the guest failed to show, and pocket their cash payment, this ruse will fail after one or two attempts, because the travel website will flag up that my staff are lying.

BTW, room payments made via some websites are fully prepaid, so not a problem. But room payments made via my biggest agent (booking.com) are paid in cash at the hotel.

My biggest concern is that cash theft will occur on food and drink sales, especially on food. These sales will typically occur in the evening, after staff #1 has left for the day. Whilst I can track the inventory of beer and soft drinks, I cannot easily do this with Pat Thai etc etc. I can quite easily imagine the staff being able to pocket 500 - 1,000 baht per night from these sales. That is not a lot of money in my business, but I cannot stand the thought of any thieving

I can place one of my CCTV cameras so that it covers the kitchen/food preparation area. The staff do not know the capabilities of the camera system, so could be 'scared' into thinking that it can track their every move online.

But I think some form of simple POS system will not only help to reduce the temptation of theft, but also enable me to better-manage my F&B inventory, and collect stats about popular items etc, to enable a better-managed kitchen area.

Anyway, I'd appreciate suggestions about possible solutions, simple POS systems etc.

[dutchisaan]

There is a good open source pos system for free download.

http://www.unicentaopos.co.uk/

Just download the manual, pdf and have a look if this will work for you.

[simon43]

There is a good open source pos system for free download.
http://www.unicentaopos.co.uk/

Thanks, but it seems not to run on either IOS or Android...

[Gutenberg]

Switch from normal keys to key cards, thus you will always know when a customer checks in and how long they stay in the room + you can save electricity costs. Master/staff key cards will show up if they enter rooms/bungalows.

Food/drinks: I will use a android app for ordering and small tablet as 'menu card' in each room. The customer can always order via this tablet. It is kind of stylish.

Phone ordering (if phones available) is of course not so easy, except you want to log all calls from the rooms to the staff.

Other things would include a bit social engineering / training. Start to come unannounced at the end of their shift and check if everything matches up. and f.ex. "accidentally" leave 1000 baht on the ground and see what happens, if nothing happens, ask about it and if it is given to you.

[billphillips]

For a straightforward method of checking the staff I would suggest a stock check immediately before and after your planned trip. Preferably without announcing your intentions/ plans. Part used spirit bottles and food stocks can be discreetly marked or photographed. There is no PoS system that will be able to defeat a determined and unsupervised thief. In reality you should anticipate that while you are away the suspect staff will probably enjoy an elaborate meal and a drink or two at your expense.

[Inquisitorial]

Not sure if this would work or is doable....

How about introducing those cards like they have the food halls where you put 100 baht or so on them then you can purchase food and if not used money is refunded at checkout. All purchases for food and drink are made with the cards.

Guests select amount at check-in and top up when necessary.

[Gutenberg]

Not sure if this would work or is doable....

How about introducing those cards like they have the food halls where you put 100 baht or so on them then you can purchase food and if not used money is refunded at checkout. All purchases for food and drink are made with the cards.

Guests select amount at check-in and top up when necessary.

Inconvenience for the customer kills the profit more than a thief.

[NiwPix]

A couple of questions:

Do you have a budget to set up the"cost control"?

Will you be working abroad for a longer period of time or just a few weeks?

There is PoS software that let you enter your current inventory / quantity available. The software I know of is rather expensive though and may not be worth the investment.

Another thing that I found interesting when I went to a subway in Bangkok. By the cash register a sign to the customer: "If you are not given a receipt, your meal is free. Call xxx-xxx-xxxx"

This pretty much forces the staff to ring everything in. Of course you will need a camera watching the area where the transactions take place. I could see some guests trying to take advantage of that.

Just an idea.

[simon43]

OK, so I have implemented a few useful and low-cost things:

- I bought a cheap Android tablet and fixed it to the wall inside the kitchen.

- I installed Zello (free 1-to-1 chat app that allows for instant chat with me wherever I am in the world)

- I installed Waiterio (free food order-taking app) that I can access also from my PC/mobile device to view food orders. I've written the menu items in Thai so the staff can easily use this app to take food orders. I can also update the list of hotel guests for the next day, so the staff just refresh the app each morning to see who is going to arrive that day.

- I installed Airdroid app that allows me remote access to the tablet, especially the webcam ($1.99/month to activate this feature on the app), to view what's going on in the kitchen

These are all helpful apps, but they do not actually stop someone who is determined to steal cash from me. The staff could take the food order and not enter it on Waiterio. But they cannot prepare the food without my webcam seeing them do this...

Edited January 5, 2016 by simon43

[Gsxrnz]

It's a business rule: Staff will rip you off.

All you can do is take as many precautions as you can, which is what the OP seems to have done.

You will never totally eliminate staff theft. And that applies world wide.

[RandomSand]

Hand-over operation of the food service / kitchen over to the husband & wife. They'd pay you rent to be able to operate their small business on your premises!

Edited January 19, 2016 by RandomSand