Stop stealing our pint glasses: SA pub makes quirky video warning
A humorous regional pub’s video is telling drinkers to stop stealing their pint glasses, as SA’s hotel boss reveals strange items amongst costly thefts plaguing venues.
Waikerie Hotel Motel has posted a plea to social media calling on its customers to “please stop taking our glasses home”.
The Facebook video shows Waikerie Hotel staff pouring beer into alternative drinking vessels ranging from a soup ladle, a shot glass, and even cupped hands, in its bid to tackle the costly results of dwindling pint glass numbers.
Australian Hotels Association SA CEO Anna Moeller told InDaily that stolen beer and wine glasses was an issue hospitality venues had been facing for years.
“Often, the only time you realise that a lot of glasses have gone missing is when you start to run out on a Friday night when it’s really busy,” Moeller said.
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“There’s a frustrating aspect to it, but the other part of it is that it’s expensive.”
Replacing stolen glasses can cost venue owners hundreds of dollars per month to replace, with Moeller saying she had been unable to get an exact figure on replacing stolen glasses other than it being “very expensive”.
And it is not just glasses catching the eye of pub-goers.
“In the past week, we’ve had a pub that has had their toilet brushes stolen and we’ve had pubs that have had fire extinguishers stolen. Theft does not discriminate,” Moeller said.
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The most commonly targeted glasses include high-quality wine glass brands like Riedel and special Japanese pint glasses used for brands like Asahi and Kirin. Branded beer glasses including Guinness and Heineken are also popular, illegal souvenirs for pub-goers.
Riedel champagne and wine glasses can cost up to $210 for boxes of four, while branded beer glasses including Guinness can cost up to $15 per glass.
According to beer glass wholesaler Nisbets, a pack of 48 Headmaster branded pint glasses, which are most commonly used, cost about $139.90 or $2.92 per glass.
“It’s not just that the glasses get stolen, but they get broken a lot as well. So it’s already quite an expense,” Moeller said.
But the hotel chief allayed fears that costs of replacing glasses would be placed onto customers despite not ruling out pubs introducing BYO beer glasses.
“Because this has been happening forever, you’re not going to see a sudden increase in the cost of a schnitzel or the cost of a pint because people are nicking glasses,” she said.
“There’s a thing going around to bring your own coffee cup. So you never know, watch this space and you might see it happen at pubs.”
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