I've heard stories like this before. Most likely this is a case of theft. It's the 'entitlement' to a tip that always gets me. I can choose never to tip if I want. If the server is good, the bad customers won't be more than a blip and the server will still come out ahead.

The thread title is a bit misleading. While I appreciate the heads up and we should all be careful, in this particular instance we don't know if it was the waitress who made the change.

Well, the original post on facebook made the waitress the "bad guy" which is why I titled it that way but then in looking (especially after the manager's reaction), I added this other scenarios. No, we don't know for sure. But the OP was sure!

Happened to me in a bakery in Key West years ago. I walked into the bakery, ordered six croissants to go, tipped the counter person $5. Got my credit card bill and my tip had been changed to $50. Credit card company took care of it.

I can't remember the last time I got a paper copy to sign and add tip. Here it is always done on the machine.

No paper here either. Everything is chip and pin. I can't say i check my statements much, feeling a bit sheepish about that now.

When I was on vacation, I was charged fwice for my lunch. I called the restaurant. They asked for the name of the server from the receipt. As soon as I said the name, they said they’d reimburse me. Guess she had pulled this before. The only reason I still had the receipt is because I was on vacation and always reconcile my expenses after. I’ve learned to check my grocery receipts, too. Errors happen.

I'm still old school, reconciling my receipts to my statement each month. While it doesn't happen often, it does happen. What course of action do you take if you don't have your receipt to support your allegation?

I'm a statement checker, but I find fewer mistakes as the years go by. It's mostly an old habit now. Still, there is often news about some individual or company that has been defrauded by a 'trusted employee', undiscovered over many years.

A retired police commander in Chicago was in the news this week for accepting his late mother's Soc. Sec. payments.. Payments totaled over $300K, made by direct deposit into their shared bank account. He never notified the government of her death. I thought such notification was automatic -- perhaps from whatever authority certifies a death?

chisue, you are right. It happens with less frequency as time passes. But, just last week, I was checking my charges for a recent one night vacation stay. The invoice showed a "pet fee" charge of $50 when my confirmation email said the charge would be $25. I called and mentioned this and was told that they'd recently increased the fee to $50 and apparently hadn't updated their confirmation emails so they would take $25 off the charge. A few minutes later I got a call back saying that their manager had told them to reinstate the full $50 charge. Needless to say I wasn't happy. Long story short, it got changed back to $25. I got an email from my credit card asking about the multiple charges - 2 adding $25 and 3 credits for $25.

It wasn't an issue of the amount; I've paid $100 a night for my dog.

I'm old school. All receipts are saved and reconciled to the statement. We've also pretty much stopped using a credit card in restaurants. I'd say 95% of the time it's cash only.

I dunno about this. How did the server add $ to the tip? Was the card "swiped" or "tapped" on the cash register? First thing ANY machine asks is, "$X.XXX Correct?" or something to that manner. Then you leave your tip (% or$) then hit approve. You NEVER let anyone walk away with your card. EVER. Most places will not allowed keyed in CC's anymore due to fraud. I know I cannot key in a credit card where I work.

Most high end restaurants still bring the bill in a folder, one inserts one card, it is returned with th printed out receipt (often in triplicate), one adds the tip and signs the receipt.

The only restaurant that does not do as Anglophillia describes in my world is Olive Garden, neighborhood/chain/ NOT HIGH END give paper receipts and there should be no one adding to the bill after you sign it. I am sure mistakes happen especially given the quality of workers these days. But given that same quality sadly stealing and cheating are not out of the question. Nicole if you had the time and could wait for a manager to appear I am sure you could have gotten a refund...the cashiers in most stores are given very strict parameters to avoid mistakes!!

Years ago I bought something from one of my neices or nephew...can't remember what. Some school fundraiser. Gave the check to my sister-in-law and when the check cleared it had been marked up to a higher amount. I can't remember now what it was. I went to the bank with the copy of the check and even though the written out amount didn't match the numbered amount they said the numbered amount was what mattered. Even though it was obviously written over. They didn't give me my money back. I was pissed. I never found out if the kid did it, the s-i-l or the school.

This is a rare occurrence, and the credit card company will always fix the problems.. It's never happened to me (us) and we use Visa a lot.

Something like this happened to DH several years ago. We ate at a nicer restaurant here in town with a group of friends. Left a cash tip on the table and paid with a credit card. Paper receipt. When the CC statement came, the charge was more than the receipt. (That's when we learned to zero out the tip line on the receipt.) 'Someone' had added a tip to the receipt after DH had signed it.

Took the receipt and statement to the restaurant where they somewhat reluctantly reimbursed me for the charge. But didn't make any attempt at apology, amends like a gift certificate towards a future meal, etc. Needless to say, we have never returned to that restaurant even though we eat out quite often.

Might have been the server who added the tip...or management. Given the attitude management exhibited when I returned asking for a return, I've always suspected that it was someone in management.

Based on some comments, I have a question to as to how the tip is added to the charge when you're given back the card and the tip is added later. Is it an "open" cc transaction and they have to close it after they pick up the receipt with the tip. They don't have a card to run the tip (they've given it back to you) so how do they get the tip charged to the card? With as many people paying with cards as there are, it must be a simple procedure -- I'm just not aware of how it is done!

Martha Scott, cc transactions stay "open" until the settlement at COB, when someone, usually a manager/owner with system permissions, runs a settlement report. Until that happens, the charge is open for adjustment, be it an added tip, a sudden "oh, we wanted to split the check", management comping something, etc. When the patron signs, tips and leaves, the server, cashier or bartender recalls the transaction and adds the tip, but until the settlement report is done, the transaction is technically still open, and can be changed. It's also possible to change transactions within a certain time period, 24 hours typically, but it's harder to do and not a normal function and requires an advanced knowledge of the settlement process, so at most establishments only managers/owners have the system permissions to change a transaction at that point.

^IMO, any changes made to the card once the owner of the card leaves the business should be considered credit card fraud.

Why isn't the tip part of the process when the customer pays? I've never ever seen that done here. Here they bring the PIN pad. First it asks if the price is correct. Then it gives you the option to tip based on dollar value or percentage. Then it adds it up and asks if it's correct again. Then you put in your PIN# and choose account and Okay. Done. I would never allow anyone to manually enter any information to my credit or debit card when I'm not there.

Thank you for the explanation. So now I'm wondering if some of those over transactions are not on purpose but errors because a server is standing there entering multiple tips and sometimes fingers accidentally get on the wrong key? Or instead of 2.00 it's 22.00 or 20.00? Which may be why the manager was not upset by it?

Debby, I live in rural NNY, we just have a plain, old credit card swipe machine, no one here uses a PIN pad. The customer gives the cc to the server, the bartender (me) swipes it and enters the amount, it prints out two copies of the receipt, server returns to the customer on a little tray with a pen, customer signs one (and adds a tip if they desire), leaves the signed copy on the table and keeps the other one (usually they just sign one and leave the other one on the table). Then server brings the tray with signed copy to me, I adjust the tip by recalling the transaction in the cc machine if applicable. If it's busy, that can be several hours after the customer has left. Of all the things customers have remarked or complained about, how we process cc's isn't one of them, it's the norm around here.

Martha Scott, large chain restaurants have Point of Sale (POS) systems, but around here, most independent and small restaurants do not. Yes, inputting mistakes happen, which is we reconcile cc machine report to cash register report at every shift change, and if an inputting error was made on the cc, we adjust it then.

Debby, if IIRC, central Canada was one of the first places to test run debit cards (late 80s I think) and have always been ahead in the use of the accompanying technology. When I travel, I’m sometimes surprised that the payment practices aren’t as up to date as what I’m used to at home.

Daisychain, where do you eat? I can't remember the last time I got a paper copy to sign and add tip. Here it is always done on the machine.

I have eaten at a few places that do that, but most don't. (And sometimes I put zero tip on the machine and put my cash tip directly for the wait-person.)

I try to tip cash, and on the receipt in the tip line I write CASH and bring down the total so no one can write in an amount. Read somewhere to do that.

Artemis, we really don’t ever have that here - occasionally if the systems are down, they’ll run your card and you have to sign, but I haven’t had that happen in ages. Even small pop up shops use machines here. But as I said above, I think we may be ahead of the game in these things.

To add to the comment directed to Martha Scott. If you have ever gone on line to reconcile your bank account and saw "pending" it generally means that transaction is still open and can be changed. This is on any bank or credit card account.

Some on here would panic if they saw all the $1.00 charges I received while traveling the last few days. They are from merchants like gas stations where my card was used. I for one am happy to see it because there is less fraud this way. A small charge can be sent through and if it is declined for any reason the sale can be stopped immediately. Depending on timing once the final reconciling of the day is done that $1.00 is reversed.

Here, it's mainly chains and small/newer shops that uses the little machine with the choose your tip option. Nicer places or those that are better established have a waiter with a tray or folder. I usually have a paper receipt, but it may be because of the places where I eat out.

I do the same as straightlover.

Waiting tables is a wicked hard job. When I was in high school I bussed tables at a high end restaurant and learned first hand how hard that work is. I was in good shape in high school, and would still go home feeling like I'd been run over by a truck.

So I tip well when I eat out (as long as the service is good, of course), and I always leave my tip in cash.

Years ago a theatre group we belonged to always went to this a particular restaurant as they'd stay open for us for an after performance meal. Our bill was usually close to $200 to $300 and we always tipped very well.

One evening after a performance we went to the restaurant and had a good time. Don't ask me why, but for some reason I watched as first one person, then another and third counted the money to make sure we were o.k. The waitress collected the check and the money and left. Not more then five minutes had passed when she came back and said the bill was short. The person who paid her told her that she must have miscounted. She counted it there and then, and sure enough it was short. Not only did the other two people chime in, but me as well. We asked to speak to the manager (who several of us knew well) and explained the situation to him. He told us not to worry that he'd take care of it.

Two weeks later we were again at the restaurant when he came over to talk to us. He said that the waitress in question had been fired. Turns out he suspected she was pocketing some money and then going back to the groups and informing them they were short. Apparently we were the second group that let him know when this happened.

Makes you wonder.

Daisychain, I can think of only two places I eat at that have such a system. Everything or everyone else still runs on paper.

When I can, I try to do everything in cash... even in those places... but sometimes I just don't have that cash to hand. In fact, I'm actually only wanting to use credit at one restaurant that knows that I stop in once a month or so.

I'm sure Canada is ahead of the U.S. in this. I remember a few years back when we were in Toronto and we didn't have a chip card yet, they knew right away we were American. They told us they had them for awhile.

We just got back from Europe and everywhere we ate they brought the handheld device to the table and you settled right there -very little chance for change and the credit card never leaves your hands.

I don't like my credit card getting out of my sight.

As for ... "waitress takes tipping into her own hands" ...

... last I heard, most waitresses like to get their tips into their own hands ... eventually ... actually.

ole joyful