After this happened to my son (it was also only a couple of dollars) and the restaurant never did straighten it out, he came up with a great idea we've copied. He now carries a pen with green ink. Black, blue, or red are ink colors that are available to people changing the totals, but green ink makes it too noticeable since almost no one has that at the restaurant/hotel/store. ;)

I'm afraid (as earlier posted), I take a harsher perspective than most here....

I was first involved with CCs in 1967, as the bank I worked for took on MC, and I was involved in "signing up" merchants. Perhaps the experience made me "ornery" when it comes to the potential avenues for fraud and abuse (by cardholders, merchants, employee-thieves, etc.).

When you've been "cheated", both societal and legal remedies involve the recovery of not just the amount out of which you been bamboozled, but the entire transaction (and in some states, treble damages). For those who claim that a cheated customer should not get the cost of the entire meal or all the drinks back on the grounds that food and beverage have been consumed and can't be returned, so what? The traditional "rules" established by precedent apply; and the dealer caught dealing from the bottom of the deck or holding aces in his sleeve doesn't just forfeit the pot, but fortune, limb and life....(and certainly local livelihood). If the restaurant discovers the bad act was perpetrated by a waitperson, let it recoup its loss, the entire check, from the scurvy blackguard.

Meanwhile, I want ALL my money back by rescinding the entire transaction through the CC carrier.

The massive growth in the number of folks who dine in restaurants and the "awe" in which so many tend to treat well known (and even "chain") joints which commit gross transgressions in the kitchen and at the cash register shocks me. Our ancestors, at least those of whom could afford a meal in any cafe better than "roadside" would have not hesitated to refuse to pay for unsatisfactory food or service, just as they would have refused to pay for a bed infested with bedbugs or a lack of hot water for a paid bath. Were it the faro dealer who cheated, he would have gotten no more than his poke picked clean, a severe thrashing, and being thrown into the mud of the street (better than being shot down at the table, marked cards still in his hand!).

Well said, amigo!

A tipping question (US hotels)
 

I have a question about tipping in US hotels. If you order room service, and the hotel adds a 17% gratuity (plus tray charge), is the done thing still to leave a tip (written on the signed check or a cash tip)?

Not sure what you mean by the "done thing". Wouldn't you consider 17% tip enough? I would never leave more than that.

If they choose to automatically include a gratuity, then no reason to add more unless they did something extraordinary..... you may already be paying a premium to get the room service.

If the hotel automatically charges 17%, and probably a fixed cost of another couple dollars in addition, I do not tip. If there are no gratuity charges automatically added, I give them a couple dollars for a tip.

Keep in mind that the fixed amount is usually straight to the hotel and a % is usually for the server.

If there is a gratuity already on there - then that is that, though I sometimes add an extra buck or 2 if they have been super helpful.

OTOH, many hotels add a 10% service charge for room service; I do not treat this as a gratuity.

Merging thread with http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=855767

It depends on which country I'm in.

If the U.S., then no I won't tip more. If it's a first-class hotel in a third world country, then I'll give them a handful of local coins worth a buck or so.

The beaming smile I get always makes it worthwhile.

Totally Agree ^

If people are changing 5's for 8's and getting a couple of extra dollars out of it - how different is this really from pick pocketing dollars from your pocket without you knowing?

I would suggest that if you found restaurant staff pick pocketing your money, no matter how small, you'd want more than just your money back and a "we're sorry" in recompense.

On a visit to NYC last week, I noticed that some restaurants are trying another scam. It seems that they are trying to get some extra money out of foreigners who are not fluent in English.
When the bill comes, it will say (example):

Food and beverages $ 100
Gratuity 20% $ 20
Total $ 120

Followed by (in BIG BOLD LETTERS)

SUGGESTED TIP:
15% $ 18
18% $ 21.60
20% $ 24

Many foreigners will not know the word "gratuity" but will have heard about "tip" and the general practice in the US to add 15 - 20%. By presenting the bill in the way described above, they are basically trying to scam the innocent visitor for a double tip. :td:

Agree

I still agree

Shameful :td:

I make it a habit to draw lines through my amounts and put the $ right next to my total paid. Like '$40' not '$ 40.'

I usually go for even amounts like $48.00 and round up tips but instead of writing '$48.00,' I write '$48-------' (solid line to the end of the paper) so they cannot write anything else or change the 0 to an 8.

This works for me, no fradulent charges posted yet.

Tipping question for small amounts
 

If I have a small amount of $6.50 for breakfast in a restaurant, 20% would be $1.30. Would $1.50 be enough as a tip?

Back to the $45 or $47. the entry to the card company is not what you wrote, but what was keyed into the machine.

all this posting could be over a keystroke error.

my credit card billing sheet does not have phone listings for most charges. i just call amex if a problem. problems are extremely rare. less often than i would expect to see keystroke errors.