A friend of mine went out to a nightclub, and lo and behold when she got her bill there were about $50 of drinks she had not ordered on her tab which had been held using a credit card.
After the staff member had tried to convince her to pay the full amount, because the staff member said she’d be fired if it was not signed - the staff member gave her $40 back after charging her $10 for an after hours drink for her boyfriend was served and charged to her (this is not legal either) while the staff member and her were discussing the bill.
She signed the bill, and the next morning she called the credit card company and found out that after having signed the bill, there was a $10 tip she had not authorized on the tab.
Is this illegal? I know the bar staff member actions were questionable throughout - but beyond complaints to the Better Business Bureau - what should she do? This is in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that this happened.
Hit submit too soon, sorry. The very first thing she should do is contact the issuing bank of her credit card and dispute the charge. Most (if not all) credit cards offer some level of protectiona gainst such activities. Good luck!
I had this happen once… the waitron at a restaraunt added a few bucks to the tip by changing a 4 to a 7. It was clear looking at the check what had happened, and I had retained the unaltered original. I called American Express, and they adjusted my bill. I don’t know if they took any action beyond that. For 3 bucks, they may have said, “Who cares?”. Or, they may have notified the restaraunt that their staff was playing games.
Your friend should also call the manager of the bar. Too bad for the bartender if she is worried about getting fired. Should have thought about that before scamming the customers, and she should be thankful that the police are being kept out of it.
I would also tell your friend to keep her eye on her CC statements for the next while. If the bartender had no issue piling on extra charges, she may have also copied the number for future use.
She contacted the company which owns the bar & talked with the owner, the entire bill has been removed & the employee has been fired in the middle of the Calgary Stampede.
I would have gone with criminal charges myself so this bartender would never work again - but the employee being fired is good too.
Bummer for her, not being able to work during the drinkingest 10 days of the year in Calgary. Maybe she thought that your friend was some out of town yokel who wouldn’t do anything. BTW, what bar was it?
Most restaraunts I go to now print two separate copies of the credit card slip instead of the no-carbon-required copies. There is no way to show a copy of what the restaurant was given if you have a dispute.
Most likely the credit card company will not take action even for somewhat large theft, as I understand it. Too expensive for them. However, do they report it as a crime to the police where this occurred?
I won’t say the exact name of the bar, but it is the one that used to have lion statues outside, is owned by the same company that owns Cowboys, and the name rhymes with mantra - if you have been to Calgary lately - you should be able to guess.
At $10 a drink, it is not like a bartender is having trouble making tips.
Normally when I go to a restraunt I’ll pay the bill with a CC then tip the waitperson with cash. So when I go to sign the tab I just leave the tip space blank. Well I’ve found you shouldn’t do that. If your not going to tip on the CC write down -0- in the tip space or else a waitperson might take it upon themselves to write down a tip FOR you. Like they did with me. :mad:
What really had me pissed about that is the whole reason I tip with cash is so the waitperson doesn’t have to claim those tips on their paycheck. Or at least let them decide if they want to or not.
And yes I know shame on me for helping someone cheat Unclesam…
