Getting over charged by a restaurant

[ricoFlame]

Originally Posted by shermanator

$5? Seems like a petty amount to me to be worrying about.

holy crap man, you must wipe your a$$ with $5 bills.

[scotty2hotty]

Originally Posted by evman150

I REALLY hate it when people bitch about this.

You are getting tipped, and in this case a very reasonable tip, do not bitch about an extra six cents. Imagine - complaining about MORE money! Must be a tough job.

Hehehe... I really see this turning into the age old servers vs people who have never waited tables.

I'm making a quick escape! I immediately apologize for the remark! Go about your business folks. Nothing to see here.

Try the veal and don't forget to tip your servers and bartenders

[Gozer]

...uh.....er.....it's complicated.

[mykalberta]

How do they overcharge you, on the bill you put the tip in and the amount and add it up, when they do their taxes they would notice it then as well.

5$ overcharge sounds like malicious actions to me.

[Weiser Wonder]

Originally Posted by scotty2hotty

Sure could have. And thanks for your deep insight. No one was turning this into a holier than thou, a tip is a privilege not a right, debate.

As I pointed out twice, my point was not to admonish anyone for how much or little to tip. I was simply pointing out that rounding to an even number is uneccesary when using a credit card.

G'head and do as you please.

Just seems like one of those things that you complain about at work because you can. Everyone has those things, but I wouldn't expect anyone outside your coworkers to care.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by scotty2hotty

Seriously, I don't want your 6 cents. I understand the thought behind it. That all you are trying to do is round the money out, but think about it. Are you really expecting your credit card to be an even dollar amount at the end of the month? Are all your other purchases throughout the month going to round to the nearest dollar? No. So why not just leave 5 or 6 bucks?

Perhaps the peron whose credit card it is uses it as a quick check of legitimate restaurant charges? I had a friend who rounded every restaurant purchase made for business purposes to an even dollar amount when it was done on a credit card. He could easily check to see what restaurant purchases were for business and which were for personal at a glance.

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by scotty2hotty

As I pointed out twice, my point was not to admonish anyone for how much or little to tip. I was simply pointing out that rounding to an even number is uneccesary when using a credit card.

Don't tell me what is necessary about spending my money.

[Bertuzzied]

Ian White called and he wants his $5 back.

[driveway]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

How do they overcharge you, on the bill you put the tip in and the amount and add it up, when they do their taxes they would notice it then as well.

5$ overcharge sounds like malicious actions to me.

It's a really easy mistake to make and goes like this: you give a server your credit card to pay for a meal, they take it and run it through the machine at the front. The machine spits out two receipts, the customer copy and the merchant copy.

As far as the machine is concerned this transaction is still "open".

Server brings you the receipts, you write in the tip amount, the total, sign it and take your copy and walk.

Server goes back to the machine, accesses the still-open transaction and types in the total amount you authorized. This is where the mistake gets made, could be malicious, could be an accident. Then closes the check.

And it won't get noticed when the restaurant does its taxes because that receipt that you signed gets put in a big pile with all the other receipts from that day, wrapped up with an elastic band and thrown into a rubbermaid only ever to be looked at again in the case of a very, very strenuous audit or extremely serious screw-up in the final numbers.

This problem is going to go away anyways, what with chip credit cards and needing to type in a pin on a machine.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by scotty2hotty

Sure could have. And thanks for your deep insight. No one was turning this into a holier than thou, a tip is a privilege not a right, debate.

As I pointed out twice, my point was not to admonish anyone for how much or little to tip. I was simply pointing out that rounding to an even number is uneccesary when using a credit card.

G'head and do as you please.

I round it to the dollar so I can pat myself on the back for being so good at math... or is it arithi.. arithamet... arithem...oh hell.. it is math.

[Deegee]

Originally Posted by evman150

I REALLY hate it when people bitch about this.

You are getting tipped, and in this case a very reasonable tip, do not bitch about an extra six cents. Imagine - complaining about MORE money! Must be a tough job.

He raises a good point, though. Had the math been easier, he might not have added another $10.00 randomly to the total.

I thought dishonest employees usually steal in small amounts as an attempt to keep from being noticed?

[dubc80]

So the bank has credited me back. That was quick.

I gave the restaurant a call and talked to the manager. I got credited back, but I wanted to bring this incident to his attention. Who knows how often it happens and if there was malicious intent or if it was an honest mistake.

He took down my information and said he was going to "investigate", whatever that means. I'm guessing I'll never hear from him again.

Too bad, it was a great meal but I won't be back to Muse.

[secol]

Originally Posted by shermanator

$5? Seems like a petty amount to me to be worrying about.

you take your 5 dolla to the dolla store and you get yourself 5 nice things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Bbdq6WYSE

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by driveway

The bank will debit the Restaurant for the $5.00 - cause banks are like that. Follow up with the restaurant if you want, chances are it was an honest mistake, but it's always good for a restaurant to get feedback.

And, as a former restaurant manager I can tell you that there's no way I'd comp you a meal over a $5 overcharge. I'd probably offer ten or twenty percent off your next meal, unless you acted like it was the worst thing that's ever happened. In that case, you'd get nothing.

Not true. Anything less than $20 and the bank eats the cost.

[scotty2hotty]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Don't tell me what is necessary about spending my money.

That was not necessary.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by dubc80

So the bank has credited me back. That was quick.

I gave the restaurant a call and talked to the manager. I got credited back, but I wanted to bring this incident to his attention. Who knows how often it happens and if there was malicious intent or if it was an honest mistake.

He took down my information and said he was going to "investigate", whatever that means. I'm guessing I'll never hear from him again.

Too bad, it was a great meal but I won't be back to Muse.

You should probably report him to the cops, the news and the papers. To try and get an extra five dollars is definitely malicious and he should be publicly defecated on, unless of course he was using this money to buy a fake jersey from China. Then, it's totally awesome and almost like the real thing.

[McG]

i am sure that i am not the only one, but when i am travelling and receipts are from the same location for the same amount, i have often found it wise to make the receipts end in different amounts when they would ordinarily be the same.

our corporate expense tracking tool is pretty crap; it only shows dollar amounts and dates.

it is much easier for reconciliation purposes for me to make a bill 50.01 or 50.50 instead of just 50. it differentiates the invoice to make my expenses easier to do.

i have actually never given it a thought that a server got an extra penny or quarter or whatever.

[Olao32]

I think the OP’s issue is with the premise that the server stole from him. He wrote down an amount he was willing to pay, and for whatever reason the server then entered in a different amount. Now, there is an opinion to question the significance of the amount and say, hey it’s just $5, let it go. But I would warn against that. Having worked in the industry many years when I put myself through university, I have heard horror stories of individuals doing just that. Overcharging a few bucks here and there, all the while what the server is doing is testing it. He/she may have already written the car number down and is seeing if you are negligent with your statements. If you are, and they go to use your credit card online, you likely wouldn’t have caught their first fishing attempt and can get stuck with a nice little surprise at the end of the month. Or, multiple small transactions. Visa will take care of it either way, but it would be a big pain in the ass to deal with.
Not saying that is what happened to you, they might be skimming too, but you never know.

Originally Posted by driveway

And, as a former restaurant manager I can tell you that there's no way I'd comp you a meal over a $5 overcharge. I'd probably offer ten or twenty percent off your next meal, unless you acted like it was the worst thing that's ever happened. In that case, you'd get nothing.

Also, no offense intended at all, but I am not sure where you worked that you consider server skimming a non-issue. And as a former server and bartender, I can tell you that this sort of thing goes to the reputation of the establishment. In the many locations I have worked in, I can guarantee you management would take this very seriously and ensure the customers issue was rectified.