OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?

Course not!

Portions of ingredients DO go on the pizzas to the gram.....

......my friend DOES portion stuff to the oz however..

The two decimal places are in the mathmatical resultant of the gross
profit of the meal, including the paper napkins (NEVER leave them out
on the counter in a container, they take handfulls...) and straws
(never leave the box on the counter for the same reason)

Had a fast food joint here that did, ( not a client) ... He would
"allow" his staff to stuff the napkin containers so full that
customer could not get one or two, the thing was stuffed so tight that
they had to "pry out" a bunch at a time. Some would take what they got
(wipies for drooling rug rats) or the stack they left on the counter
would be grabbed by the next customer cause it was easier than diging
in the dispenser.

They FINALLY but everything behind the counter, and the counter staff
NOW places on the tray one straw /drink, TWO napkins per meal,
requested extras cheerfully added...

Napkin & straw costs dropped by 40%

Then there is the credit card scams, tip scams, bulk supplies, potato
peeling, waste control... it goes on & on...

Dave


On Sat, 14 Jan 2006 13:58:38 GMT, Matt Whiting
wrote:

Dave wrote:

I have a very successful friend in the business, (37 years)- he
monitors the costs of his portions to two decimal places, and never
violates his margins.

Does he weight each portion to a hundredth of a pound as well? If he
doesn't, then computing costs to the penny is simply delusional.

Matt

Jay Honeck wrote:
Waste and "little dishonesties" can kill you.... And you have to
(according to him) know all the tricks.. the stories he can tell
about how some people would steal just leave me shaking my head...
unfreakin believeable! And how he managed to catch them.. !
I'd like to hear those stories!

We've got a list of some pretty amazing "guest stories", after just 3 years
in the lodging biz.

People being people, you get all kinds. I've seen some pretty remarkable
displays of stupidity, arrogance, ignorance, and fraud. (None of this from
pilots, mind you.) I can't imagine what a guy must have seen after 37 years
in the restaurant business!

Alright, enough with the teasing already, you're great at writing, just
summarize the top 100 idiotic things your guests have done and post them
here.

You will make the world a better place.

-jav

In article ,
Javier Henderson wrote:

Alright, enough with the teasing already, you're great at writing, just
summarize the top 100 idiotic things your guests have done and post them
here.

But please don't be too graphic when discribing things you've "rescued"
from the toilets.

--
Bob Noel
goodness - the NFL officials are making
the NHL officials look like geniuses

Alright, enough with the teasing already, you're great at writing, just
summarize the top 100 idiotic things your guests have done and post them
here.

You will make the world a better place.

Well, Jav, I don't know about that. Sometimes we're better off, living in a
dream-world where we believe that manners are the norm, people treat one
another respect, and guests act like gentlemen and ladies. Personally, I
would never have dreamed what some people do in hotels. Here are just a few
general examples of crazy things we've seen in our first three years.

1. Pets
We've had guests allow their animals to defecate and urinate wherever and
whenever they wanted in our "pet-friendly" suites. This has happened with
cats, dogs, birds, and ferrets. (Yes, ferrets.)

Mary and I are "dog-people" and love pets. We went down the "pet-friendly"
route partially because of recommendations from pilots on this newsgroup,
who claimed to "demand" that their pets be treated like guests in fine
hotels. Because of the bitter lessons we've learned with allowing pets in
our hotel, we have (a) spent thousands in new flooring, cleaning and
repairs, and (b) are phasing out our pet-friendly policy.

It's just sad what some pet owners will do. We charge a whopping $10 per
night for a pet to stay in the hotel -- a bargain, considering the thousands
of dollars in damage a single cat can do -- but have witnessed otherwise
upstanding guests go to extreme lengths to avoid paying this nominal fee.

For example, we don't allow pets in the aviation theme suites -- and have
this policy posted prominently on the doors and in the lobby -- yet we
occasionally catch idiots sneaking a dog or cat into a theme suite. The
best one happened just last month when I was shoveling the balconies, and
found yellow snow and dog crap all over the 2nd floor balcony. All I had to
do was follow the dog's footprints back to their balcony door, and bust
them. (I summarily threw the guests out, without a refund, by the way.
GOD, I was ****ed.)

2. Smokers
Pets are second only to smokers when it comes to damage and destruction in
our hotel. We've had holes burned in thousand-dollar leather couches, $250
dollar end-tables, and wall-to-wall carpeting. They make the place smell
like ****, and -- strangely enough -- demand that their suites don't smell
like cigarettes when *they* check in. This phenomenon would be really quite
amusing, if I didn't have to deal with it.

They also flip their butts EVERYWHERE on the grounds, creating a disgusting
mess everywhere they go. Again, as with pets, we are phasing out "smoking
permitted" suites -- which will, of course, simply drive the smokers to
smoke in our non-smoking suites. (This carries with it a $100 fine, which
we have only had to charge once in three years. You should have seen Mary
go AFTER those people! :-)

And to think I used to smoke, back when we first met... (Quit in '86...never
looked back.)

3. Rose Petals
Remember the movie "American Beauty"? Remember the scene with the blonde
laying in a bed of rose petals? Well, this scene apparently struck a chord
with a certain age-group, and we regularly find suites that are practically
wall-to-wall rose petals.

Ever try vacuuming up ten billion rose petals?

4. Candles. Despite the fact that hundreds of people die in fires started
by candles each year, there is a certain sub-set of humanity who believe
that they are romantic. There is an even smaller subset who think it's
cool to ring their hot tub with candles, and allow the hot wax to run down
onto (and into) the hot tub.

Ever tried to remove candle wax from a $4000 Jacuzzi?

5. Towel-Trashers
We have surprisingly few towels stolen. We have an AMAZING number of towels
trashed by people who apparently think that heavy cotton towels are perfect
for checking their oil. Or polishing their shoes. Or removing eye make-up.
Or (this was the best one) wrapping their newly died hair (red, no less!)
in.

We even started putting dark green hand towels in the bathrooms,
specifically labeled as "make-up towels", in hopes of minimizing the loss --
to no avail. We check towels after each guest checks out, and make a
regular habit of charging the crooks for each destroyed towel. (I will even
mail them to the guest, if they want, so at least they get something out of
it. The towels are still usually just fine, for home use.)

6. Toilet Fillers.
People apparently think that hotel toilets are somehow different than their
home toilets. In fact, they seem to think that they are the plumbing
equivalent of "Black Holes", given what they routinely flush down them.

What I especially like is the way some of these folks take on a horrified,
aghast attitude, as if the fact that their toilet backed up after THEY tried
to flush a friggin' pillow down it was somehow a bad reflection on US.

7. Price Scammers
This has only happened a couple of times, but the first time cost us over
$800. A couple stayed with us for almost a week, ordering room service and
running up a goodly bill. Because they had pre-authorized their stay on
their Visa card by phone, we never physically swiped the card through our
machine. (This was the approved procedure for our credit card handling
company at the time.) We DID run separate charge slips for each purchase (I
believe there were 8 separate charges), and had the guests sign each
receipt.

At the end of their stay they simply went home, claimed their credit card
had been stolen, and that they had never stayed at our hotel. Visa
INSTANTLY charged us back the $800, and -- because we never physically ran
the card through our machine -- refused to honor any of their charges.
(Additionally, Visa actually charged us $15 "transaction fee" for EACH
chargeback -- all eight of them.)

Needless to say, we changed our credit card handling procedures, and threw
our credit card handling company out. (We've since gone through three more
of these parasites. They ALL suck.)

8. Upgrade Scammers
These are primarily travel agents. They will make an on-line booking for
their client in one of our cheapest suites -- which are on the third floor,
and we don't have elevators. This fact is clearly labeled on everything any
travel agent has access to.

Their client will then show up, and turn out to be elderly or handicapped in
some way, meaning that they clearly can't climb steps. They will then
expect us to put them in a ground floor suite for the same price, even
though the ground floor suites are 50% larger and have hot tubs.

Another variation on this scam is when a guest goes to our website, books
our cheapest smoking-permitted suite, and then writes in that they want
NON-smoking in the comments section. Because of occupancy this is often not
possible without upgrading to a larger, more pricey suite, but (of course)
they will try to get upgraded without paying anything extra.

9. Fence Climbers.
This is a summer time problem, when we close the pool at sundown, and some
young folks decide that THEY want to swim all night. I've replaced several
fence boards that broke when one of these alcohol-fueled dolts tried to
scale the wall. And I'll bet there have been more than a few slivers found
in various parts of their anatomy!

10. Balcony Climbers
This is by far the dumbest guest trick of them all. We have two 3-story
buildings. Each floor has a full-length balcony. Beneath these balconies
are either (a) other balconies, or (b) concrete. It would be quite a fall.

On two occasions (both U of Iowa home football game weekends, not
surprisingly) we have received calls from guests who freaked out when they
saw someone climbing up onto their balcony from the balcony below, like
Spiderman! One slip and these alcohol-fueled morons would be an ink splot
on the ground, below -- but, hey, they're young and think they'll live
forever!

This list could go on, but it's getting late.

Let you think we regret opening the inn, let me say that nothing could be
farther from the truth. Suffice it to say that (a) the vast majority of
our guests are wonderful, and (b) we have NEVER had any problem with ANY
pilot guest. And the problems we *have* had are relatively rare, minor,
and often amusing.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

8. Upgrade Scammers
These are primarily travel agents. They will make an on-line booking for
their client in one of our cheapest suites -- which are on the third floor,
and we don't have elevators. This fact is clearly labeled on everything any
travel agent has access to.

Their client will then show up, and turn out to be elderly or handicapped in
some way, meaning that they clearly can't climb steps. They will then
expect us to put them in a ground floor suite for the same price, even
though the ground floor suites are 50% larger and have hot tubs.

As much as I sympathize with you on most topics, what you describe is
in effect a violation of title III of the ADA (whereby you are
charging your handicapped guests more money for your services -- does
not really matter whether or not it is advertised); in the
long run, an occasional free upgrade will cost you a lot less than
a lawsuit (even though the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor, i.e.,
very few of such suits ever go to court and even fewer award anything
to the plaintiff, you might meet someone with a better lawyer or
just lucky)...

--Sylvain

1. Pets
Because of the bitter lessons we've learned with allowing pets in
our hotel, we have (a) spent thousands in new flooring, cleaning and
repairs, and (b) are phasing out our pet-friendly policy.

That's a shame but I don't blame ya. Not that I plan to fly the cats
anytime soon...yeesh! That would be a Cat II nightmare. I go to OKC
frequently for training; only one of the 3 dozen'ish lodging places we
use takes pets anymore.

We charge a whopping $10 per night for a pet to stay in the hotel
Maybe $10 with a $200 deposit

2. Smokers
you said it all...

3. Rose Petals
H'mmm...maybe question on checkin: have you seen or read Lady
Chatterly's lover or seen American Beauty? If yes...?

Even better...big sign telling 'em there's a ban on rose petals for
agricultural reasons...

OR...maybe even better...Rose petals (etc) only permitted if purchsed
thru the hotel....price including cost of cleanup and next annual on
Jay's plane...

4. Candles.
Cant say I've never had a candle in a hotel room, but it was in a
large apartment and it was ONE candle, closely watched. And it was
one of those Glade candles cuz the place was stinky, not to be
romantic.

5. Towel-Trashers
Many of the places I've stayed in OKC are 'long term corporate
housing' and dont have 'new' towels. Most of the time they dont match
either. They work fine tho!

6. Toilet Fillers.
Well...they got caught with the cat/ankle biter dog/ferret/extra kid
in the room, and tried to flush it. Can ya blame 'em?

7. Price Scammers
Lesson learned...you paid a little "stupid tax", but it won't happen
again, right?

8. Upgrade Scammers
Ya know..I would NEVER have thought of that. That's dirty pool.
Politely asking if you have a good deal on a upgrade would probably
work better, I'm sure.

9. Fence Climbers.
When I was in England for 3 yrs, I noticed a lot of older buildings
had stone fences with broken glass embedded in the mortar on top...

10. Balcony Climbers
WTF? Been drunk and stupid in my younger days but never woulda tried
THAT...

Sara and I do plan to come visit ya in late 06 or 07. We'll try to
behave...

--Don

Don Byrer
Radar Tech & Smilin' Commercial Pilot Guy
Amateur Radio KJ5KB
kj5kb-at-hotmail.com

"I have slipped the surly bonds of earth; now if I can just land without bending the gear..."

Martin Hotze wrote:
He never said...

Does not matter, that's not the point. In his situation
(as described in Jay's message), I'd have a chat with my
attorney, just to make sure. But hey, not my problem.

--Sylvain

"Don Byrer" wrote in message
...
Maybe $10 with a $200 deposit

I always wondered why hotels don't just have a kennel area where guests can
store their pets while they are staying at the hotel... It wouldn't need to
be anything fancy or even provide walking service or food, just a safe place
where a guest could lock up their pet and come down periodically to walk
their pet or feed him... It could open directly to to outdoors and
everything could be concrete or tile so that if the dog had an 'accident'
before he made it outside, it could just be hosed down...

Sylvain wrote:

As much as I sympathize with you on most topics, what you describe is
in effect a violation of title III of the ADA (whereby you are
charging your handicapped guests more money for your services -- does
not really matter whether or not it is advertised); in the
long run, an occasional free upgrade will cost you a lot less than
a lawsuit (even though the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor, i.e.,
very few of such suits ever go to court and even fewer award anything
to the plaintiff, you might meet someone with a better lawyer or
just lucky)...

That isn't true at all. He said he charges everyone the same fee for a
ground floor suite. I haven't read the ADA rules lately, so I don't
know if he is compelled to install an elevator to provide access to the
cheap suites, but I think there were grandfather clauses for small
businesses.


Matt

Who is liable when Fluffy the gazillion dollar pure breed mutt gets out
via a gate left open by another guest?

"Grumman-581" wrote in message

I always wondered why hotels don't just have a kennel area where
guests can
store their pets while they are staying at the hotel...