small surprise on credit card statement

[rapmarks]

not a major issue, but I go to one restaurant about every two weeks, and this time I used my American Express card. Just got the statement and happened to notice that my restaurant charge which was for $15, included a $14 tip. I know I left a $4 tip. I decided to call AMEX, but admitted I had not kept my receipt. They listened to me, and said they would take care of it.
As far as I know, AMEX is the only credit card that puts the tip on the statement, and I was happy they did. I don't begrudge the waitress the extra ten dollars, but I am glad I checked that statement.

 

[DeniseM]

Since this is some place you eat regularly, I probably would have taken it up with the Mgr. instead of disputing the payment, because I think the restaurant will be charged a charge-back free of $25-$35 by the credit card company.

So the waitress stands to lose $35-$45 and possibly be in trouble.

Unless of course, you think this was fraud, and not an honest mistake.

 

[Luanne]

I have had a restaurant add in a tip on a credit card bill after I had left cash (and written "cash" on the slip) to my charge. I did call the restaurant, they apologized and corrected the bill.

 

[John Cummings]

At Starbucks at Caesar's Palace, the clerk added a tip to our bill. We always charge all food etc. to our room when in Las Vegas and we pay our tips with cash. We get everything comped so when we checkout our bill is always zero. Tips are never comped so I was surprised when we had a charge on our bill. They said it was for a tip at Starbucks. I told them we always pay cash for tips so they took it off.

I always draw a line through the tip so they can't add it. Unfortunately my wife usually forgets.

 

[VegasBella]

I have a couple minimum tip amounts no matter the size of the bill. For example, a sit down restaurant my tip is going to be at least $5 no matter how little I ordered so long as I ordered food. For coffee, it's $1. For some others, it's $10 (I do this because I drink water for most meals and that keeps the bill low but the amount of work is the same for a food server, they have to keep bringing refills).

Well, one of my credit cards thinks I am too generous and sends an alert whenever the tip amount is more than 10% or something (I haven't actually sat down and figured out the algorithm). My husband always pesters me about it, saying, "see, even the credit card thinks you tip too much."

I heard that a good way to prevent fraud is to try to always make your charges end in a particular number, like 7. That way when you go through your bill the odd ones stand out. So for example, you fill up your gas tank to exactly $30.47 and if your restaurant bill comes 48.92 then you tip something like $10.05 so the total is 58.97. I've never actually tried this method so I don't know how well it works. It seems like a little bit of a hassle.

 

[Luanne]

Your credit card company thinks anything over 10% is too high? They need to get with the times. Now the going rate is somewhere around 18%.

 

[VegasBella]

Your credit card company thinks anything over 10% is too high? They need to get with the times. Now the going rate is somewhere around 18%.

Actually I think it's my husband who thinks that. The credit card probably thinks more than 20% is too high. I'm not sure what the credit card "thinks." It probably thinks I'm a sucker for using a credit card.

The alerts come on tips that are technically about 45%. I pay that at our pool where the waitress has to walk a long ways to get me my veggie burger and water and then she refills my water about 4 times while I'm there. I just feel like her work is the same as if I ordered 4 margaritas.

 

[Magic1962]

If the service is good we always give 20% if it's bad as little as possible..... Dave

 

[rapmarks]

the date was Sept 4, but I do remember the waitress because she used to live in our neighborhood.
I didn't get the impression that AMEX was going to dispute it, I think they were just going to take it off.
I can see that I may have sloppily written the dollar sign so the slash made the $4 appear to be $14, but the total shouldn't have been a mistake.

 

[DeniseM]

the date was Sept 4, but I do remember the waitress because she used to live in our neighborhood.
I didn't get the impression that AMEX was going to dispute it, I think they were just going to take it off.
I can see that I may have sloppily written the dollar sign so the slash made the $4 appear to be $14, but the total shouldn't have been a mistake.

That's how it works - if a business over charges you and you notify your CC, they get a charge-back.

They can't just take it off, because the CC credited the money to the restaurant.

They have to take that money back from the restaurant, plus the charge-back fee.

 

[Ironwood]

I'm a reasonable tipper, not overly generous but typically 12 to 20% depending on service and the whole dining experience. But I object to servers with table side POS terminals taking your card and advancing the payment screen to confirm a 20% tip... yes or no... on your behalf. I'll determine the tip not the server..and that's the second time I've experienced that this year. That's a little too cheeky for my liking. Last weekend I backed the screen up and input 15% while she stood watching. I'll give her credit, she didn't flinch and politely thanked me....I guess she was used to it!

 

[rapmarks]

That's how it works - if a business over charges you and you notify your CC, they get a charge-back.

They can't just take it off, because the CC credited the money to the restaurant.

They have to take that money back from the restaurant, plus the charge-back fee.

now I feel bad about it.

 

[SueDonJ]

now I feel bad about it.

You could always explain what's happened to the manager and let them both know that you didn't mean for anyone at the restaurant to suffer for what was probably an honest mistake. Maybe if you do the manager will go easy on the waitress and not charge her any of the fees. Or, if she is charged, you could offer to reimburse her? Not saying you owe it to her but if it's not a hardship it would be a nice thing to do.

 

[rapmarks]

Is it usual to have a $14 tip on a $15 bill?

 

[Ken555]

That's how it works - if a business over charges you and you notify your CC, they get a charge-back.

They can't just take it off, because the CC credited the money to the restaurant.

They have to take that money back from the restaurant, plus the charge-back fee.

A chargeback typically only occurs with a dispute. If this incident wasn't a true dispute I'm not sure how AMEX would handle it. And if it's disputed, the cardholder should be able to see it online and on the next statement, would receive communication from AMEX about the dispute and the resolution. They have policies about how to document disputes...so I'd say if the cardholder doesn't see any of this then it's likely AMEX will just eat the $10 as a courtesy to the cardholder. It does happen, though rare (since Amex is very nice to cardholders but not as nice to merchants, typically).


Sent from my iPad

 

[Wonka]

Don't feel bad - Someone is stealing

now I feel bad about it.

Why would you feel bad? It's more likely someone else changed the tip amount since they're most likely shared. If it happened to you, how many others are routinely changed? This is no different than stealing and the employer should be notified.

 

[Luanne]

That's how it works - if a business over charges you and you notify your CC, they get a charge-back.

They can't just take it off, because the CC credited the money to the restaurant.

They have to take that money back from the restaurant, plus the charge-back fee.

With Chase the experience I've had is, I put the amount in dispute while I working with the vendor to resolve the issue. Chase doesn't do anything, like a charge back, until they know that I was not able to resolve the issue with the vendor.