Restaurant credit card charge snafu, what to do?

[redshift]

"Now look! We've figured it 17 different ways, and each time we figured it, it was no good, because no matter how we figured it, somebody don't like the way we figured it! So now, there's only one way to figure it. And that is, every man, including the old bag, for himself!"

[emoji1] It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World!? Love it!

 

[MichaelB]

OP here with update. Person E texted the group that the restaurant has credited him the excess over $84. I don't know any details as to what was said between them but it sounds like it was uncomplicated.

Thanks to all who contributed their interesting thoughts. Certainly in the future I will not be splitting a bill with cash and credit card! Snapping a pic of the receipt if it is large also sounds like a good idea.

Nice. Good initiative by Person E and smart move the restaurant owner / manager.

 

[BigNick]

OP here with update. Person E texted the group that the restaurant has credited him the excess over $84. I don't know any details as to what was said between them but it sounds like it was uncomplicated.

Thanks to all who contributed their interesting thoughts. Certainly in the future I will not be splitting a bill with cash and credit card! Snapping a pic of the receipt if it is large also sounds like a good idea.

A nice gesture. I hope the group goes back and leaves a substantial tip (over 15.00%). In cash. (FWIW when in the US I tend to pay my restaurant bills by card, adding 0, and leave a tip in cash. I don't trust the accountants to get 100% of the tip amount back to the people in the restaurant.)

I was tending to the unsympathetic side on this one. I'm sure there are times when people leave a really large tip because they've had too much to drink and the server was really cute, and they come back in the morning because that tip was in fact their grocery money for the week.

 

[BeachOrCity]

You guys made a mistake. Specifically the guy signing a bill w/o looking at it. The server, being the honest guy that he is, brought it to your attention and you still didn't bother to double check. Going back to the establishment would be in extremely poor taste.

+1

 

[Scratchy]

+1

-1

Yes the waiter did the right thing and Person E made a mistake but so did someone at the restaurant. It was an unfortunate event. I would have also addressed this with the restaurant and I'm pleased with the end result.

 

[Bestwifeever]

OP here with update. Person E texted the group that the restaurant has credited him the excess over $84. I don't know any details as to what was said between them but it sounds like it was uncomplicated.

Thanks to all who contributed their interesting thoughts. Certainly in the future I will not be splitting a bill with cash and credit card! Snapping a pic of the receipt if it is large also sounds like a good idea.

I imagine mistakes are not uncommon. One time we called a restaurant after we got home and DH double checked the bill to find we had been charged (and paid for) a bottle of wine we had not ordered and two cocktails when we had ordered only one. The. manager took off the errors and also the cocktail I had enjoyed and sent an adjusted bill to our CC right away. Smart move. Too bad we didn’t really like the food there

 

[Scratchy]

I imagine mistakes are not uncommon. One time we called a restaurant after we got home and DH double checked the bill to find we had been charged (and paid for) a bottle of wine we had not ordered and two cocktails when we had ordered only one. The. manager took off the errors and also the cocktail I had enjoyed and sent an adjusted bill to our CC right away. Smart move. Too bad we didn’t really like the food there

I haven't been checking carefully up to this point but three or four times I have seen errors, things like an extra item on the bill. A little bit suspiciously, the errors have never been in my favor, but admittedly the sample size is very small.

 

[beowulf]

I'm OCD when it comes to checking bills of any type anywhere. DW is oblivious and gets annoyed when I take my time and go through restaurant checks. I've found that about 5% have errors of some sort - from very small to getting someone else's check. I actually watch the cash register in stores as items are rung up and then look at the bill prior to leaving the register. Errors in supermarkets are very rare, but sometimes discounts offered don't make it to the final bill. Problem is that it's often hard to figure out which item goes with which price. And some shopping trips involve a lot of items. Clothing stores/department stores are about the same as supermarkets - errors are rare, but do happen. And it's hard to figure out - items not on sale are intermingled with sale items and the sign says 40% or some other % off, yet the item rings up at full price. Nothing you can do about that except not buy the item. You have to be ever diligent when eating out, shopping, spending money.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you .

 

[Scratchy]

Clothing stores/department stores are about the same as supermarkets - errors are rare, but do happen. And it's hard to figure out - items not on sale are intermingled with sale items and the sign says 40% or some other % off, yet the item rings up at full price. Nothing you can do about that except not buy the item. You have to be ever diligent when eating out, shopping, spending money.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you .

I have had the same experience in clothing stores. Frequently, an item from a rack marked on sale is not really on sale. If I am buying an item marked on sale, I usually specifically ask the clerk what the price of the item is as it is rung up to see whether it reflects the sale I expected.

 

[jollystomper]

I haven't been checking carefully up to this point but three or four times I have seen errors, things like an extra item on the bill. A little bit suspiciously, the errors have never been in my favor, but admittedly the sample size is very small.

Several times I have had errors in my favor, such are entire entrees or desserts left off. I have always pointed this out the restaurants appreciated it. One even remembered us the next time we came and comped our appetizers and desserts.

 

[Music Lover]

A nice gesture. I hope the group goes back and leaves a substantial tip (over 15.00%). In cash. (FWIW when in the US I tend to pay my restaurant bills by card, adding 0, and leave a tip in cash. I don't trust the accountants to get 100% of the tip amount back to the people in the restaurant.)

They already left a $55 tip...for probably about 2 hours of service. Why would they go back and give more? The server got $55 from them plus what all the other tables tipped. How much money does a server really have to make?

 

[gayl]

"but I only tip 50c on my daily $2.05 at Sbux"

I'm not sure if I've ever seen people tip at Sbux. Nearly everyone pays with either a CC, a phone app, or, more commonly, a Sbux card. They just scan whatever you proffer and there is really no way to tip. And who are you tipping? The person at the register? The one who actually makes your drink? The one who takes a muffin out of the case? It's more like an assembly line - not the really old days where there was a waitress behind the counter who brings you a cup and saucer and then pours you a cup and then cleans it up. Places like Sbux really don't encourage tipping by making it easy to do so.

It's a button on the app and it is divided among all on that shift

 

[Texas Proud]

I haven't been checking carefully up to this point but three or four times I have seen errors, things like an extra item on the bill. A little bit suspiciously, the errors have never been in my favor, but admittedly the sample size is very small.

Just to let you know, sometimes I have had an error go in my favor... as long as everything was good and service was good I would point it out, just like if it were not in my favor...


I have also had things not in my favor that I did not want to deal with and would take it out of the tip and tell the server on the way out... usually this was if the service was bad, the meal took too long and we had to wait for the bill.... I do not want to wait to get it fixed...


So far I have never made the mistake that the friend of the OP made... but I do agree that it was handled very well....


BTW, one recent problem I had was at Smashburger (well two times there)... I bought one of their specials with bacon... but when I got home there was no bacon... I only asked to get free bacon the next time I come but he sent me cards for 3 burgers... the next time I went I bought something that had two different kinds of cheese and said "no cheese"... well, they only took of one kind and left the other on... when I went to ask they said there were two cheeses... it was their mistake... I said I already got 3 burgers for free so I did not want any more...

 

[braumeister]

The only time I can remember a problem with a bill was some years ago when I took my wife and mother out to a fairly nice restaurant. We had a good meal but something came up (Mom was in one of her moods, as only those in their late 80s can do) and I got pretty irritated. I kind of rushed things to get out of there and get home, and after I was home I looked at the receipt again and realized that I had only tipped 5%. I felt terrible about it, so I went back the next night, found the server and tipped him very well in cash, along with an apology. He was kind of shocked but I thought it was only right.

 

[foxfirev5]

Personally I can't stand this dividing up the check stuff. One check only. If I can't afford to pick up the check I don't go. It all averages out in the long run. If I were continually taken advantage of I would not participate. But this has not been the case.

 

[RobbieB]

I don't like the split stuff either, I like to take turns.

 

[Music Lover]

Personally I can't stand this dividing up the check stuff. One check only. If I can't afford to pick up the check I don't go. It all averages out in the long run. If I were continually taken advantage of I would not participate. But this has not been the case.

It's not about affording it. Most of us can afford to pay the bill for the entire party every time. But, the restaurant industry is the only business that likes to assume that people who bought different things at different prices are quite happy to split the cost equally when the bill comes.

 

[gayl]

I'm OCD when it comes to checking bills of any type anywhere. .... I actually watch the cash register in stores as items are rung up and then look at the bill prior to leaving the register. ... Clothing stores/department stores are about the same as supermarkets - errors are rare, but do happen. And it's hard to figure out - items not on sale are intermingled with sale items and the sign says 40% or some other % off, yet the item rings up at full price. ...

Macy's is notorious for putting up a sign that it's xx% off but register not ringing up the discount .... also online lower than in store or visa versa. So I use pics on phone to get it right. Last top was discounted to 19.99 in Walnut Creek but 7.93 online. Paid 7.93

 

[gwraigty]

It's not about affording it. Most of us can afford to pay the bill for the entire party every time. But, the restaurant industry is the only business that likes to assume that people who bought different things at different prices are quite happy to split the cost equally when the bill comes.

It makes it easier for the waitstaff, but it's not necessarily the best thing for the friendships. We used to go out once a month for dinner with 2 other couples. For months, we got only one bill and split it. We were usually asked by the waitstaff ahead of time and we were all OK with doing it that way.

Until the day Tom got upset when John ordered an appetizer, which wasn't a usual thing. My husband and I didn't mind. John said that everyone could share the appetizer. Tom didn't want to, so he didn't want to have to pay for 1/3 of it. John reminded Tom that he and his wife were the only ones who ordered more expensive alcohol beverages at these monthly dinners that the rest of us had been paying for and we'd not complained about it. Tom didn't care. He wasn't going to pay for an appetizer he wasn't going to eat and that was it. We got separate checks that day and each time afterwards.

My husband and I had probably been paying more than our share all along, because we were more frugal than the other couples. We valued the friendships, so we didn't keep score. Of course, if the other couples had ordered expensive steak and lobster while we ordered hamburger or pasta every month, we might have felt differently. But I don't think that was the case.

 

[gayl]

If it's family then it's 1 bill, I pay & everyone tosses $$s in to cover tip ... when others join in (aka friends) server writes me a separate bill. We don't drink in restaurants and I'm NOT paying someone else's bar tab

 

[Aerides]

There are two ways to do it to avoid fuss and mess:

1 - works best with a group that either spends the same, or doesn't care: Get one check, toss 3 different cards into the check holder, ask the server to split it 3 ways even. - a $300 bill comes back with 3 separate $100 receipts, one for each couple to Tip+sign. Then the only argument is who tips better.

2 - When you sit down, identify you'll need separate checks to your server BEFORE you order: couple 1, couple 2, etc. - that way they can ring up as separate as if 3 tables from the start. The couple that spends $25 then doesn't have to care if the other couple orders $100 wine and truffles.

The way the OP's group did it "round it up with the tip and then split it, before we pay" - was a big contributor to the messy outcome.

 

[Katsmeow]

Personally I can't stand this dividing up the check stuff. One check only. If I can't afford to pick up the check I don't go. It all averages out in the long run. If I were continually taken advantage of I would not participate. But this has not been the case.

I don't think it always averages out. I have lunch with a friend fairly frequently. We always ask for separate checks. That makes it totally simple. That way I don't have to worry that I am taking advantage of her if I order an appetizer and she didn't (that happened today). By getting separate checks neither one of us has to be concerned that we are taking advantage of the other or vice versa. It isn't a matter of what we can afford. I just feel more comfortable with each of us paying our own way and that way there is no stress for either of us.

 

[Dtail]

I don't think it always averages out. I have lunch with a friend fairly frequently. We always ask for separate checks. That makes it totally simple. That way I don't have to worry that I am taking advantage of her if I order an appetizer and she didn't (that happened today). By getting separate checks neither one of us has to be concerned that we are taking advantage of the other or vice versa. It isn't a matter of what we can afford. I just feel more comfortable with each of us paying our own way and that way there is no stress for either of us.

+1
Sometimes there is a difference in lifestyle that can come into play subconsciously when orders more than the other.

 

[jazz4cash]

I’ve been doing a lot of dining with mixed groups lately. Couples, singles, friends of friends that I barely met at a car show, etc. Dining at low and medium priced places, waitstaff didn’t hesitate to combine checks in anyway we requested. Not at all like years ago when some places wouldn’t split checks and others acted like it was a hassle.

At megacorp we were required to split checks generally. A pair of co-workers dined together and got their corporate cards mixed up. They travelled for a few months without either noticing the mixup. It wasn’t until one of their spouse’s ( who was paying the cc bill) raised hell about his trip to Vegas that she was unaware of.

The first half of my megacorp career was in engineering. When dining as a group, every individual calculated their share to the penny including the tip. When I moved to the sales organization, most couldn’t calculate anything and insisted on splitting the bill equally while ordering extra drinks and appetizers.

 

[Gumby]

When I split the dinner check with a friend, I always choose the option that results in me paying more. So, for example, if the total of my items is less than half of the total bill for both of us, I'll suggest we just split down the middle. If my items were the more expensive ones, I suggest that we use the actual amounts. I'm fairly adept at doing math in my head, so I can know within a second or two what should be the result.

Why? Because I value my friends and would never want them to feel that I have treated them unfairly.