Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
NARRATOR: Tonight on "Mystery Diners"...
Rick Fairless, owner of Strokers Ice House in Dallas, Texas,
is crying for his mommy.
If you still worked here,
I wouldn't be running short $12,000 in three months.
Is his new manager, Chris, responsible,
or is someone else to blame?
Unbelievable!
The Mystery Diners are rolling in
to show Rick what's really going on.
I cannot believe this is happening right now!
Owning a restaurant isn't easy.
You can have great food, atmosphere, and customers,
but reckless employees...
You're being a jerk, man.
...can ruin everything.
That's where the Mystery Diners come in.
Charles Stiles has helped thousands of restaurants
find their problems and remove them.
He sends in his team of undercover operatives...
I'm Chris. I'm the new supply guy.
...to show restaurant owners
what really happens when they're not around.
MAN: You were stealing from me.
I want to go over there right now! I want to go over there right now!
This is my business!
That food is my life!
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
My name is Rick Fairless.
I'm the owner of the Strokers Dallas Empire
in Dallas, Texas.
There's nothing in the world I love more than motorcycles.
I'm just a motorcycle junkie.
18 years ago, I opened up Strokers Dallas.
My dream was a motorcycle shop and a bar and grill together,
and the whole point
is to get riding enthusiasts together.
And I could give a [bleep] whether the guy
rides a Harley or a Victory or a Honda
or he has a Ford Pinto out front.
I don't care.
On my menu, you'll find
the best dang hamburgers in town.
We've got great seasoned fries.
We have deli sandwiches
that people drive forever to eat.
And the fried bologna sandwich is my mom's specialty,
and it's the [bleep] Jack.
I mean, it's a really good place to eat,
the beer is ice frickin' cold, and the scenery is great.
I run the motorcycle shop,
and my ma runs the bar and grill.
And it's worked out perfect until three months ago
when my ma decided she was gonna retire.
Ever since my ma retired,
things aren't the same over there.
Money's coming up missing. Inventory's coming up missing.
There's a problem,
and I don't know what the hell it is.
The numbers say
we're $12,000 short in three months.
I can go out of business.
The bottom line is I've got to solve this problem
because I cannot continue to lose money.
I need my mother to come back, period.
Hey. How you doing?
CHARLES: Yes.
Charles Stiles, Mystery Diners.
Hi. Hollie. Nice to meet you.
Hi, Hollie. This is my mother. We just call her Ma.
Ma, how are you? My pleasure.
So, this is a really cool place.
I've been pulling in around here.
Looks like quite a compound you got going here.
We're 2 1/2 acres,
and we're just a few miles from downtown Dallas,
and we get motorcyclists from all over the country that come here.
Mm-hmm.
When I started out 18 years ago,
I had 5 employees, and now I got 50.
I used to keep track of everything,
but it's so big now that I can't.
I had my mother over here, ran the bar with an iron fist.
Well, three months ago, she dumped me and retired.
So, ever since she's been gone, I've been losing money.
Something stinks, Charles.
Since Ma's not working here anymore,
who did you get to replace her?
Well, Charles, I hired a gentleman named Chris.
I don't know if he's the problem,
but I don't know where else the problem could be.
Have you confronted him?
I have talked to him, and he's just as perplexed as I am.
If you still worked here,
I wouldn't have all these headaches.
I wouldn't be running short $12,000 in three months.
That's why I called you.
Okay.
Have you thought about coming back to work, Ma?
NARRATOR: For this sting,
"Mystery Diners" will be focusing on Chris,
a recently hired manager who may be responsible
for a dramatic loss of money.
Basically what happens -- we come in,
we wire up your entire place,
we put in hidden robotic cameras, and we'll pay attention
to every one of your employees that are working for you.
And one of the things we like to do
is send in, like, undercover Mystery Diners
that will come in and sit down and be like a customer.
Other things we like to do is send in a new employee
that will infiltrate your staff.
And by infiltrating your staff, I can get close to Chris
and see how he's managing the restaurant
and managing the girls.
Charles, it all sounds perfect.
At the end of the day, we're gonna solve the problem.
NARRATOR: To carry out the sting,
cameras have been hidden
at key locations throughout Strokers Ice House.
Cameras 1, 2, and 3
have been set up in the main dining room
to give an overall perspective
of the restaurant and its customers.
Cameras 4 and 5 have been set up in the bar.
Camera 6 has been set up in the kitchen.
Camera 7 has been set up in the garage.
And cameras 8, 9, and 10 have been set up in the parking lot
to track any action that happens outside.
In addition to Hollie,
who will be going undercover as a waitress in training,
Mystery Diner Justin will pose as a customer.
CHARLES: Welcome to your control room.
Look at all those cameras they got there, Ma.
Well, you can see we've wired up your entire restaurant,
and it was a big job 'cause you've got a big place.
This might be our biggest job yet.
2 1/2 acres -- it looks like you got it all covered.
It looks like this is Chris, your manager, back here.
If this guy is screwing me, even though I like him,
I will *** that son of a gun all the way back to the moon.
Rick, who are these two girls here?
The blond-headed girl is Sammi,
and the black-headed girl is Kim.
Well, Rick, what I'd like to do now is go ahead and get Hollie.
She's gonna come in as a waitress in training,
and we're gonna find out
what's going on inside your restaurant.
All right. Perfect. Ma, I'll be right back.
Rick believes his manager, Chris, is responsible
for a loss of $12,000 from the last couple of months,
so for this sting,
I'll be going in undercover as a waitress in training
to see if I can find out what's really happening.
Chris, this is Hollie.
This is Chris. He's the manager.
She's a new girl that I hired.
So I want you to turn her over to one of the other girls
that can kind of show her what we do.
Everything good? Hollie, you good?
See ya, pal.
Well, how'd that go?
Now I guess we let her do her thing
and see what happens.
SAMMI: Hi. Nice to meet you.
CHARLES: Hey, Hollie, go ask Sammi
what she thinks about the manager, Chris.
HOLLIE: Okay.
So, um, what's the deal with Chris?
She's definitely got very little respect for Chris.
That's not good.
Speak of the devil.
So, is he a good boss, or...
How are the girls supposed to respect your manager
when they know that alls they have to do is flirt with him,
and they can get away with ***,
they can do whatever they want?
[ Laughter ]
She just took that ticket that was $194
and changed it to $94.
Where the hell's Chris?!
This is just totally mind-boggling to me.
Something's going on, and it ain't good.
Whoa, Rick, did you just see that?
I don't even like to watch this, but I can't turn away.
NARRATOR: Rick Fairless,
owner of Strokers Ice House in Dallas, Texas,
believes his manager, Chris, is responsible
for a dramatic loss of money.
He's just a perplexed as I am, you know?
I don't know if he's the problem,
but I don't know where else the problem could be.
Charles has set up a control room next to Strokers
where Rick and Ma can watch what happens in their restaurant
with our hidden cameras.
2 1/2 acres -- it looks like you got it all covered.
NARRATOR: Mystery Diner Hollie has gone undercover
as a waitress in training, and Justin will pose as a customer,
and after starting the sting,
waitresses Sammi and Kim show Mystery Diner Hollie
the lack of respect they have for manager Chris.
CHARLES: I know we're focusing on your manager, Chris,
but I think we should also keep on eye
on your waitresses Sammi and Kim, too.
Obviously.
Let's turn up the heat a little and tempt your staff with money.
Okay.
We're gonna send in one of our undercover Mystery Diners, Justin.
We'll have him say he's having some twins,
he's in there celebrating.
He'll have a big *** of cash.
And we'll see if your manager or waitstaff react.
If someone's stealing from you,
this will be the perfect opportunity.
Hopefully they treat him just like any normal customer.
Hey, Justin, go on in.
JUSTIN: When employees are stealing from restaurants,
the easiest way to do so
is by dealing directly with cash,
so for this sting, I'll be coming in as a customer
looking to do a little celebrating
with a pocketful of money.
How you doing?
Uh, well, actually, the old lady just had a set of twins --
got two boys.
I know. I know.
I want to buy a bunch of people some drinks, you know?
Spend some money now that we're broke.
I'll take a Jack and Sprite.
Yep. What are you drinking?
Miller Lite? That's awesome.
Everybody gets a shot in here. It's on me.
I'm having twins today. Got twin boys.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
He's buying a round for the house.
He's flaunting his money.
All right, guys, hold on.
I'm gonna make a quick toast real quick, just real fast.
To the babies. To the babies.
Drink up.
You girls, shots?
You want drinks? What do you drink?
*** soda? What about you?
All right, *** sodas. Get 'em on me. Go ahead.
Look at that.
They just both asked him to buy them drinks.
I mean, that's commissioning drinks.
The house don't like that.
And while all this is happening, what's Chris doing?
He's playing video games.
What the [bleep]
Hey, Justin, ask for the check.
Kim?
Can I have my check, honey?
Thanks.
That was probably a couple hundred dollars' worth of alcohol.
But I want to find out if they're gonna take the bait.
Looks like the total's $194.
Hey, Justin, I want you to give Kim $200 plus a $50 tip.
Okay.
Awesome. Thank you.
Cash is the easiest way
to steal money from a restaurant.
Credit cards -- you can track it.
Cash -- it's right in the pocket.
Thanks, hon.
And I put $50 in there for you.
Hey, you're very welcome. Bye, honey.
Bye. Thank you.
All right. You have fun.
I will, thanks.
Something's suspicious with that.
I mean, that's kind of weird.
She just took that ticket that was $194
and changed it to $94.
She's gonna put 100 bucks in her pocket,
and you'll never see the difference.
Where the hell's Chris?
All of this stuff is going down,
and he's nowhere to be seen.
That's what he's supposed to be watching!
Well, I got to tell you, Rick,
I don't think Chris is your problem.
I mean, the guy is an idiot,
and obviously he doesn't know how to manage a restaurant,
and I think you need to get rid of him.
But the real problem is
he's getting whupped by both these girls so bad,
he's not paying attention to catching what's going on.
Clearly, she's ripping you off,
but $12,000 over three months?
She'd have to work
almost every single customer all day long
to get that kind of money.
So, you think there's even more [bleep] going on
than the [bleep] we're seeing?
I think your problem runs a lot deeper than her.
Ma, come back to work, please!
Who is this guy over here?
He's a bar customer.
I don't know his name, but he comes in the bar.
That's a good question.
This is just totally mind-boggling to me.
Something's going on, and it ain't good
...just so frickin' mad I want to go out there
and just spoil this whole thing right now.
She just pulled a *** of money out of her bra
and gave it to Lobo.
I cannot believe this is happening right now!
NARRATOR: With the help of hidden cameras and undercover Mystery Diners,
Rick Fairless, owner of Strokers Ice House,
has learned that waitress Sammi
has little respect for manager Chris...
That's not good.
NARRATOR: ...is stealing cash from the bar
with the help of waitress Kim...
CHARLES: She just took that ticket that was $194
and changed it to $94.
She's gonna put 100 bucks in her pocket,
and you'll never see the difference.
...and is meeting with strange customers
in the middle of her shift.
Who is this guy over here?
RICK: He's a bar customer.
I don't know his name, but he comes in the bar.
That's a good question.
What's so important that she needs to leave the restaurant
in the middle of the shift?
This is just totally mind-boggling to me.
Something's going on, and it ain't good.
Is that her car?
Yeah, that's her car. Yes, sir.
She's getting something out of her trunk.
I wonder what's inside that bag.
I don't know.
That looks like an air-filter cover.
And that's a carburetor.
Are you kidding me?! Those parts belong to me!
Well, they belong to that guy now
because he just bought them from Sammi.
I'm just so frickin' mad, I want to go out there
and just spoil this whole thing right now.
Just bear with it
'cause I want to find out what's really going on here,
because Sammi's definitely selling
motorcycle parts out of her trunk,
but the question is
are they your motorcycle parts?
Unfortunately, it looks like it.
If she is selling your parts,
I have a feeling she's not acting alone.
There's probably a lot more going on than you realize.
I'm so mad now, I'd smoke nails if I could light 'em.
Charles, that big bald-headed kid right there...
Yep.
...his name is Lobo.
He's one of my mechanics.
Hopefully, he's at lunch.
I know. You didn't let me say that.
He still can't be drinking, and look what he's doing there.
It looks to me like they're together.
If they are, it's news to me.
Whoa, Rick, did you just see that?
She just pulled a *** of money out of her bra
and gave it to Lobo.
I don't even like to watch this, but I can't turn away.
I bet you that's the money she just made
from selling those motorcycle parts.
And if she's splitting it with Lobo,
then he's involved.
And look, if he's sending her more customers,
he's probably running the whole show.
That's where your money's going.
That idiot in the back of the restaurant,
he's just an idiot.
This is your problem.
That [bleep] guy is stealing from me,
and I have been so good to him
and so good to all of those people over there!
I cannot believe this is happening right now!
You know what, go get him and bring him back here.
It makes me want to puke
seeing Sammi and Lobo sell my motorcycle parts
out of her trunk to my customers.
I mean, it's just -- these are people that I considered friends.
Sam, I need to see you, please.
Want you to come with me.
Just come with me.
Lobo!
Come with me, please.
Just come with me!
You, too.
You guys, come on in.
Wow.
RICK: Everything you've been doing today,
we've been watching it.
I don't know if you hate me
'cause you ain't never had [bleep] like these.
I am the one these guys come to see.
Ricky, I'm taking old parts out of the back.
I'm cleaning them up for you.
I'm watching it, Lobo!
NARRATOR: After conducting an undercover sting operation
at Strokers Ice House in Dallas, Texas,
the Mystery Diners have revealed that waitresses Sammi and Kim
are not only stealing money
from under the nose of manager Chris...
That's what he's supposed to be watching!
NARRATOR: ...but Sammi is also stealing and selling motorcycle parts
with her boyfriend, mechanic Lobo.
Guys, come on in.
Everything you been doing today, I've seen it, and you, too.
Tell 'em, Charles.
My name's Charles Stiles, and I'm with a company called Mystery Diners.
Your owner, Rick, hired my company
because he's been missing money for the last three months.
He's lost almost $12,000.
You recognize this lady?
Okay, she works for me.
She's an undercover Mystery Diner.
This guy is one of my undercover Mystery Diners, too.
You see what's going on around here?
We've been watching you for the last four or five hours.
We've been watching you steal.
I've been called worse by better people --
by way better people.
I don't know if you hate me
'cause you ain't never had [bleep] like these.
I am the one these guys come to see.
Not you.
You know what, I watched you inside of there.
You've been voiding tickets.
You've been putting money in your pocket.
You've been commissioning drinks.
And you! You've been stealing parts!
And both of you are in on it together!
I don't know who the [bleep] you are,
but you don't stick your face in my business.
How is he helping you?!
I've been with you for 15 years, Ricky!
You're lucky if he doesn't call the police
and have your *** arrested 'cause you're stealing from him!
Just shut up, you [bleep] chicken [bleep]
I'm watching it, Lobo!
Ricky, I'm taking old parts out of the back.
I'm cleaning them up for you.
Not only are you fired, but you're fired, too, Lobo.
I'm sick of this --
You're gonna fire me over some [bleep] really?!
Yeah. I saw it, Jack!
That's some [bleep] Fairless!
We've been friends for 15 years!
And in six months, I won't remember your name.
Get out of here!
[Bleep]
Well, you know what, I'm glad we were able to help.
I'm sorry that we found what we found, but at least you got answers.
I mean, you know...
It's sad, but you did what we wanted you to do.
You found the reason that we're losing money.
Well, unfortunately, we found other things, too.
You also still have
the knucklehead Chris that you've got to deal with.
Chris is just an idiot, and I'm gonna have to fire him.
What I'd like to say is, Ma,
is there any way that you can please come back,
even if it's just on a part-time basis?
Please, Ma.
You know, I can't thank Charles enough.
He showed me stuff that I couldn't have seen without him.
At the end of the day, it worked out
because my ma is coming back, and it's all good now.
Thank you, Ma.
NARRATOR: Since being fired, Sammi, Lobo, and Kim
have found employment elsewhere.
Chris was demoted to bartender but resigned his position.
Ma has temporarily come out of retirement
and is currently interviewing new managers.
And Rick is happy to report
that he is no longer losing money or motorcycle parts
at Strokers Ice House.