Hey all, I want to dispute a charge on my credit card, but don't know if it's justified, please let me know. Here's the situation:

I went to a club last weekend, and spend $38. I noticed that the menu said that minimum charge is $20, and all charges will have 20% gratuity added. Firstly, I don't know how I spent $38, I only got 2 things of Guinness. Anyway, I get my check at the end of the night, and I see $38, which I thought was a little much for two beers, but I thought that they must have added the 20% gratuity on it already. So I left the "tip" and "total" blank and just signed my name on the non-itemized receipt because I was in a rush to leave... Yesterday I check my Chase card, and I see a charge for $45.60. Which happens to be $38 * 1.2.

Do I have the right to dispute this charge?

Is this charge shown as "pending"?

Yea you have a right to dispute the charge. You have a right to dispute ANY charge.

Whether you're right or wrong is another thing.

What is a "thing" of Guinness? Pint? Pitcher? Can easily see a pitcher of Guinness costing $14.

Do you have a copy of the receipt? Chase might ask for you to send a copy of it when you dispute the charge.

Nope. When I checked it already went through. I called Chase and CSR said she filed the dispute, but I do not see any change/indication on my online activities.

A can, one of those tall cans.

I do not have the receipt.

Chase will make the restaurant produce a receipt, and if the restaurant fails to do so after 60 days the disputed charge will fall off and stay off.

Some times service and restaurants will pad a bill, and inflate a tip..you should always save your receipts.

Take a picture of it with you I phone..

Where I live now, almost all restaurants add a tip, and then leave a line for "additional tip." Usually, if they want to add on a mandatory tip, it would be on the receipt that you sign.

I did once have a server forge a tip, I left a 10.00 tip, and she put another "o" on top of the 0 to the left of the decimal point, making it look like 18.00. The restaurant had the receipt, it was clear that there were two kinds of writing, and the manager was very nice about it. (I assume that the server was told about it, and if this wasn't the first time, was told not to bother coming in again.)

I've also had a bad habit of putting a tip on a receipt, then taking the copy I tipped and signed with me. The charge on my credit card has always been the amount I signed for. (In these cases I've had to either call the restaurant to have them tip the server, or go back in and find the same server. I don't like to stiff people who work hard.)

Credit card agreements do permit late-posted charges, for example, if you sign for your bill at a hotel and then a room service or parking charge comes through that wasn't on your bill at the time you signed it. That's valid.

But without knowing just how much you were charged for the beer itself, or what the receipt said, it's hard to know what your case is here. Why don't you ask the restaurant for a copy of the receipt?