Has This Ever Happened To You?
By Alice Henry
@IreneVincent (15960)
United States
November 24, 2015 10:43pm CST
I had a nice dinner with my daughter and two friends a couple Sundays ago. I used my credit card to pay for mine and my daughter's meals. When the charge showed up on my online banking statement, it was $5 more than my receipt said. I had left a substantial tip and rounded the amount off to the next dollar. Someone added $5 to the tip. I called the restaurant and they looked it up and agreed that there was an error. The manager apologized for the error and issued a refund for the $5.
The waitress had been very friendly and served us well, very attentive and I don't think she would have done that deliberately as she has been at this restaurant for a couple years and has waited on us before.
However, it happened to me before, not at this restaurant but at another one. This time $15 had been charged to my card. This was one of the places that we go for karaoke. The waitress asked me if I wanted to run a tab and I said OK, although they had never asked that before. I thought it was odd at the time and I knew I was only going to have a couple drinks. She took my card and took it to the register.
Later, I signed a receipt for two drinks and we left. When I got my statement, there was a separate charge for $15 that same night at the same restaurant, which I also protested.
Then, some friends told me that while they were on vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, several places where they had eaten had added extra amounts to their tips, an average of about $3 to each charge. Of course, they didn't realize this until they returned home and got their statement. My friend told me that this happens a lot. Whoever is adding the extra amount knows that you won't realize it until you get home and you won't do anything about it, but that really makes me angry. I think most waitresses and waiters are honest but it taught me a lesson.
So, my solution is to pay in cash and never let a waitress/waiter walk away from my table with my credit card.
Has this ever happened to you?
2 people like this
5 responses
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
25 Nov 15
No because here on the islands you don't pay tips. What the menu says is what we pay. I did take my parents out one time for dinner and the bill came to me with the tip included. I thought this was rather odd and I had never been faced with something like this before.
3 people like this
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
25 Nov 15
Yes, that sounds like an odd situation. If tips aren't paid, why would the bill say "tip included?" Strange.
2 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
25 Nov 15
@IreneVincent You are right. I did ask and they said to me any bill over a certain amount and the places adds the tip in. I thought that was so strange and they should post this on the menu or door so people know what to expect. If I hadn't looked at the bill I would of left a tip. I walked away leaving nothing.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4262)
• Oxford, England
25 Nov 15
@IreneVincent I hate to eat where they add a tip automatically and just give you the option to remove it if you wish.
A tip should be voluntary
2 people like this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
25 Nov 15
When I get that little slip I always fill in the tip portion... even if I'm ordering to go so am not leaving a tip I write in zero, and write in the total on that line so there can be no mistakes.
2 people like this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
25 Nov 15
@IreneVincent Using cash isn't a bad idea... less risk that way. Not only will you stop these added tips.. but who is to stop the waiter from copying your credit card info and using it online for purchases?
2 people like this
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
25 Nov 15
Yes, that's a good thing to do too. But in the incident I wrote about, I had added a tip in the tip portion and totaled the amount. Someone still managed to add the $5.
1 person likes this
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
25 Nov 15
@katsmeow1213 That's what I figured out. So, I just take cash when I go out to eat. And I use cash at other places too. You just can't be too careful anymore.
1 person likes this
@glenniah (1197)
• Mandurah, Australia
25 Nov 15
We are not really familiar with the idea of tipping over here. However, I do remember on one occasion when we were in Ireland and we paid with our Visa and money for the tip was taken out of our bank account. Too bad if we had wanted to pay more or less, it was decided for us.
2 people like this
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
25 Nov 15
Yes, often the tip is added in, especially if it is a large party of persons eating together. Tipping should be a voluntary thing for good service rendered OR actually tipping would not be necessary if the restaurant paid their servers minimum wage. That is a controversy going on here in the USA right now. However, some servers are hoping to get minimum wage and still get tips. Go figure.
1 person likes this
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
25 Nov 15
Yes, that's just the point. It would be very easy for someone at the register to do it and NOT the server. I don't think the server did it in this case, but someone did.
1 person likes this
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
25 Nov 15
When someone walks off with your credit card, they can record the security code and your name and go straight to the computer and get your address and phone #. Then they can actually order something and have it shipped to another address.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4262)
• Oxford, England
26 Nov 15
@IreneVincent That is terrible. We do hear of this in the UK where they scan your card to get the details with a special machine and even ATMs are not safe as they can be targeted by criminals.
