Just a rant...and a rave!

[IOBA]

This is just to vent because I am unable to call up the restaurant myself and try to get the situation fixed.  (I'm trapped by a snowstorm that hit the east coast!  No cell service!)

I try to pay cash each and every time I dine out.  It's unusual if I use a cc, but on this day, I felt that I didn't have enough cash, so I used the cc.  I keep both the itemized receipt as well as my copy of the charge receipt with the tip amount written in and I verify the actually charge.

Argh!  Someone at the restaurant decided that the tip should be 30% PLUS of the bill!  Nope.  The server brought out part of my meal when she brought my friends complete  meal out.  She said she would be right back with the rest of my meal.  She wasn't.  I was half way through my meal before she reappeared with the rest of my meal.  First foul.  The second foul was when she didn't come back to refill my drink.  The glass was on the edge of the table, empty.  She walked by it at least 7 times.  So, no, I didn't tip her 20% or above.  I tipped her 13%.  At the cashier's because the server couldn't be bothered to take care of the payment.  (She cashed some people out, but not everyone.)

I am finding that more and more, there is cc fraud with dining out at sit down restaurants.  Only one restaurant - it was my favorite until I saw a mouse do a dine and dash in the dining room during my last visit - hasn't done the cc fraud.  And sadly, due to the sighting of the mouse, I am going to have a very hard time to returning to that location to eat.  

When I finally do get to a cell phone service area, I will call the restaurant and inform them of what happened.  If it's like the other experiences, I will get a "who cares?" or a "why does it matter?" or a "I'll have to find the receipt and get back to you" or a "I can't find the receipt anywhere here, so there's nothing I can do" or a "yeah, I am looking at the receipt.  You clearly changed your mind about how much of a tip to leave and wrote the new amount on the receipt" or a "you must have added wrong....$25 plus $15 DOES equal $40, not the $30 you claimed it should be..." it will be a write off and a yelp review.

Lol - one server decided I should leave a $25 tip on a $5 purchase.  There were no promo's or coupons used.  Sometimes I get just a drink, like an ice tea, and my friend - on a separate ticket - will order a full meal.  (Drink was 3.75 plus tax .20 = 3.95, round up to 5.00 with tip.)

So I have a new plan...if I feel the need to use a cc for dining out, then for the tip I will spell out the amount (ie - not $5 but FIVE DOLLARS ONLY) and take a cell picture of that receipt so I have proof of the intended tip.

*sigh*  

Edited to do spell check.  

[Anonymous]

I don't know what places you dine at, but I pay CC everywhere when possible. I have never had a tip added or increased that I didn't personally write. One thing to keep in mind, if you leave the customer copy of the receipt, draw a line or write an x on the tip line. If you have the itemized receipt, contact the bank that issued the card used. They can refund you the amount that was added.

How did a $5 purchase get a $25 tip and you not see it? Was it added after you left and charged to the card? Because same thing, you can take the receipt and contact the bank. If you paid cash, then you would have had to see it yourself.

If the restuarants are chains, send them a tweet and write an email/letter to corporate, they most likely will try to give you something that makes it worth the trouble (usually a GC, so be aware that you will have to go back to one of their chains). If it is a smaller restuarant, don't just talk to the first person who answers when you call. Ask for a manager or the owner. Tell them of the experience and they will probably help. Most places go out of business in the first 2 years and with added competition, many places are willing to accomidate the customer to keep them coming back. Worst case scenario, they don't do anything. But it doesn't hurt you to try. But know the only people who care to help are those in management.

[tacpoly]

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@IOBA wrote:

This is just to vent because I am unable to call up the restaurant myself and try to get the situation fixed.  (I'm trapped by a snowstorm that hit the east coast!  No cell service!)

I try to pay cash each and every time I dine out.  It's unusual if I use a cc, but on this day, I felt that I didn't have enough cash, so I used the cc.  I keep both the itemized receipt as well as my copy of the charge receipt with the tip amount written in and I verify the actually charge.

Argh!  Someone at the restaurant decided that the tip should be 30% PLUS of the bill!  Nope.  The server brought out part of my meal when she brought my friends complete  meal out.  She said she would be right back with the rest of my meal.  She wasn't.  I was half way through my meal before she reappeared with the rest of my meal.  First foul.  The second foul was when she didn't come back to refill my drink.  The glass was on the edge of the table, empty.  She walked by it at least 7 times.  So, no, I didn't tip her 20% or above.  I tipped her 13%.  At the cashier's because the server couldn't be bothered to take care of the payment.  (She cashed some people out, but not everyone.)

I am finding that more and more, there is cc fraud with dining out at sit down restaurants.  Only one restaurant - it was my favorite until I saw a mouse do a dine and dash in the dining room during my last visit - hasn't done the cc fraud.  And sadly, due to the sighting of the mouse, I am going to have a very hard time to returning to that location to eat.  

When I finally do get to a cell phone service area, I will call the restaurant and inform them of what happened.  If it's like the other experiences, I will get a "who cares?" or a "why does it matter?" or a "I'll have to find the receipt and get back to you" or a "I can't find the receipt anywhere here, so there's nothing I can do" or a "yeah, I am looking at the receipt.  You clearly changed your mind about how much of a tip to leave and wrote the new amount on the receipt" or a "you must have added wrong....$25 plus $15 DOES equal $40, not the $30 you claimed it should be..." it will be a write off and a yelp review.

Lol - one server decided I should leave a $25 tip on a $5 purchase.  There were no promo's or coupons used.  Sometimes I get just a drink, like an ice tea, and my friend - on a separate ticket - will order a full meal.  (Drink was 3.75 plus tax .20 = 3.95, round up to 5.00 with tip.)

So I have a new plan...if I feel the need to use a cc for dining out, then for the tip I will spell out the amount (ie - not $5 but FIVE DOLLARS ONLY) and take a cell picture of that receipt so I have proof of the intended tip.

*sigh*  

Edited to do spell check.  

---

This may just be the initial charge for approval and will only show as pending online.  The actual charge with the correct tip will post later.  Restaurants do this a lot (at least in my area):  because they don't know what tip the customer will give, most will estimate and some will estimate on the high end (hence 30%) when they run your card through.  So this charge will post as a pending charge to your card.  When the restaurant goes through their receipts, they will post the actual charge with the actual bill and that will be the one that will post to your cc.  I don't really worry about pending items until they post as actual charges.

[IOBA]

Thanks for the replies.

1.  The $25 tip added to the $5 check.  I saw a $30 charge on my cc.  I save  the itemized receipt as well as the cc receipt (customer copy) filled out and compare them to the cc charge.  Probably 99 out of 100 times, I go home and pay the charge right away.  

2.  Most people don't notice an additional dollar or two added to their total on the cc bill.  A lot of people I know never go back and verify the charges - they just accept the statement to be true and accurate.  They usually have a lot of charges on the statement.  Me?  I verify each charge against the hard copy of the receipt or the email confirmation.  And yea, I do notice a dollar difference.  Or a $25 difference.    I am the only person I know who does actually verify the charges.

3.  These are all posted transactions.  I hate when the transaction is "pending".  It's been my experience that the "pending" restaurant transactions are for the exact amount of the meal ticket, tip not included.   Gas charges are a $1.00.

It's just one of those things.  Someone padded their bank account at my expense.  I do try to resolve issues like this with the manager asap.  In this case, it will be another week before I could call for something that happened more than a week ago.  (Hate to wait for the transaction to finalize.)

I will look up corporate and see if I can get resolution there.

[IOBA]

This went the OTHER way....  

I clearly added a $5.78 tip to a $22 meal.  (The server was great!)  I even took a picture of the receipt to ensure fraud didn't happen.  

Lol - I dunno what happened, but she gave herself a $2 tip instead of the $5.78 that I had written in on the cc receipt.  I *think* she did the authorization for meal amount plus $2 tip and finalized it before she brought me the slip to sign.  I say that because the receipt was emailed to my dining partner before I had even signed the receipt and we even left the restaurant!

Note - I never signed up for email receipts.  My dining partner used my cc once to pick up a take out order for me and apparently provided an email address.  So the email address is linked to my cc, I guess.

Sigh.  I guess I will have to go back to that restaurant when finances allow.

[14Fiesta]

Not sure if you resolved this yet, but if the restaurant is giving you troubles: dispute, dispute, dispute! Most CCCs allow you to start a dispute online, should take less than 15 minutes and you can upload your receipt as proof. Your bank will issue you a permanent or provisional credit for the disputed amount and they will pursue a chargeback from the merchant.