I am so mad...Warning for debit/credit card users

[faithinkarma]

I am just wondering who is getting this money???

As far as I can tell the money is in that mysterious place called "hold". But I am suspicious enough to believe the bank is making interest on all that money in "hold".

 

[joats]

Again this is all very interesting about them "holding" a certain amount.

My gripe is: through take-out (which I ordered by phone, and picked up myself) I signed the charge for $25.xx for 2 pizzas. 3 weeks later on my bank statement the charge was listed as $34.xx. Therefore, a 30% tip was charged for absolutely nothing. There should not have been a tip....it was take-out.

Am I correct in thinking this is fraud?

 

[peachgirl]

At a restaurant, they run your card through as a pending transaction before you total it with the tip. Then finalize it later with the tip included. They need to pre-authorize it to make sure the card is good before you leave the table

Thanks, now that I think about it, you're right.

How can it be that you are charged other than what you sign for...I just don't get it. No one has the right to screw with my money!!

At least with a CC they aren't screwing with your money, they're screwing with your credit limit.

Pending charges aren't actual charges. They do this anywhere the card is swiped before the purchase is finalized. Gas stations that require you to pre pay (thank goodness we don't have those here!) or where you pay at the pump do this. When you put your CC on file at WDW they pre-authorized a certain amount. These charges goes against your credit limit until the charges are finalized, then the pending charge is removed.

Unless one is cutting it very close on their credit limit, I don't see the problem. It costs the customer nothing.

Agreed, somehow, somewhere the banks are making money off this. Still, they have to be guaranteed they will be paid and I see no other way of doing it.

With a debit card, it's the actual cash they're "holding", not just $$'s from your credit limit. I don't like the idea of cash from my checking account being held, so I don't use debit cards. I've never understood what convenience they offer anyway.

 

[faithinkarma]

My gripe is: through take-out (which I ordered by phone, and picked up myself) I signed the charge for $25.xx for 2 pizzas. 3 weeks later on my bank statement the charge was listed as $34.xx. Therefore, a 30% tip was charged for absolutely nothing. There should not have been a tip....it was take-out

The first time we noticed the tip charge was when my husband went into a pizza restaurant, bought $25 worth of cigarettes, and our bank showed a charge of $30.

Three weeks sounds highly suspicious though. The $30 charge remained on our online statement for only a few days, then reverted to a $25 charge. It never appeared on our paper statement which is mailed to us.

Please let us know how this turns out.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

It's not often that we eat out at a restaurant. When I have used my debit card to pay for a meal, I've always filled in the total amount, whether or not I included a tip. I'm sorry this eating eastablishment took advantage of filling in such a gross amount for a tip. I would definitely contact the manager and report it. Chances are it is not their policy - it could have been someone trying to make a few $$ for themself.

 

[peachgirl]

3 weeks later on my bank statement the charge was listed as $34.xx.

That sounds totally different than a pre-authorization charge. My Disney card doesn't even itemize the pending charges. I wouldn't have any idea who pre-authorized what.

By the time it shows as an actual charge by a specific business I've never had anything but the total I actually charged show up.

 

[Kermit]

I agree that if it was 3 weeks, then they did actually steal money from you. It doesn't take that long when it's just a hold on the funds from the bank or credit card company.

 

[dcgrumpy]

Now I understand the logic.


Say you only have $105 credit available and the bill comes to $100. They run it through for only $100 and it gets pre-approved, they bring the bill to the table you fill in $20 for a tip and get up and leave, they run it through for $120, it gets denied and they're screwed.

 

[gina2000]

If you put the tip on the cc, then realistically, it's pretty much a wash .... in situations where you would normally tip.

If restaurants were truly concerned as to whether you would be over your limit, they would put in the total bill with an extrapolated tip. Then their charge would be covered regardless of how you tip.

The cc company/bank holding company is looking to make sure you don't charge anything further if you are near your limit.....so they extrapolate a tip on a restaurant charge.... at least, that's how I see it.

If you have a current balance on your cc, the extra money charged would be accruing interest on it .... even for just the few days. I don't know if the cc company/holding company extrapolates out the interest charge for those few days....it's worth asking.

So, in essence, this is a way cc companies/bank holding companies could potentially make a few extra bucks.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Let's face it -- the whole process at restaurants needs to be changed. The fact that you hand them your credit/debit card and they leave the table with it is cause for concern. There have been several articles published about dishonest food servers using a separate card reader to get credit card account information and go on private shopping sprees. These card readers can easily be purchased and it is a crime that is growing daily. Even hotel clerks have been caught "swiping" the card twice: once on the hotel equipment and then a second time on their card reader. It's done right in front of your eyes but no one even notices because is on the other side of the counter. Any time you use a credit/debit card, keep your eyes and ears open and don't leave anything to chance!!!

 

[hyzdufan]

Sounds illegal to me, I'd do something about it, whether call the business itself, or the credit card company to report an overcharge.

I always draw a line through mine on the receipt. Just like you would on a personal check.

 

[faithinkarma]

I always draw a line through mine on the receipt. Just like you would on a personal check.

That won't protect you from the temporary charge. My husband always writes across that line "TIP LEFT ON TABLE ", and we still get charged the extra until the final clearance.

 

[joats]

UPDATE:

I went to the pizza place. I showed the owner my receipt and bank statement w/$8 discrepency. He apologized and said that they sometimes have to process 100's of CC bills at the end of the night and perhaps they punched in the wrong code.

He gave me my $8 back and said he would look into the matter. Interestingly enough, he didn't write down any of the information "to look into it" such as date or $$ of order.

Oh well, I'm just glad he corrected the matter. I will order pizza from them again as it is the best in our area, but I will however, pay with cash.

Thanks everybody for listening, and for your tips and stories, I certainly will be using my credit cards/debit cards in a whole new way after this experience (a lot more careful).

joats

 

[DSNY FN]

Glad to hear they gave you the money back I usually pay with cash on take out food orders just for that reason. I have also found that places are starting to charge 1.50 for debit transactions that are not over 10 dollars.

 

[faithinkarma]

I am so pleased to hear you were able to get satisfaction. I have to admit I was not too hopeful for such a speedy resolution. Good for you.

 

[doxdogy]

I do the same thing myself. A few years ago, we had a waiter do the same thing to us. He put a one in front of his tip and gave himself a $15.00 tip on a $25.00 tab. Luckily, we still had the receipt showing the actual tip. I called the restaurant to complain, took the receipt to them and they refunded us our $10.00. The server confessed to what he did and lost his job for his dishonesty.

Originally posted by adamak
Not only that, I put a $$ sign in front of the amount, the decimal and put 00 after that too. My friend once had someone added a 1 before the tips, and you can imagine the damage ($100 more!). He argued with the credit card company but his signature is there, so there isn't anything much you can do. He filed a police report, but never heard from anyone again.