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Original poster

Was my colleague right?

14 replies

Slh2211 · 12/07/2019 09:33

Hi I work at a pub/restaurant. The other week the system went down which meant we couldn’t take card we could only take cash. Unfortunately IT were out all day so we were stuck with cash only on a Friday! By the time I arrived at work there were a few people already in the pub. One table had ordered food and drinks and the other just ordered drinks. After being left in charged for the day because manager was out the team leader of the pub decided he would tell the customers who didn’t have the cash that they could transfer the money into his bank account and he would pay it when the system comes back online. The customers did what he asked. Was this the right thing to do? I’m not sure I agree with the team leaders actions. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

OP posts:
PrawnoftheShed · 12/07/2019 09:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Berthatydfil · 12/07/2019 09:37

Omg that sounds like a terrible idea.

Original poster
Slh2211 · 12/07/2019 09:39

I’m glad I’m not the only one. Something the team leader said also made me think he didn’t even pay for the food and drinks. “The couldn’t pay with card and didn’t have any cash so they went and didn’t pay” is what the team leader said to the line manager. Not sure if they knew I was listening.

OP posts:
Dizzywizz · 12/07/2019 09:40

Um, of course that’s not right!

Original poster
Slh2211 · 12/07/2019 09:41

Any advice on what I do now? This team leader can access the safe! Do I keep my mouth shut or say something?

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piefacedClique · 12/07/2019 09:45

Maybe speak to your manager.... Say you’ve received a call from a customer who wanted to just check that the transfer had been made from the employee to the company... for heir own price of mind.

Original poster
Slh2211 · 12/07/2019 09:48

The line manager is very close to the team leader. I could speak to my assistant manager as I have work with them for a long time. I do not want to lie as that may be looked into. I am worried things like this will keep happening as he was warned before being promoted to team leader for messing with the tips.

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Pipandmum · 12/07/2019 09:50

You explain to customers before they order the method of payment so I don’t get the part about not paying.
As for what you do - if he’s already told the line manager (is that his boss? Or is he the boss of the line manager?). Are there receipts from all the customers? He’ll surely have to correlate the payments with something to balance the books. It’s not really your business and as he has to say what happened it’s up to his boss. But if you really think he took payment but pretended the customers walked ... can you prove it?

Threepotato4 · 12/07/2019 10:01

That is definitely unacceptable and would be gross misconduct at places I have worked at before. Do you think your team leader did it naively out of a wish to be accommodating to customers or is he trying to line his own pockets? I think it would be worth asking your manager for clarification of the process if the card payment system goes down again. You can then ask if getting customers to pay into someone's personal account is correct.

Do you not have the option to take manual card payments? We always did that if the tills went down.

PopWentTheWeasel · 12/07/2019 10:29

Lots of shops keep the old "clunk click" flatbed credit card readers and slips for this very reason. You need a legitimate way of handling credit card payments if your online system goes down. Maybe broach it with your manager - ask if they have one of these and how you should handle the system going wrong again. If the manager then starts to realise this doesn't match how the team leader handled it last time, it's for them to resolve.

for you, focus on what to do properly if this occurs again.

Greyhound22 · 12/07/2019 10:54

I would have forfeited the cost of the meals that had already been served if there was no manual way - and made sure any new customers were aware it was cash only.

Surely he could have just written down the card number and taken an address to send the receipt?

EBearhug · 12/07/2019 19:15

I would ask the manager what the procedure should be next time the power goes. Are there contingency plans you should all know about? Is there an old manual card reader? I would also mention that payments were made to the team leader's personal account to transfer and you wouldn't be happy to do this with your own account, if that's what's expected. (I don't think it should be expected - it would be gross misconduct in most places.)

CloserIAm2Fine · 12/07/2019 21:13

That sounds majorly dodgy and open to abuse. Tbh I would question the integrity and wisdom of any staff member who thought it was a good idea! As a customer I definitely wouldn’t agree to do that

Last year a big group of us went for a meal somewhere which was having card payment issues. We managed to sort it between ourselves to pay in cash and just owe each other, but I would’ve expected some kind of IOU with us leaving personal details with a promise to come and pay later or the next day if we hadn’t been able to cover it in the cash we had on us (no handy cash point to pop out to)

Definitely use it as an opportunity to suggest a back up plan for if the power or card payment system goes down again. If a plan is agreed in advance then it’s easy for anyone to implement it rather than relying someone to think on their feet and risk coming up with some terrible idea like this again!

Original poster
Slh2211 · 12/07/2019 23:42

Thank you all for your advice I greatly appreciate it. I have spoke to management about getting something in to cover us if the cash only situation happens again. As for the team leader I feel I should let fate handle that one.

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