Question about tipping and bad service...

[tennisflip]

I order take out veal parm from Olive Garden. On the phone I sepcifically say I want the lunch portion cuz I don't want to use my credit card. I get there and they suddenly say, sorry, we only serve dinner portions of veal parm. The chick who I talked to on the phone even said it was her mistake that she didn't know that was their policy. Well, I'm fukkin hungry so I whip out my CC and pay, but don't leave a tip. I get home and check my online statement, and they added %15 gratuity to my bill. This was take out so who the hell gets it? Do they have the right to charge me for a tip despite the fact that I chose not to leave one?

 

[Saulbadguy]

That is a punishment from god, for eating at Olive Garden. How can you eat that crap?

 

[minendo]

Do they have the right to charge me for a tip despite the fact that I chose not to leave one?

They do not.

 

[tennisflip]

Originally posted by: minendo

Do they have the right to charge me for a tip despite the fact that I chose not to leave one?

They do not.

Are you %100 sure... cuz I'm about to go there and lay the smack down on those idiots. First they get my order wrong, I pay for an overchage, then they add a %15 tip for walking from the kitchen to the bar with a fukkin bag.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: tennisflip

Originally posted by: minendo

Do they have the right to charge me for a tip despite the fact that I chose not to leave one?

They do not.

Are you %100 sure... cuz I'm about to go there and lay the smack down on those idiots. First they get my order wrong, I pay for an overchage, then they add a %15 tip for walking from the kitchen to the bar with a fukkin bag.

You did not sign off on the adding of a tip. Call your CC company and file a report first.

 

[tennisflip]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: tennisflip

Originally posted by: minendo

Do they have the right to charge me for a tip despite the fact that I chose not to leave one?

They do not.

Are you %100 sure... cuz I'm about to go there and lay the smack down on those idiots. First they get my order wrong, I pay for an overchage, then they add a %15 tip for walking from the kitchen to the bar with a fukkin bag.

You did not sign off on the adding of a tip. Call your CC company and file a report first.

If I remember correctly I put a slash through the section of the receipt that sez Tip: $___ So there's a line above the line. Then the total was the same as the dish plus tax. I hope you didn't have to put a zero down if you don't want to tip?

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: tennisflip
If I remember correctly I put a slash through the section of the receipt that sez Tip: $___ So there's a line above the line. Then the total was the same as the dish plus tax. I hope you didn't have to put a zero down if you don't want to tip?

You do not. Do you happen to have a copy of the receipt still?

Also, call your CC company immediately and file a complaint on an unauthorized charge.

 

[amnesiac]

Gratuity is NEVER REQUIRED and is in fact in breach of their contract if they modify the amount charged without your authorization. They can get in BIG trouble with the credit card company.

Also, as a former takeout bitch for The Cheesecake Factory (I did takeout as well as head up the bakery, train newbies, cashiering, etc.) I only expected a tip if a) the order was abnormally large, or b) I went out of my way to accomodate a guest.

After a while though, you either become too busy or too jaded to really care about how much people tip you for takeout. Serving is another matter entirely and we're not going to get into that.

 

[tennisflip]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: tennisflip
If I remember correctly I put a slash through the section of the receipt that sez Tip: $___ So there's a line above the line. Then the total was the same as the dish plus tax. I hope you didn't have to put a zero down if you don't want to tip?

You do not. Do you happen to have a copy of the receipt still?

Also, call your CC company immediately and file a complaint on an unauthorized charge.

Ok. I'm gonna lay the smack down then. So call the CC company first? I was thinking about calling up the manager first. It sux cuz I'm gonna be out of the country for a month, which is why I didn't want to use my CC in the first place. But, alas, the workers at this particular Olive Garden are idiots.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: tennisflip

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: tennisflip
If I remember correctly I put a slash through the section of the receipt that sez Tip: $___ So there's a line above the line. Then the total was the same as the dish plus tax. I hope you didn't have to put a zero down if you don't want to tip?

You do not. Do you happen to have a copy of the receipt still?

Also, call your CC company immediately and file a complaint on an unauthorized charge.

Ok. I'm gonna lay the smack down then. So call the CC company first? I was thinking about calling up the manager first. It sux cuz I'm gonna be out of the country for a month, which is why I didn't want to use my CC in the first place. But, alas, the workers at this particular Olive Garden are idiots.

Call the CC first and explain the situation. You did not authorize the charge for the amount charged.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: tennisflip
I order take out veal parm from Olive Garden. On the phone I sepcifically say I want the lunch portion cuz I don't want to use my credit card. I get there and they suddenly say, sorry, we only serve dinner portions of veal parm. The chick who I talked to on the phone even said it was her mistake that she didn't know that was their policy. Well, I'm fukkin hungry so I whip out my CC and pay, but don't leave a tip. I get home and check my online statement, and they added %15 gratuity to my bill. This was take out so who the hell gets it? Do they have the right to charge me for a tip despite the fact that I chose not to leave one?

htey do not have the Right to do that. contact he CC and complaing.

call the resturant and complaing. try to get the regional manager if possible. Call the police for CC fraud.


I had Ruby tuesday's do something like this to me. the waitress was crap. I paid with my Debit card and puta 0 in the tip section. my wife checked the account at night and found they added a tip. we called ruby tuesdays and got it fixed plus like $75 in gift cards.


just call and raise heck.

 

[fatjohnny]

Chill out man. They did not charge your card the full amount yet. What a LOT of restaurants do is "reserve" a certain amount of funds on your card, just to make sure the funds are there. If the funds are there, then the charge goes through. It happens like this:

• You get there, the bill is $10.00 (just to make the math easy to follow)

• You give them your card, they run it through, and ask your CC company for approval for $11.50 (assuming that you are gonna give 15% tip).

• Your CC says "Yes, he has $11.50 available, we authorize that amount" and the CC company puts a HOLD on that amount.

• Waitress gives you the check, it says $10, with a blank spot for tip.

• If you choose, you may tip. In your case, you did not.

• At the end of night, when the restayrant runs through all of their charges, they will run your through, remove the hold for $11.50, and make the actual charge for $10.

No big deal. Check it agin tomorrow or next day. It will resolve itself.
FJ

 

[Yax]

Calling the CC is not enough. YOu'll need to send a certified letter disputing the charges. Otherwise, they'd send you a form to fill out and return within a few days at which time you'd be out of the country.

 

[minendo]

fatjohnny, I have only ever seen that done with Debit Cards. Not with Credit Cards.

 

[tennisflip]

Thanks guys. And by the way, never order veal parm from the Olive Garden. Utter crap! I miss NYCs Little Italy.

 

[Ynog]

Wait a minute. You got take out and they want you to leave a tip?
Tip is for service provided during a meal not for cooking the food.
Unless with cases like amnesiac said, but 15% would be alittle much I would think.
Then again, do take out people get waiter/waitress wages?

However I used to work at a nice restaurant, and if you didn't get a tip
or in most cases the bartender didn't feel you gave enough, they'd write
their own tip. Not to say its right, but when I worked there you got good
service, and the owner actually stopped people more than once, calling them
out on the bad tip.

I know one bartender who was notorious for it. Had a group of guys once charge
250 in bar bills not to mention were are the bar for 3-4 hours. left a 1 dollar tip.
That was quickly changed to 100. No one ever commented about it. Not to say
this is right, but giving 1 dollar on a 250 dollar bill isnt' either. Especially when you
get good service.

However this is a case of take out, so I would probably confront the restarant before anything else.
Talk to a manager.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: tennisflip
Thanks guys. And by the way, never order veal parm from the Olive Garden. Utter crap! I miss NYCs Little Italy.

Olive Garden in no way resembles true Italian food.

 

[RossMAN]

Before jumping to conclusions wait for the Olive Garden charge to HARD POST to your credit card. Check your statement online first to see what actually charged (not the pending authorization hold right now). This should take 2-3 days to clear as a HARD POST. Then pursue it.

When you called and requested lunch did you happen to note the employee's name?

 

[tennisflip]

I'm gonna wait a few days before I do anything. I'm just pissed that they got my order incorrect, weren't too accomodating about it when I got there, then had it taste like crap when I got home. I HATE spending good money on bad food.

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: tennisflip
Thanks guys. And by the way, never order veal parm from the Olive Garden. Utter crap! I miss NYCs Little Italy.

Olive Garden in no way resembles true Italian food.

For some people, its "eating out at a nice place". Sad but true.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: Saulbadguy

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: tennisflip
Thanks guys. And by the way, never order veal parm from the Olive Garden. Utter crap! I miss NYCs Little Italy.

Olive Garden in no way resembles true Italian food.

For some people, its "eating out at a nice place". Sad but true.

My girlfriend used to love Olive Garden, but then again she had never had true Italian food until I introduced her to it.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: tennisflip
Thanks guys. And by the way, never order veal parm from the Olive Garden. Utter crap! I miss NYCs Little Italy.

Olive Garden in no way resembles true Italian food.

Agreed. Also, I'd call the restaurant and complain. Tell them that you thought you'd be nice and give them 2 choices. You could A.) Dispute the charges with the CC and provide proof to the CC that they overcharged you (which would be the easiest thing for you to do) Or you could B.) Drive all the way back to their restaurant so they could remove the charge from your credit card. "I never give my CC # over the phone" if they ask. Ask for some sort of gift card/ gift certificate for the trouble of going there (rather than them being charged by the CC for the dispute)

 

[DrPizza]

Oh, and,

I keep seeing people claiming the "they ran the card through for more than the amount to make sure the amount of the tip would be there" - I for the life of me can't figure out wtf reason anyone would have to do that. In any restaurant I've been to, they give you the total, with a line for the tip *before* I hand them my credit/debit card. I don't know why they wouldn't know your intention for the amount of the tip before they ring it up.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Oh, and,

I keep seeing people claiming the "they ran the card through for more than the amount to make sure the amount of the tip would be there" - I for the life of me can't figure out wtf reason anyone would have to do that. In any restaurant I've been to, they give you the total, with a line for the tip *before* I hand them my credit/debit card. I don't know why they wouldn't know your intention for the amount of the tip before they ring it up.

Look closely at your online statement immediately after you do this. It's called an unposted transaction. There was a thread almost exactly like this just a few months ago, and after a few days, the correct number showed up and the funds were released.

 

[CChaos]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Before jumping to conclusions wait for the Olive Garden charge to HARD POST to your credit card. Check your statement online first to see what actually charged (not the pending authorization hold right now). This should take 2-3 days to clear as a HARD POST. Then pursue it.