Restaurant overcharges my CC. Repeatedly. Where to report them?

[AnyMal]

There is a little restaurant in my area where food is decent and cheap. Last time I went there was about a month ago and I noticed on my CC statement few days later that what statement said and what I authorised were two different amounts. However, I did not keep the receipt and had no way to prove it. Fast forward to last night, I went there again and this time I made it a point to keep the CC receipt. I went to check my CC statement this morning and guess what? The charges don't match again, my CC shows almost $3.00 more then what I signed for on the receipt.

Should I go down there and raise hell or should I call someone?

 

[StageLeft]

Calm down. What a restaurant preauthorizes is often different than what they actually take out. Restaurants for me often overcharge by a few bucks - they pad your CC pre-authorization with possible tip amount, but when your REAL statement comes out I bet it will be accurate.

Also, if they did overcharge you before just dispute the amount or ask to see the receipt; the onus is on them to prove that you agreed to pay the amount they are claiming.

 

[psiu]

Seems you should go down there and ask to speak to the manager....you didn't give a tip and forget to note it on your copy did you? Either that, or night staff is adding tips for you.

 

[maziwanka]

call your cc company AND go down there and ask what's up? if they're d!cks then raise hell

 

[RagingBITCH]

Restaurants frequently charge over a certain percentage the first few days after - it's perfectly normal for that to happen. You need to wait a week or two and check your statement again - it should be right then.

 

[AnyMal]

1. I always tip in cash and put $0.00 on the CC slip and make sure to write down the total.

2. I was not aware that restaurant may initially overcharge. Can someone explain why?

 

[dabuddha]

If it's a final charge, then I'd take it to the manager and see what he says. I had the same problem where the some stupid idiot new employee charged my CC "accidently" 6 times. I showed the manager and he apologized and promptly refunded my money. Also do what I do. I always pay in cash when I go to this particular place.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: AnyMal
1. I always tip in cash and put $0.00 on the CC slip and make sure to write down the total.

2. I was not aware that restaurant may initially overcharge. Can someone explain why?

2) I did first post It's to pad the pre-authorization for your tip amount.

 

[AnyMal]

dabuddha - If it's true I simply won't go there anymore. If they do that on purpose, then imagine all the extra money they are making off the people who never bother to check their statements or don't keep the receipts. Not everyone is going to notice $2-3 charge difference, but it adds up.

Skoorb - thanks, I will hold off few days and see if the final charge is different.

 

[Kyteland]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: AnyMal
1. I always tip in cash and put $0.00 on the CC slip and make sure to write down the total.

2. I was not aware that restaurant may initially overcharge. Can someone explain why?

2) I did first post It's to pad the pre-authorization for your tip amount.

Gas stations do this too. When you swipe your card they will charge you $30 or something, just to make sure you have it. Then after they pump your gas they will charge you the amount you pumped and put the $30 back.

 

[BigSmooth]

I work for a restaurant company and we get complaints about this all the time. As others have mentioned, what appears to be an overcharge is just a preauthorization to cover the tip (I believe in our case it defaults to 25% of the check amount, but it might vary by company). It has to be done this way because the tip is added to the charged amount after the card is swiped.

However, it is true that restaurants are a big source of CC fraud. When we do get complaints, we will audit the server very closely making sure they are not altering tip amounts etc. They get fired if we find they have been defrauding customers. While a local place like the one you are describing probably does not have controls like we do, you should always talk to a manager if you think you have been ripped off.

 

[KarenMarie]

if it is a final charge, then it is a federal offense.
If it is just a preauthorization, then it will be a bit higher than the actual charged amount when the bill comes.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: AnyMal
1. I always tip in cash and put $0.00 on the CC slip and make sure to write down the total.

2. I was not aware that restaurant may initially overcharge. Can someone explain why?

2) I did first post It's to pad the pre-authorization for your tip amount.

Skoorb is correct.

An authorization amount at a restaurant, gas station, hotel or car rental company is almost always HIGHER than your receipt amount.

Calm the fsck down, wait until the charges actually hard post to your account before declaring World War III or start paying with CASH.

 

[Dulanic]

Yes I also recommend waiting a week or so and watching if the amount changes. But people DO need to watch their CC, there are more then a few waiters who will change the tip amount. My sister is a waitress and she used to do this, and they fired her.... which is good cause she deserved it.

 

[dullard]

Yes many restaurants do that. Why? So they don't have to call the CC company twice while you are waiting.

Suppose your bill is $20. Suppose also you only have $21 left on the CC (you have nearly maxed it out). If they swipe it the first time for $20, and you come back and add a $2 tip, then suddenly you have gone over the limit! That costs you a fortune in overlimit charges.

One solution would be to call if $20 is approved, then when you add a tip, recall to see if the tip is approved. That would require a major change in the way restaurants work (ie you could not leave before your tip is checked by your waiter - not a good feeling to have the waiter know the tip while you are still sitting there). Obviously this isn't a solution many people would like.

So as a favor to you there is another solution. The restaurant will initally get an approval for $24-$25. Thus any reasonable tip will be less than that amount and you will not go over. They can then let you leave before the waitor has seen your tip. Then at the end of the day, the REAL amount you left as a tip is entered into the CC. It often takes a few days to get the tip corrected.

But this is a lesson to you. They give you the receipt for a reason. Keep your restaurant receipts and check them when your CC bill comes. If it is incorrect THEN you have reason for a complaint.

 

[KarenMarie]

back in the days when i tended bar... if we had a pr!ck at the bar, we would preauthorize their cards for huge amounts.. and it stayed there for ages as a preauthorization (not like the lightening speed of today) so if he wanted to use his card again later, it would ask the cardholder to call for verification. Embarassing!

Things have changed since then. Now it is all so darn fast!

 

[Thegonagle]

This one is so old I'm tired of answering it.

All I?ll say is wait for the final charge. The instant authorization amount is completely independent of the final amount, which takes 2-3 business days to go through.

BTW, check again and you'll probably find that authorization is for exactly 20% (or another round number like 25%, or 15%) more than the food bill.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: Dulanic
Yes I also recommend waiting a week or so and watching if the amount changes. But people DO need to watch their CC, there are more then a few waiters who will change the tip amount. My sister is a waitress and she used to do this, and they fired her.... which is good cause she deserved it.

Hell yeah! Most servers know better though, and if they happen to be making good money there, they won't risk their job over a few dollars. (It's a numbers game--the next table could very well more than make up for a sh!tty tip from the last one.)

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: AnyMal
1. I always tip in cash and put $0.00 on the CC slip and make sure to write down the total.

2. I was not aware that restaurant may initially overcharge. Can someone explain why?

2) I did first post It's to pad the pre-authorization for your tip amount.

Skoorb is correct.

An authorization amount at a restaurant, gas station, hotel or car rental company is almost always HIGHER than your receipt amount.

Calm the fsck down, wait until the charges actually hard post to your account before declaring World War III or start paying with CASH.

Sounds like you need to calm the fsck down yourself man. When did I ever "declare a Worldd War"? Besides, having you advise people to use CASH instead of CC is like having a doctor advise his patients to start smoking.

 

[Aharami]

i had no clue restaurants do this. im gonna have to keep an eye out from now on

 

[PingSpike]

Wow I didn't know this. I usually tip cash and leave the 'tip' line blank. (I write in the total as the same though) I'll write 0.00 in there from now on.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: AnyMal Besides, having you advise people to use CASH instead of CC is like having a doctor advise his patients to start smoking.

Uh, I fail to see the connection. There's nothing unhealthy about cash that I know of.

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Wow I didn't know this. I usually tip cash and leave the 'tip' line blank. (I write in the total as the same though) I'll write 0.00 in there from now on.

That won't change the preauthorization amount, since it happens before you ever have the chance to write 0.00 in the tip line.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Wow I didn't know this. I usually tip cash and leave the 'tip' line blank. (I write in the total as the same though) I'll write 0.00 in there from now on.

That won't change the preauthorization amount, since it happens before you ever have the chance to write 0.00 in the tip line.

I realize that. But its so easy to just write a number in that line when its blank. I don't really care about the preauth, I understand why its done.

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: AnyMal Besides, having you advise people to use CASH instead of CC is like having a doctor advise his patients to start smoking.

Uh, I fail to see the connection. There's nothing unhealthy about cash that I know of.

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Wow I didn't know this. I usually tip cash and leave the 'tip' line blank. (I write in the total as the same though) I'll write 0.00 in there from now on.

That won't change the preauthorization amount, since it happens before you ever have the chance to write 0.00 in the tip line.

You must not be aware of Rossman's love affair with CC companies. And yes, I agree, cash is always better, but you can carry only so much of it at a time.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: AnyMal

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: AnyMal Besides, having you advise people to use CASH instead of CC is like having a doctor advise his patients to start smoking.

Uh, I fail to see the connection. There's nothing unhealthy about cash that I know of.

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Wow I didn't know this. I usually tip cash and leave the 'tip' line blank. (I write in the total as the same though) I'll write 0.00 in there from now on.

That won't change the preauthorization amount, since it happens before you ever have the chance to write 0.00 in the tip line.

You must not be aware of Rossman's love affair with CC companies. And yes, I agree, cash is always better, but you can carry only so much of it at a time.

You're right, cc's own my soul for the next 20 or so years