Do Bars Put A Hold On Your Credit Card When You Start A Tab?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Don't know why anyone would be offended by the bar holding your CC. And I don't know why anyone would "forget" to pay and have to track down their plastic.

It's quite a bit harder for a bar to track down that guy in the blue shirt for the $80 he "forgot" to pay, than for the guy in the blue shirt to come back to the bar the next day and ask for his CC that he "forgot" to take with him when he ducked his tab.

Well, sometimes you get 86'd and have to do the walk of shame back into the bar a few days later.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

out here in NS if you're in a bar/pub and want to run a tab you have to give a credit card.

I don't run a tab very often. Once when visiting Halifax I forgot my credit card at the Lower Deck. I had it cancelled by the time I got back to the city, went to pick it up anyway but apparently they shred them after 30 days (not sure if I agree with that).

What I've done since then is hand over an expired credit card and when I go to pay, tell them I'm paying a different card for the points.

Thinking out loud, has anyone ever given a prepaid credit card for a tab? I wonder if that would work too?

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Thinking out loud, has anyone ever given a prepaid credit card for a tab? I wonder if that would work too?

You have to go online and activate it for bar/restaurant use, so it can be done. No idea if the bar would go for it though.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Just as an FYI, everything went through on my card correctly. So it was just a pre-authorization.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

out here in NS if you're in a bar/pub and want to run a tab you have to give a credit card.

I don't run a tab very often. Once when visiting Halifax I forgot my credit card at the Lower Deck. I had it cancelled by the time I got back to the city, went to pick it up anyway but apparently they shred them after 30 days (not sure if I agree with that).

What I've done since then is hand over an expired credit card and when I go to pay, tell them I'm paying a different card for the points.

Thinking out loud, has anyone ever given a prepaid credit card for a tab? I wonder if that would work too?

I used to know some less than steller individuals that would give prepaid visa's to bars and then walk out on the tab. I am unsure if they would run a pre-auth or not.

[Amethyst]

I understand why they would do it but if I was ever asked (I never have been) I would refuse. Not because I'm offended, but because I don't trust some random server to keep it secure. If they don't trust me enough to run a tab without me giving up a credit card, I will pay as I go.

[afc wimbledon]

I've been ripped off once by a bar, added an extra hundred, which they refunded as soon as I complained, most of my friends have had the same experience, it was pretty much endemic in downtown vancouver.

As far as I can tell it's a downtown strip thing, the bar man/waitress just chances that you'll never notice, let's face it so many down there are so out of it they have no clue what they spent the night before, it was so common and they repaid it so quickly without question really, that I assume the owners or manager were in collusion.

That said maybe it's just a Vancouver thing but I would never run a tab on a credit card, I'd find an ATM and take out cash on it.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

I understand why they would do it but if I was ever asked (I never have been) I would refuse. Not because I'm offended, but because I don't trust some random server to keep it secure. If they don't trust me enough to run a tab without me giving up a credit card, I will pay as I go.

As someone who was recently victimized by identity theft, the absolute last thing I would do is leave my credit card with some random stranger. If you need a hold, then do a pre-auth with my card at my table with the portable card terminal every establishment has these days. But don't expect me to leave it in a cup behind the counter. I used to work at a job where I took credit card transactions and it's so incredibly easy to steal someone number and code on the back. Like, ridiculously easy. If they still wanted to physically hold my card while I ate/drink, then I would leave.

Maybe I'm just being a bit paranoid since I've had to go through all that identity theft crap recently. But I'm genuinely surprised many people in this thread are fine with leaving their card with somebody they don't know, just so they can eat/drink somewhere. Not worth the risk IMO.