Happened again..server added an extra tip..

[momtofour]

Please watch your restaurant receipts carefully. We were at a bar and the bill was $15.00. Added a four dollar tip. Checked my AMEX today and the server added an extra $11.00 making the total $30.00. I will be calling the restaurant in a bit. Frustrated.......

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I would call AMEX, first.
2) Deny the billing and explain why.
3) Let them contact the eatery, as this really raises a stink.
4) Give AMEX 2-weeks, then write a letter to the eatery's manager.

 

[piperdown]

I'd definitely call the manager and my credit card company.

Don't know if this would have helped in this situation, but I always put a dash before and after the tip amount, ex: -4.00-, to try and prevent the adding of extra digits. Doesn't help if they change the number, like 4 to 8.

Another option is to pay tips with cash, and write the word "cash" on the tip line.

 

[Jeff_G]

This plus credit card skimming is the reason I have gone to all cash when paying at a restaurant.

Its also nice to not have to wait on a busy server to ring up the card and bring back the receipts.

 

[eliza61]

I'd definitely call the manager and my credit card company.

Don't know if this would have helped in this situation, but I always put a dash before and after the tip amount, ex: -4.00-, to try and prevent the adding of extra digits. Doesn't help if they change the number, like 4 to 8.

Another option is to pay tips with cash, and write the word "cash" on the tip line.

Exactly what I do. I do both, I scribble out the line that says tip and I total up the amount at the bottom. then I always use cash for tip.

 

[Hofmanns4]

Has the charge actually posted or is it still pending on the card?

Sometimes the pending temporary hold is for more than the bill, but when the item posts, it is correct.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[verleniahall]

we pay cash as well for tips. this gives us peace of mind that
1) the correct server will get the tip
2) we won't be touble tioped

 

[momtofour]

The charge has posted. I too have gone to mostly cash for tips exactly for this reason. We were short of cash that night.

 

[Hofmanns4]

The charge has posted.

Bummer...then someone at the restaurant is a snake!

Definitely call both AMEX and the restaurant manager. For that amount, AMEX may just give you back your $11.00 and do nothing to the restaurant.

I once had a pizza guy use my CC to call a naughty line and it was only about $23.00. The bank gave me back the money, but for that amount they did not research it. Since the charge had the phone number that they called the naughty line from, I was able to find them. Went to the pizza place and the manager fired the guy.

 

[MineMail]

I have to chime in about the creative writing in trying to avoid receipt changes. DH also likes to leave a cash tip, so he would put a dash on that line and then write the check amount on the total line. One restaurant ran up a huge tip and when challenged, blamed it on their scanning machinery. They claimed that the long dash was read as a number and their system just collects the check amount and the tip line, not the total amount. Since he started putting a big zero on the tip line, we haven't had a problem. He hands the signed check and the cash to the server, so there's no confusion.

In the OP's case, I wouldn't assume that it was a deliberate attempt at fraud, just based on the numbers. Don't worry too much - just call the credit card company and dispute the entire check. Putting in $15 for the check amount and $15 for the tip could have been the server's data entry mistake, sure, but the restaurant manager should be spotting oddities like that before closing the credit card batch and they should have come up $13 over in the drawer, which is another thing the manager should have checked. If it was a fraud attempt and the drawer count was okay, then the server took $13 cash out to make it balance, which is theft.

If the restaurant is so poorly run that two people can overlook an error, how will they prevent real fraud from happening? If it's a chain restaurant, contact the corporation's customer server. Otherwise, the chargeback will help alert the owner that there's an issue.

Make sure you have your copy of the receipt handy when you call the credit card company.


I'm starting to agree that tipping should be eliminated, which will make the meals more expensive, but it will eliminate the potential for fraud. Maybe some big chain restaurant will give this a trial run someday.

 

[ssawka]

Please watch your restaurant receipts carefully. We were at a bar and the bill was $15.00. Added a four dollar tip. Checked my AMEX today and the server added an extra $11.00 making the total $30.00. I will be calling the restaurant in a bit. Frustrated.......

I think this could have been a legitimate mistake since the tip amount was what your total amount should have been. It is possible that when the receipt was being entered into the system that a mistake was made and the total amount was entered as the tip amount. It is likely that the server would not have caught the mistake credit card tips are usually given in a lump sum at the end of the night or added to the server's paycheck.

 

[LilyWDW]

You know... it is sort of odd that the bill was $15 and then the "tip" was $15. Could it have been a valid mistake? I think so. All you would need is for the computer to act up (and we all know how often that can happen) or something to have caught the servers attention elsewhere. So, while I would still call the restaurant, I would not go into it saying "THIEF" but with the idea that you wanted to let them know this happened. Then they can look into it.

 

[Colleen27]

You know... it is sort of odd that the bill was $15 and then the "tip" was $15. Could it have been a valid mistake? I think so. All you would need is for the computer to act up (and we all know how often that can happen) or something to have caught the servers attention elsewhere. So, while I would still call the restaurant, I would not go into it saying "THIEF" but with the idea that you wanted to let them know this happened. Then they can look into it.

That would be my first thought too... Someone interrupted the server when entering amounts, and the $15 got punched in twice instead of once as the total with the accurate $4 as the tip. Or the computer hiccuped and transmitted the $15 twice. That doesn't seem like a likely alter-the-receipt type of act - usually those seem to involve adding a digit or changing something easy, like a 3 to an 8.

I would certainly call it to the restaurant's attention and report it to AmEx, but I don't think in this case I'd be assuming fraud/theft.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Well really...regardless of whether or not it was an accident or not, OP should get the extra money refunded.

 

[Happyjen27]

Another innocent way this could have worked:

The horizontal line on the 4 could have been missing in the scan, so the 1 vertical parts of the 4 remained, looking like 11.

In either case, I hope you get refunded!!

Thanks for the reminder to remain vigilant!

 

[MineMail]

Well really...regardless of whether or not it was an accident or not, OP should get the extra money refunded.

No one disagrees with that, but a lot of people early on seemed pretty sure taht there was deception involved. I didn't see it that way because of the numbers involved. The OP said:

Please watch your restaurant receipts carefully. We were at a bar and the bill was $15.00. Added a four dollar tip. Checked my AMEX today and the server added an extra $11.00 making the total $30.00. I will be calling the restaurant in a bit. Frustrated.......

The $30 charge was exactly double the check amount less tip. That why I suggested that it might just be a data entry error.

Disputing the charge will keep her from having to pay the $30 until the restaurant researches/corrects the error or contacts her to resolve the dispute.

Personally, I think that the restaurant should comp the entire meal since their staff entered the wrong amounts and the manager didn't catch the mistake. If it was an honest mistake, that will generate good will and likely keep a customer coming back another time. Arguing it will definitely cost them a customer.

 

[dsny1mom]

This just happened to my business Visa. Dinner charge was $150 I added a $30 tip. I get the statement and a 5 was written over the 3 making it appear to be a $50 tip. Server wasn't too bright as he didn't adjust the total just the tip line. Called Visa and they took the info and had me send them a copy of the receipt. They told me a credit would appear on the card within 2 business days. Visa said they would deal with the restaurant. I told the CS rep I was surprised this happened and she told she isn't as they deal with this type of activity every single day.

dsny1mom

 

[Echo queen]

On the dining plan and using Disney gift cards I give cash tips only. On the recite in the tip box I write CASH TIP GIVEN. I do this to cut down on mistakes. .

 

[ZehnJahren]

I would be hesitant to give the server the benefit of the doubt.

Almost all modern computers in food service establishments calculate the dollar amount of your meal. When you ring out, you do NOT type in the receipt total and the tip, you type in the tip only.

I have known of very few restaurants that do receipt scanning - unless they're a big establishment, it's just too expensive and there are too many mistakes.

The server, most likely, would only be entering the tip amount by sight. I think it would be pretty tough to turn $4 into $15.

 

[ssawka]

I would be hesitant to give the server the benefit of the doubt.

Almost all modern computers in food service establishments calculate the dollar amount of your meal. When you ring out, you do NOT type in the receipt total and the tip, you type in the tip only.

I have known of very few restaurants that do receipt scanning - unless they're a big establishment, it's just too expensive and there are too many mistakes.

The server, most likely, would only be entering the tip amount by sight. I think it would be pretty tough to turn $4 into $15.

But, would it not be possible to be distracted while entering the tip and enter in the total line instead of the tip line?