| Author |
Message |
    
bgk21
New member
Username: bgk21
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 09:50 am: | 
|
Here is the scenario...I ordered 2 pizza's from a local restaurant for pick-up. Total came to $17.41. I paid via credit card and just signed the slip without filling in the tip box. I noticed on my statement that the restaurant added a tip of 20% without my consent for a total of $20.89. Never in my life have I had an establishment add the tip in for me when I leave the tip box on the credit slip blank. This is a pick-up order mind you! As far as I am concerned a pick-up order does not constitute a tip, if I wanted to leave a tip I would have filled it in myself... and if I leave the tip line blank, should that mean that I am not leaving a tip? So I guess I am asking if it is legal for them to add their own tip if I leave the tip box blank??????? I am fuming mad!!!!!!!!!!!! |
waitressfrmhell
New member
Username: waitressfrmhell
Post Number: 9
Registered: 07-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 09:58 am: |
|
Of course it's not legal.
Take you credit card receipt back to restaurant and get your money.
tipping is optional
- Waitress From Hell |
jmvic
New member
Username: jmvic
Post Number: 59
Registered: 07-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 10:21 am: |
|
Friendly's has a lot of pickup orders; wish they would tip me for that!
"So what did you use Lords, KY or Tartar sauce?"-"vozveratu," in response to Lords' "habits"
|
teleburst
New member
Username: teleburst
Post Number: 1005
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 11:13 am: |
|
All you have to do is dispute the charge. You might even have some legal rights as well, since that was fraud. Just don't lose your slip. If you have already thrown it away, ask the restaurant for a copy of it. They are required to keep them.
Also, in the future, either put a zero on the line, or write in a line. And ALWAYS put the final amount in the total line. If you leave this blank, this makes it easier for them to "fill in the blanks".
You might talk with a local pro-bono lawyer to find out if you have grounds for damages. After all, it's fraud, pure and simple, especially if they "filled in the blanks" on the credit card slip copy. |
vozveratu
New member
Username: vozveratu
Post Number: 392
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 08:21 am: |
|
Hehehe. jmvic, you leaving that in your sig? Hehe. Glad I could make an influence...8p
Peace |
roadie
New member
Username: roadie
Post Number: 3
Registered: 07-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 03:36 pm: |
|
Whoa, slow down there!
I think you're getting all PO'd over something that you have no way of knowing yet.
Credit card transactions clear funds in two stages: pre-authorization, and final.
I'm sure you're looking online at a "pending" transaction. If it says "pending," then the transaction has not been finalized yet, and the final number could be different.
In the case of a restaurant that has a tip line on the signature slip, it's industry standard practice to run authorization for the bill, plus 20% (which you see as "pending"--or not at all, depending on your financial institution). This gives the restaurant owner a reasonable assurance that when the final transaction clears, he/she will get paid for the bill plus any tip that you may choose to write in.
So relax. After your transaction is finalized (you'll know it's finalized when you see the name of the restaurant instead of "pending"), you'll see the correct amount on your computer screen. |
jammie
New member
Username: jammie
Post Number: 689
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - 07:32 am: |
|
It looks to me like a counter person filled in the blanks. BGK you are not bound to pay the gratuity, give the establishment the opportunity to make it right. Before you consult an attorney, that is alot of energy to expell on three bucks.
I do believe that the owner/manager will refund the money, and give the counter help a stern talking to. Creative financing is not allowed. |
nuvola09
New member
Username: nuvola09
Post Number: 504
Registered: 11-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - 10:45 am: |
|
This is why I am shocked at how many people will just leave the tip line and total line blank. Even if you re-write the total and leave the tip line blank, you still cover your ass from being charged any additional money. It would be so easy for any server to write in tips for all credit card slips that are never filled out, most people would never notice.
"Some people have yoga, I have waitressing." - unknown
|
teleburst
New member
Username: teleburst
Post Number: 1011
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - 02:19 pm: |
|
"In the case of a restaurant that has a tip line on the signature slip, it's industry standard practice to run authorization for the bill, plus 20%"
I've been in the business for 10 years now and I've NEVER heard of such a thing. No restaurant that I've worked in has ever done such a thing. And I've never heard of any restaurant doing such a thing. I don't think it's it's anything *close* to being an industry standard.
It's no biggie for the merchant to get his or her tip, even if the tip puts the card over the customer's credit limit. The CC customer will just get dinged by the credit card company. Once the transaction is authorized, the tip adjustment is authorized as well when it's entered, unless there's some sort of ungodly amounts involved. I've NEVER heard of a total being authorized and a tip being declined. The tip approval is pretty much "automatic".
All of this is based on my own experience...nothing more. |
tricky
New member
Username: tricky
Post Number: 54
Registered: 05-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - 03:44 pm: |
|
Is this a pending transaction, or was it actually authorized for this dollar amount. If it's just pending, it wasn't the merchant at all. If the card is a Visa debit card it is Visa's (yes, Visa's) policy to reserve the funds that a 20% tip would have been. It protects the merchant, the spender and Visa. They presume that most people tip and that 20% is reasonable. Visa chooses to reserve that 20% until the charge has been fully authorized -- usually whenever the merchant batches the credit cards. Sometimes that is daily; for small locations it might be weekly.
This all came directly from a bank officer's mouth when I investigated chargebacks for a restaurant company. Our EDC showed authorization for the exact dollar amount on the chit. The customer's online statement showed a slightly higher total. I called the bank.
(Other credit cards have similar policies; this is just what the bank officer told me about a Visa debit card.) |
matt
New member
Username: matt
Post Number: 16
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - 11:09 pm: |
|
I'll vouch for tricky. ALL credit companies are now authorizing for 20% over the total if the merchant is a business that regularly receives tips. In this age of prepaid gift cards with credit card insignia and mass usage of debit cards, lenders must protect themselves against someone with $50 bucks in the account spending $48 on dinner and then tipping $10 on top which would obviously overdraw the account. In the case of a bank card, they can charge you fees and get their money back. In the case of the gift cards (prepaid AMEX and others) they can not recoup their money and the merchant (restaurant) loses that money. As a manager I have dealt with enough guest calls regarding their online balances that I too have called to find out what was up. If you used a debit card, in 2 - 3 days the charge will process as you intended it too after the pre-authorization clears the bank. |
nuvola09
New member
Username: nuvola09
Post Number: 505
Registered: 11-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - 11:46 pm: |
|
All this stuff about authorization for an amount larger than the actual purchase price is true. When I worked the front desk at a hotel, if someone gave us a debit card for a two night stay, for example, the bank would authorize the card for maybe twice the actual amount of the room. This was to make sure the account had enough money to cover additional expenses. We had to warn people because the money would be held in limbo for maybe a day or so and they would not be able to withdraw it; your account just acts as if that money has already been deducted. It also happens if you use your card at gas stations. |
blingsburg_babe
New member
Username: blingsburg_babe
Post Number: 8
Registered: 04-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 05:44 am: |
|
"It would be so easy for any server to write in tips for all credit card slips that are never filled out, most people would never notice."
For a long time where I work, we took the yellow(duplicate) copy for the simple reason that if somebody besides the original signer goes back and fills in a tip, it will stand out as pen on the carbon copy.
|
vozveratu
New member
Username: vozveratu
Post Number: 404
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 11:28 am: |
|
No restaurant that I've worked in has ever done such a thing.
It's not the restaurant. It's VISA or other company doing the gratuity based on the merchant's contract with VISA.
I work at the bank during the day. Debit cards and credits cards are authorized by the corresponding company (visa, mc, amex, etc).
Every merchant is assigned a merchant code (restaurant, hotel, gambling, website, clothing, etc.)
Some merchants are given authorization codes to take out additional amount to cover and anticipate the gratuity. These places are restaurants, nail salons, spas, hair cutting, etc. 20% is added to the bill and authorized, but when the merchant sends in the batch report, it verifies the amount that was actually spent and the bank is notified and the cs is charged, while the 'pretend' amount drops off.
Some places can opt out of that procedure, but they run a risk of getting declined when sending the batch to the bank/company.
Example: Customer has 100.00. Buys dinner for 90.00 and leaves a 20.00 tip. Customer's card is verified for 90.00. When the batch runs through at the end of the night, the manager gets an error on the card being declined. Now the manager has to contact the customer OR take the tip off for the food to be paid. With this, most restaurants go for the merchant code adding 20% so they don't have to chase customers down.
It is VERY rare that 20% causes problems to a customer's account unless it's really high. But if someone is slapping 1000.00 on food and wine, then it won't be a problem for the customer unless he is cutting it close on his account balance. |
teleburst
New member
Username: teleburst
Post Number: 1017
Registered: 06-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 01:22 pm: |
|
"No restaurant that I've worked in has ever done such a thing.
It's not the restaurant. It's VISA or other company doing the gratuity based on the merchant's contract with VISA".
That was my point. If anyone was going to do such a thing, it would be the credit card company. I was contending roadies' contention that it's "industry practice" to run a credit card for 20% more than the amount.
|