This story is a little different than the previous thread by someone else. I was reconciling my receipts and happen to come across a charge for $55 on my credit card bill, but showed only $54 on my receipt. I located the receipt and it showed as follows:

Dinner: $47.60
Tip (I wrote in): $7.40
Total: (I wrote in): $54.00 < but the card was charged for $55.00

The mistake in my write-ins. The Dinner plus tip does not equal the write-in total.

My question is, what would you do if you were the waiter? I can see the argument both ways. On one hand, being that the tip amount $7.40 was roughly 15%, AND the fact that error would more likely result in calculation (adding) by the customer, one would assume that the customer intended for the total to be dinner+tip, regardless of their faulty math (customer's mistake). But then again, one could also see the mistake as the customer looking at the total, then making error in the subtraction. Trying to be non-biased, I'd tend to assume the tip intending to be $7.40 rather than $6.40. I'm good with that.

But...

It’s interesting to me as to 1) how this would be handled by a credit card dispute (if it were for a larger amount of course) and 2) how some business owners or waiters here may handle it differently. I honestly have a feeling some folks like Charlie Mac would only run the card for the lower amount

FYI - I don't care about the $1.00. It's solely out of curiosity.

I think the waiter should have been paying att'n and pointed out the mistake. however, they probably just typed in the tip amount, and never checked your math. I think if the tip amount was clearly written, but the total was different, the waiter is justified in typing in the amount YOU wrote first. I still believe they should pay enough attention to notice the discrepancy.

Was the service below average or average ?

If so, the 15 percent tip is okay.

But if the service was good, tip at least 20 percent. You have the money.

I tip 20 percent for good service, a scosh more for excellent service, and I know you got more cash than I do.....

(You could probably just mail a copy of the receipt to your CC company and they will fix it)

[This message has been edited by SARATOGA (edited 8/2/2011 8:14a).]

I think it is the waiter's choice. At this point you were likely gone from the restaurant, and (without assuming anything) you indicated that you would like to give him $6.40 or $7.40. He accepted the $7.40.

The register system we use has us type in the final authorization amount. So, whatever the error is, we just go by what the signed total is.

He may have been using a system that has them enter in tip.

If a customer entered the tip wrong and intended to tip what would have equaled the total then it's usually pretty obvious, because they'll make a round number as the total. In that case we go with the what the customer wrote as the total, not what he/she wrote in the tip line. In other case we usually put in the tip as written even if it's different than the total. Oftentimes the mistake can be a $30 or more difference on a big party so I try to assume the customer's good intentions and the benefit of the server. After all, they always have the option of calling and disputing it. Adjusting/refunding a card is pretty easy, and I have nothing to hide if they ask why it was charged wrong. Honest misinterpretation. However, I've never had a guest call and ask to have it changed.

The more common moral dilemma is when a guest takes both copies or the wrong copy of the receipt, thus leaving no indication to the server what the tip was. This happens once a week, and I'll simply ask the server, "We're they happy? Do you think they intended to tip you and enjoyed your service." Most of the time, if they say yes I tell them to put 10% on it. It's almost certain they tipped more, but at least I'm protecting the server from a massive blow and if the guest really did sign a 5% tip on the card then once again they are at liberty to call the restaurant and tell us why they are the kind of person who stiffs a server without talking to a manager Again, I've never had a phone call in 10 years.

[This message has been edited by Awesome (edited 8/2/2011 11:18a).]

Using my handy tip calculator, I find that 15% of $47.60 is $7.14, so that would make a total of $54.74. So if you rounded up it would be $55.00. To get a grand total of $54, you'd have to tip at a little over 13%. So I'll go with the waiter and say you should have been charged $55.

Awesome please tell me you don't actually work at a restaurant and tell your servers to commit fraud

Most POS systems require the server to go back and enter the tip. This is usually done long after the guest leaves and often not until the end of the evening. In that case, many servers would not catch the error. It is our policy and the policy of many restaurants to require the server to show a manager any discrepancies in credit cards. It is the norm to go with the tip that is written and assume the math was done incorrectly. The exception is obviously a mistake that does not make sense; like where someone writes a tip with an extra number on the line. Best judgment usually takes care of the issues.
If someone walks out with both copies or a copy is lost, the server is out the tip and we do not add anything to the credit card. It is our policy to compensate any server that does a great job and gets “stiffed”. In a case like that, Shipwreck will pay them 10-15% of the bill. We have a small enough restaurant to pull it off most of the time.

I don't tip on tax. Why should someone get 15% tip for taxing me?

I asked a waiter this one time and he said they have to go by the final amount line and essentially ignore the tip line. That may have been that particular restaurant's policy though (it was a chain, I think Bostons).

[This message has been edited by benMath08 (edited 8/2/2011 5:19p).]

don't be so dramatic teradactyl. No need for the "F" word. that's quite a stretch. Fraud would be knowingly and maliciously charging someone for more than they signed for. Many bars have a policy of charging 20% on all tabs left open which is pretty shady. Taking both receipts from a restaurant is essentially leaving your tab open (you agreed to pay when you came in, but you never signed for anything) and I'm only talking about 10% to cover the cost of the servers tip-out.

And much like other restaurants chiming in, it's always handled on a case by case basis using best judgement.

[This message has been edited by Awesome (edited 8/2/2011 9:25p).]

The machines that I have used in the past always asked us for the tip amount and I always put in the written tip amount. If the numbers didn't add up I just figured the customer wasn't very good with math or was in a rush.