Ever had your written restaurant tip involuntarily increased?
 

This has happened to me twice in the last month...and almost never before that.
I suspect you know the drill:
Get the bill, review the charges, give them my card, the card & unsigned slips return, I write in the tip (and also write it on my copy for reconciliation), and leave...

Then I find on my statement that the charge is higher...tried to think if my handwriting was poor or they typed it in correctly or (more cynically) is this a cute way of getting more in tips?
In each case I wasn't "punitively" under-tipping...and the amounts were small enough so that the time lost in pursuing them (less than $2 each time) was too much.

So does this happen with any frequency to the FT community?

This happened a couple times with a coworker after he ordered room service. He specifically put a line through the absurd "extra tip" line (you know, extra tip above the already-absurd 20% they include automatically in addition to the $2 "service charge". yeah, that extra tip line). The waitress added her own amount to that line. He caught it when reviewing his bill at checkout time. She was terminated immediately. Good riddance.

I find that at some restaraunts, they automatically charge 10% or something like that as gratuity but also have a spot on the chit to add in your own tip.

But if that is not the case, no I have never experienced getting charged over what I paid and signed for.

5SP :)

Haven't had an involuntarily increase in a written tip yet, but in a restaurant in MEX airport, they had a credit card terminal wherein the transaction could not be finished without putting in a tip (choice of 5%, 10% etc) :confused:

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Dining Buzz Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

You'll notice as the economy gets worse and people eat out less, that this will happen a lot more often. Its sad, but as I always told my employees, is that extra $2 worth your job? If not don't do it! We terminate on the spot for this type of thing, as well as refer the case to the police as this is credit card fraud!

Its a good thing you do this, as the card companies (particularly Amex) tend to be pretty aggressive about tracking down patterns of fraudulent activity. If such a thing were to occur multiple times from the same location, that location could find itself in a heap of trouble in short order.

There's a local family run Italian restaurant that permits you to add the tip to the check when paying with a credit or debit card, but they hand you the tip in cash and ask you to leave it for the server. I'm not sure how this works, but I imagine the servers prefer it and since you're paying the owner, I'd be shocked to see a higher amount on my CC bill.

Maybe this would help others in the future...

http://www.punny.org/money/fight-thi...checksum-tips/

I once has a $2 tip added to a $10 take-out order that I picked up. After that, I learned to draw the line through the tip space when not tipping ot tipping in cash. As for the take-out place, the food is pretty good, so I have been back, but now I always pay cash ;)

Had it happen at a Ruby Tuesday's in Rossyln one time. Waitress put a couple extra dollars on the receipt. One call to Amex Platinum and the bill was reduced back to what it should of been with no documentation or hassle. In retrospect, Amex probably just ate it.

I am quite sure that if a situation like this happens then you can go directly to the credit card company and not have to deal with the merchant in good faith first.

This is a forgery, not a dispute over the quality of goods or services.

Travel tips: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

Once at a Hooters in St. Pete FL (regretfully) our waitress was screwing up a lunch for 2 by forgetting things and being incredibly slow even though the place was empty. When the bill came for about $20, she said to include some extra amount on the tip line for a side that never came or came out late but "wasn't on the receipt". I think it might have even been just a no charge substitution of this for that, like coleslaw instead of french fries.

At this point I had more than enough of this nonsense, didn't want to be part of any "fraud" she might have been pulling and left a $5 tip for a total of $25 just to be done with this unpleasant meal. When I received the downloaded charges a few days later, it was for a flat $40!

I immediately disputed it with American Express, sent in my carbon receipt for the $20 and got the other $20 back without further ado.

I have had Amex correct my addition. Yes, sometimes I'm too clever by half to get a whole number or multiple of $10, and make an error.

I'm more likely to complain to a manager about bad service than leave a punitive tip. I'll also speak to the manager about kitchen issues rather than taking it out on the server.

Any attempt by the server or restaurant to write in a larger amount is simply fraud and I would report it without hesitation.

Seems to happen in Fla. alot
 

They tell me it's the credit card fraud capital of the country.

Happened to me at Rusty Pelican at Key Biscayne. Someone there changed my tip amount. The only way I caught it was because the CC I used was actually a debit card and I review my bank account regularly.

Had it been a credit card I would have long forgotten what tip amount I left.

When I called the manager changed it back without question. I guess he is used to this happening.