Famous Dave’s employee accused defrauding $1,136 by using employee discount

An employee of the Cedar Point Famous Dave’s was charged with four felonies on May 30, after he allegedly used the employee discount to defraud Cedar Fair of $1,136.75.

Story - https://huroninsider.com/?p=9402

Guests would pay by check??

Although this is just one of the reasons the park went cashless.

Never been to Famous Dave's, is it any good?

Many moons ago when I worked for Borders, the only guy I remember getting straight up fired during my time there was a dude that got busted for scanning his own Borders Rewards card every time a customer didn't have one and refused the upsell. Which, considering he mainly worked the cafe and almost nobody's going to choose to sign up for a store rewards card to buy a coffee, was pretty dang often.

Definitely getting some vibes of that with this case, though I'm pretty sure Borders didn't press charges (or at least we didn't hear about it.)

BlueGemini said:

Never been to Famous Dave's, is it any good?

There are no rides there. It's just a restaurant, you probably wouldn't like it. :-D

Famous Dave's used to be our go to for "decent" food, back when all of the in-park options were trash. Plus for our family's size the "family feast" made sense financially. With the increase quality wise of in-park food, meal plans, and food festivals, it's been a few years since we've been. That said, the food was fine, and more importantly it's an indoor dining option, that provides an opportunity to cool off (or warm up, depending on time the time of year).

You raise an interesting point. With the recent upgrades to the food in the park, especially all the BBQ, what is Famous Dave's place in that lineup now? I realize people don't always go into the park from the marina, and it's nice to have food options out there, but does that become something different in a few years?

Now that the options in the park are what they are, the option for Famous Dave's has kind of fallen to the back of my mind. The biggest thing going for it is the indoor seating.

We really enjoy Famous Dave's and always end up there at least once during our trips. I don't think any of the newer in park options will change that. Part of it is probably because there aren't any Famous Dave's near us over in Pittsburgh, so the only time I've ever seen one was at the CP Marina, and it feels a bit special. The location right off the water adds a nice touch also.

When we stayed at Lighthouse Point, I noticed that Famous Dave's was heavily advertised on the resort FunTV channel. I wonder how much business they get from the resorts, in-park guests, marina, etc. Based on my previous visits, it's always been one of those hidden gems, that I don't think many know even exist.

We've not been to CP's FD in years, but it was unremarkable when we last went. Which is par for the course for any FD I've been to - it's always been "meh," especially considering there are so many other better options for BBQ these days.

Ha, ha, ha.... Touche exit.....

Exactly what I was just going to say. There's a lot of BBQ out there, including what I can make in my own back yard, and I just don't find FD to be anything special.

Aaronosmer said:

back when all of the in-park options were trash

But man I loved that trashy food! I loved their pizza back in the day, no idea why but I did! And what happened to the frozen chocolate covered bananas!!

I wouldn't have a problem with "trash" food, if it were priced at "trash" food prices. Similarly, I have no problem paying amusement park prices for food, if I'm getting something that is decent quality in return.

Valid point....

Times sure have changed. Dave's was the only place with passable food when I left in 2013. There are a half-dozen places in the park now that I'd rather go to.

Where did you work Jeff when you were there?

Reminds me of a similar situation from back in the days I worked at the park. This was about 20 years ago when they first started offering guests to use their receipt from an on ride photo purchase to receive $2 off their next photo. One of the employees started ringing up every purchase at the discounted price, charging the guest the normal price, and then pocketing the extra $2 per sale. I’m not sure how long it went on for or how much they stole in total but they were eventually caught when a guest asked for their receipt and noticed the discrepancy. This happened in the month of October and was back before the $1/hr bonuses first went away so the dude lost out on probably about a $1000 bonus.

It never fails to interest me how employees think they’ll get away with stealing from the store. But it happens all the time. Someone is watching, and the thief shows up every day. It’s bound to not last.

Mechanics of this. Customer eats at Famous Dave's and gets a bill for say $100. Customer agrees to tip 20% and writes a check for $120. Employee then applies an employee discount to the bill reducing it to $80. And employee then takes $40 from that day's receipts?