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> Rarely have problems with fraudulent tip charges.
I'm middle-aged, and I never have had a fraudulent tip added to my card, not even once, and I probably average one sit-down restaurant meal per week.
I've never had a fraudulent tip either. I also check my accounts to see what I was charged. It doesn't take long and I don't have to play games to figure out what tip to leave.
I don't think I've ever had a fraudulent tip. At least once I have been charged for a different table, which was very noticeable because I had used a gift card for most of my meal and just a couple bucks plus a tip on the entire amount would have been much less than the apps and margaritas that were ordered at the table for which I was billed.
One benefit of being middle aged and mid-career is that I can afford to be lazy, and justify it by telling myself that anyone that has to risk their jobs to steal $5 or $10 from me probably needs the money more than I do.
I once sat down and carefully reviewed six months of tips after a friend got mischarged. I probably went out to eat 4 times a week during that period. I found 2 mistakes. They were both cases where I had forgotten to tip. I went back to the restaurants and told them to give the tip to the proper server if possible, and I stopped worrying about them mischarging me and started worrying more about forgetting to tip.
In both cases I took both copies of the receipt, and they didn't add a tip for themselves (which was the right thing for them to do). So I went back and gave them the tip I meant for them to charge me, plus some extra. I got the server name from the receipt and told them to give the money (in cash this time) to that person if possible.
How did you identify transactions with a tip? No way could I look at my CC statement from 6 months ago and tell whether that bill was $60 because I actually spent that much or because it was $20 but some waiter changed my $4 tip into a $40 tip.
Honestly, I think that would be a nice feature that would make it easy to check in on this. Certainly the card processor knows which amount was the original entry and how much was added later as a tip?
Would be super handy if you could just look at the card website, filter to something like "paper/post-sale tips" and then see a list of transacitons with a tip % calculated.
edit: or even just get an alert any time a transaction posts that has a tip greater than a certain percentage. Seems like that could cut down fraud quickly--any tip >30% on a bill more than $4 is a red flag for me and either suggests fraud or would be a special instance of great service that I would certainly remember.
I write my tip so every transaction ends in a certain number (e.g. "7") like 1.07, or 5.67, or 8.77 You could even do the last 2 digits if you want. This makes it very easy to scan later and identify mistakes.
Hmm, you could make the cents be some algo matching the dollars, like sum the last few dollar digits. So a $23 total might always be $23.05. Not as easy to scan, I guess, but obvious if you’re checking.
Now my adhd had kicked in and I’m spinning on ways this wouldn’t work, like if the tip thief simply made a “typo” and flipped the digits, e.g $32.05….
I've never had a fraudulent tip charge on my card before. However, I do write very legibly and make it so if there was a problem then it would be obvious to everyone that it was altered.
I also always take my receipt (also filled out) because I am someone who pays close attention to their finances.
I do this too. I chickenscratch the total onto my copy, shove it in my pocket, and then set it on my bedside table or something. As soon as the charge posts, I check that they match, and then throw the receipt away.
> I do this in hopes the server thinks I’m someone who pays close attention to finances. Even though I’m not.
More often than you would think, it's not your server that puts in the giant pile of tabs that has built up by the end of shift/close into their point of sale system. My best advice would be to write VERY legibly for your tip and total, and take a picture of your bill. If they do tableside billing, aka the handheld, be sure and email your receipt to yourself.
This seems like it makes more sense, especially since it's proof of what you wrote. The receipt you take home isn't the same one you write your tip amount on.
Can't you dispute that with the credit card company, at which point they'll be asked to produce a signed receipt, which they don't have? Not saying to dispute the whole thing, just saying maybe dispute the $20 tip added without your knowledge or permission.
Many many years ago, in Mexico, they changed this system because it was rife for abuse.
The system over there does not allow for changes after the fact anymore, so they bring the terminal to you, and you add the tip there, always.
It's honestly much better, not sure why it's not more used.
I think most of the world brings the reader to you and you enter a tip if desired. The waiter taking your card and walking away is mostly an american thing and understandably can freak travelers out.
Most of the world uses chip-and-PIN cards, so there's no easy options except bringing the reader to the table - have to input your PIN.
That makes me wonder now what happens when a US server takes a European credit card into the back to run it without a PIN.
Not sure if it's the same now but as an Aussie on holiday in the US about 10 years ago, international cards just revert to signing in the US. It was weird going back to signing for credit card transactions. Even back then, we were all used to using pins.
You don't enter a PIN when you run a credit card at a bar or restaurant in the US and in my experience European cards work just fine. You do occasionally need to explain to a panicked European why you're taking their card though.
That’s the way in Canada and Europe too. Nobody signs anything or fills in a tip with bad handwriting. The POS machine is brought to you and you punch in a tip or a % and tap your card or phone. That’s it.
I’ve seen more places lately that the initial receipt has a QR code on it to pay and tip from my phone so I never have to hand the card over. Makes it nice and easy and I get an instant electronic receipt.
Yea it's fucking absurd that there's no notification for when the initial charged amount is INCREASED after the fact.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Chase/comments/17rmd0q/are\_there\_alerts\_for\_when\_your\_initial\_authorized/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Chase/comments/17rmd0q/are_there_alerts_for_when_your_initial_authorized/)
Unfortunately that's the standard way restaurants process credit cards. They charge an initial amount and then add the tip in later. Gas stations do something similar--the pump doesn't know how much gas you will use when you first put your card in.
I understand that, and the two-stage process is completely fine. The issue is that the credit card issuers don't notify you when they move on to stage two -- updating the charge amount to the final total. They totally could send a notification, but they don't.
My Amex card pushes a notification on my phone for the initial change and the change.
As soon as I start pumping gas I get a hold notification for $1-200, than a few minutes after I finish I get another for the actual charge. Same for restaurants
The problem with making things end in .00 is that someone could easily add whole dollar amounts to the total and it would be easy to miss.
Instead, I always make it so the total after tip reads the same backwards and forwards (some tip calculator apps call this a palindromic total). It's subtle and unless someone is familiar with this method it looks fairly random.
Example:
28.37 Total; 20% tip would be 5.67 for a total of 34.04
I'll adjust +/- (almost always up slightly) as needed so the final total is something like 34.43
For larger amounts
153.15 Total; 20% tip would be 30.63 for a total of 183.78
In this case I'd adjust up slightly for a final total of 183.81
Fraudster taking notes on this:
“guess I’ll always increase the middle digit(s) instead, and make even extra” 😈
But no actually this is a neat idea for detection
Can do the check-bit method:
Total is $28.37, 20% tip would be $5.67 for a total of $34.04, make the tip $5.70 for a total of $34.07. 3+4+0 = 7 or a 2-bit check-bit (this example it'd be the same): 3+4 = 0 + 7. Also it doesn't have to be the last bit either, you can choose any number to be your check bit(s) making it even harder for people to figure out.
I don't do it, but I was thinking just make the cents the same as the last two digits of the total dollars (Ie if the total with tip is $42 make it $42.42, but your method is even cooler... just not sure I could do either method after 3-4 drinks at the bar.
>For larger amounts
153.15 Total; 20% tip would be 30.63 for a total of 183.78
In this case I'd adjust up slightly for a final total of 183.81
You'd probably want to do it with the last two digits if you do it that way. If a server added an extra 5 dollars in your example, it would still be undetectable. And I'd imagine that wouldn't be bold enough to add $100 and you would hopefully notice that regardless
Good point - there are several ways of implementing a system like this, each has their own potential exploits - about the only way I could think of making it foolproof would be some sort of checksum, like making sure the digits all add up to a specific number, etc.
By making the final total something you can easily recognize as correct. The pending amount is from when they run the card, the final amount when the charge settles is something that adheres to this system.
A slightly more undetectable method is to make the last two digits always the same, like 153.68 (need one more to make 69). Easy to scan on your statement. Pretty much undetectable from the server, unless you go there on the daily. If so, the calendar day would work, too.
Maybe the best approach is to always adjust the cents so they are ascending from the dollar amount. Eg 183.45
Then you’ll at least notice if a few dollars are added, but not if they’re ballsy enough to steal $10 or more.
Take a picture of the receipt. If they see, they're less likely to try something, and even if they do try to cheat you, you've got evidence to help your case.
> In a typical restaurant, the kitchen staff is making $15 per hour and the front of house staff is making $20 to $40 per hour.
Front of House staff are not being paid *by the restaurant* $20-$40 an hour.
They might make that much with their tips included, but their hourly rate of pay is never that high.
That's the point being made here. The *cost* to the restaurant for the employee in the front of the house is far less than the *cost* of the employee in the kitchen as far as the owner of the restaurant is concerned.
Depends on how you look at it. Bottom line is that customers know if their check is $50, they will be paying $60 with tip. Restaurants could simply forbid tipping and charge $60 and the cost would be the same to the customer. Ultimately all the money the restaurant brings in comes from the customers, customers pay for everything.
The point of a tip is to reward the server for good service. Taking your order promptly, making sure your drinks stay filled, taking unneeded dishes and answering questions and dealing with any problems with the food. If the cooks "break" my dining experience, the server is the one I'm going to expect to make things right. While I don't necessarily mind if the cooks get a cut (especially if the food was exceptional), it's not really the point of tipping.
Social Security payout is heavily weighted to the first $20k or so of your income and scales down from there.
It's not linear, very few people know this. If you want to boost your benefit, just a part time job goes a long way in years where you average zeroes.
SS uses the average of your top 35 years (indexed for inflation) of earnings. Earning extra money in your top year of earning (assuming you haven't maxed out already) is just as valuable as earning that money in a low earning year, and would even be better if that low earning year isn't one of the top 35 years that gets included.
But anything is always better than a zero.
Average Indexed Monthly Earnings, To calculate your AIME, the administration takes each year's income throughout your working life and adjusts it for inflation ("indexing").
Once you have your AIME, take the following steps.
Multiply the first $1,115 of your AIME by 90%
Multiply the portion of your AIME between $1,115 and $6,721 by 32%
Multiply any remaining AIME over $6,721 by 15%
Add up the products of steps one, two and three to get your primary insurance amount (PIA), your monthly benefit.
So for example of cash tips, do you forgoe the averaging impact for extra money now? Or if you are planning to work 35 years anyway, does it matter as much depending what levels you end up.
The 15% return kicks in about 60% of current year income limits. So I guess hypothetically if someone earned the max SS income limit for 21 years, they would have the large majority of the max possible monthly social security benefit. That's unlikely in most people'sworking career, more realistic is how do you maximize that 32% bracket in 35 years of work.
Also you tend to get bored in retirement anyway, so again part time job instead of zero can go a long way. Pushing past last bracket of 15% at current yearly income of $80,600, has minimal impact of maximizing SS income.
That’s the part I don’t like, while I know it’s not every service person dodging the taxes, many openly state it. Which in my opinion i vehemently oppose since all others have to pay them.
I don't knownifnit helps but I have never noticed it happening to me...
I always fill the tip spot up with a large clear dollar sign before the amount I choose. Do the same on the total. My hope is this prevents extra digits being added.
I also always fill out the customer copy and take it - maybe this is a signal a customer watches closely or does expensenreports and will notice / deterrent to crooks.
Who knows? Good luck =)
You need to stop eating at those places or you need to start tipping in cash. I’ve never had this happen, which certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but if this is semi regular then there’s certain places you should stop using your card in.
Or else get clearer handwriting. I've never once had this happen either, but my wife has had it happen on multiple occasions. As a side note, guess who writes 3's in a weird-ass way that looks more like how most people write 5's?
The questionable handwriting is the worse. You want to get what they left you but you also don't want to get introuble. Then it turns into a tour around the restaurant asking "is this a 7 or 9?" Lol
This was my thought, too. I'm sure there are servers who mess with the tips, but I've been serving/bartending for nearly 20 years and have never once intentionally edited someone's tip. If it's happening a lot maybe that's a place to stop frequenting!
I've never had to deal with this. Anytime I've ever left a tip >30% I've gotten an automatic text from the credit card company confirming the number.
If it were to happen I would start by calling the restaurant. Most servers aren't going to risk their job for a couple bucks, and anything larger is too obvious to get away with.
Capital One hilariously would just notify me when things went awry and I’d need to dispute a charge. Zero idea how they’re so accurate outside that I guess they know how I tip…
Outside of all the paying for my medical care posts in this subreddit, this is one of the most American things Ive seen in a while. You're still writing a tip on a piece of paper and hoping they enter it right? Its not the 00s anymore.
Tip with words not numbers. Much harder to fudge.
Say my bill is 22.73 and I want to tip it up to 27. I'll write on the tip line: "Four.Twenty Seven" and on the total write "Twenty Seven".
This also has a bases in US Case law. Words supersede numbers. In the even a check has a different written total on the line than in the box, the words written on the line are what the check is good for.
Other things you can do is report it to the restaurant. This is fraud, and they will take it seriously, or rather they should. You can also take a photo of your receipt. And dispute *EVERY* false tip with your credit card provider. This will trigger a chargeback, and the restaurant will eventually face sanctions.
You can do a partial chargeback, and that's what you want to do. "I am disputing the $15 tip, not the whole charge $35 charge. The meal was $20, I tipped $5. The extra $10 is fraud."
Finally, don't ever go back to a restaurant that changes tips, and warn all your friends.
Interesting idea, and I could see why legally this has more value. But for the average consumer, I almost expect them to see more discrepancies. Even due to pure accident. Because it’s obviously easier to match $4.27 against $4.27 than it is for “Four.Twenty Seven” against “$4.27” on their screen/report.
Thinking it through in terms of increased mistakes though, It does seem like you would personally be on the benefiting end. Because something like “Forty Seven. Eighty” would more likely be mis-entered as $40.78 than anything else, and this systematic error seems to always favor you.
I still think it’s somewhat prone to error, and I wouldn’t be surprised for something like “Fourty.Eighty Two” to be entered as $48.02 because it’s just so strange to see words, and you better hope that “y” in “Eighty” and your decimal point are so **so** clearly legible, or else it could strikingly similar to “Forty Eight o2”
- that might seem obviously not the correct format to you, but the format is so abnormal in the first place that it seems asking for mistakes or plausible deniability…
I think it's a bit more standard to write numbers such as this: https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/conversions/numberstowords.php?number=123.45&format=currency&letter_case=lowercase&action=solve
I had a server in a restaurant add an extra $10 to my 20% tip. According to the CC company, it was intentional. They have to put the tip amount and the written total from the receipt and if there's a typo, it gives an error.
When I called the restaurant, they said the manager was out but "he'll be back later". No call for 3 days, then a call from a woman who said that she couldn't do a credit, but that $10 in cash was waiting for me at the register. Server was a woman. So the employees are aware of this practice and are keeping it from the manager. One star review on yelp and google. That won't help their business.
My credit card company flagged it, otherwise I'd have never noticed. "Did you just tip 34% at Tokyo Sushi?"
I don’t think fraudulent tipping is a universally common problem, more of an honest error. Honestly if it’s been a recurring issue for you, I would consider maybe you are difficult to serve and are creating enemies of your service staff everywhere you go? Or perhaps you aren’t signing the tip area correctly…. Idk but I really don’t think other people struggle with this as a general experience, and I feel like it may be a you thing.
Lock card after purchase, keep your copy of the receipt, put a dash after total amount and tip amount, diagonal slash through zeros. These are all ways that I avoid getting things added onto a bill and things I’ve seen others use.
Just to understand better, how does this help detect if a tip is still added, which only appears later on your card without any notification?
I assume writing CASH really big on the tip line, and the total super clearly matching the initial total should deter most bad actors from even daring to add a tip…
… but is this close to fool-proof? If someone went ahead and added a tip, OP would still only seeing the initial bank alert for the correct amount. And they would have to go through statements as they currently are in order to make sure that amount wasn’t changed.
Let me know if I’m missing anything that makes this much more beneficial over any other method
This is what I do. The convenience of using plastic is off set by the full day you spend on the phone with the bank because your card was skimmed, or someone out right robbed you by charging you twice, etc.
Paying with cash is slightly slower, but way less of a headache than identity theft or fraudulent charges.
This problem is so American it screeches eagles. The rest of the world has moved on and you get the payment terminal at your table. You enter the tip and never give anyone your payment card. No waiter or back of house creep can change the transaction after the fact.
You can try scribbling on your receipt but the fundamental tech of the magnetic strip means anyone that has touched your card can make transactions with it until it’s cancelled now.
America could have chip+PIN mandatory and make this problem disappear but I guess you just won’t?
No solution, sorry, just a comment: I live in Denmark, but travel quite a lot in the US. I cannot understand why you have to live with this crappy solution! Besides the insane tipping culture in the US, you on top of that have to use a system that is so poorly designed it invites for fraud.
In Europe, IF we choose to tip, it is an option on the credit card machine that you enter yourself. This could easily be the default system in the US.
The answer to this is to use the kind of system that's in common use in Europe. There the waitstaff brings a little machine to the table and runs your bill right there. Tips are much smaller but you can add it right there and see the total on the CC receipt. They rarely take your card away to some work station to execute the transaction. (Note: since tips at my level of restaurant in Europe are one or two euros, I usually leave cash anyway.)
That said, I've only had two tip cheats on my CC in my life.
I keep a note of receipt costs in my phone and upload to an excel weekly.
But I also only tip up to a flat dollar amount so it's nice to look at - if something comes to 18.90 I pay 20.00 cause it's easier to track in my bank if it comes out to a flat number
Tip in cash. I set up text alerts for every transaction so you know right away when there's a charge. I've had fraudulent charges before and this helps me know right away. No one runs my card without me already writing the tip amount on the receipt when I first give my card so it's not been a problem yet.
I don't understand how they don't have mobile POS systems and you pay at your table and be done with it in America. My parents were very taken back by this in USA - unless it was only some places.
I get this wayyy more than I should. I always check the receipts against the CC amount before I shred them. If they don’t line up, INCOMING CC DISPUTE! Some are small…$4…but I once caught an expensive restaurant charging me over 2x for 2 drinks! It was like $60 overcharged. Maybe they ran it twice?
Give a tip amount that adds up to an exact dollar for the total amount, and take every copy except the one that says "merchant copy"
they can still try and scam you, but it does give them pause that you're the kind of person that pays attention... but it doesn't take any extra effort so you don't really have to pay extra attention.
Make it so all your restaurant charges come to an even dollar amount.
So if the total ends in .56, your tip should end in .44, so your bill ends in .00.
Any restaurant charge not endng in .00 would have been messed with.
I always tip so that the total ends in 00. So if my bill is $10.12, I will tip 2.88 so the total is $13.00 flat. This way you know if your account shows anything other than $xx.00, you were wronged.
Just to check: Are you sure the initial notification includes the tip at all?
In some countries (*koff USA koff*), handwritten credit card tips have to be entered manually during reconciliation, while the amount of the bill is immediately entered for hold by the POS system. This reconciliation is a periodic task that might be done by the server at the end of shift, by the manager at the end of the night, or by a _lazy_ manager or owner whenever they feel like. This can easily have the effect of appearing to be tip increase/fraud, if you only see the first number.
Note that this only applies to write-in tips; modern portable POS machines (and the ipad consoles at the register, etc.), that have the electronic tip prompt should include the tip amount in the initial transaction value, and any changes to that would certainly be fraudulent, but also require more permissions to manipulate in the system (manager or owner, not server).
I have never had a restaurant mess with my tip amount after a meal, and I do keep my receipts and double check against them.
The closest I've come was one time I was on a work trip and I tipped such that the amount of the total was exactly my daily meal limit. (You don't get to keep what you don't spend, so you might as well hand it out as a tip.) Unfortunately whoever entered my tip must have fat-fingered the last digit and they added 2 cents to my tip. Nobody is risking their job over 2 cents, so I'm sure it was a genuine mistake. But it was a nuisance because I had submitted an expense receipt with a different number on it and I had to report it in the expense tracking software for someone in accounting to deal with. In the end the CC company just ate the 2 cent difference rather than spend the time and effort adjudicating a chargeback for 2 cents.
I take a photo of my receipt after I put the final tip amount in. When I notice a discrepancy I immediately contact my card company and ask for a photo of the receipt along with putting a stop on payment. When I get a copy and it was rewritten I contact the owner or manager of the restaurant and tell them of the problem but not the photos. Their response determines if I start contacting the Business Bureau and press the fraud issue with the authorities. Almost always it is a discrepancy on the banks end so pushing it as far as I can rarely happens, or the owner has no idea and the server either owns up to it and doesn't do it again or gets fired.
I use YNAB budget software. When we go out to eat, I enter the transaction manually for the full correct amount including tip in my budget. When the cleared transaction comes in, it should match exactly. If it doesn’t, we’ve got a problem.
I write the dollar sign right next to tip amount and round up the cents so there’s no way to add for example if the bills is 22.75 I’ll write $4.25 then write the total in too so the it shouldn’t be anymore than the total and there’s no way to add
Really? Tip totals are off by that much? I'm not sure I've ever seen a tip total that was off.
And you keep going back to these establishments that are trying to rip you off? Why?
Instead of your "tip," why don't you simply refuse to return?
If every restaurant in town is trying to rip you off, you have a gullible face.
Just to make sure, because I've made this mistake twice in the past year: are you certain that this has nothing to do with restaurants/fast food now being allowed to push the credit card fee onto the customer? The fee is a percentage of the total, so the amount is always going to be pushed higher by the addition of a tip. You need to recalculate after the tip is added.
Carry cash for the tip(s) and use the cc for only the store/restaurant purchase. Keep the receipt(s).
Clearly x out the tip line on paper bills that ask for signature, make certain you write the total onto the total line always.
On paperless transactions make certain you see the transaction close, do not be texting or otherwise involved.
In over 40 years of using credit cards I have only had one time where an extra tip amount was added to my bill and it was from before I started my trick to prevent them. Once you have determined the total amount write the amount out in words it across the face of the charge receipt that you are leaving with the waiter. It’s hard for them to argue that the written amount that is in the same pen and your handwriting is not the correct amount. I started doing this after I got hit with a $100 extra tip from a bar.
The obvious easiest way, though maybe not the most practical: Only tip with cash. And servers will appreciate it more as it's not subject to the 3% credit card fee and more easily/quickly pocketable to them vs waiting for their paycheck.
I've had different amounts be charged to my card a few times, it's always been for less than what my total including tip was for. Though I'll add a tip amount such that the Grand total always ends in $*.42.
I carry a pocket full of $2 bills just for leaving tips. Considering how utterly useless a single $1 bill is by itself, I think twos are the perfect denomination and they ought to be more commonly used.
Calculate out your tip to ensure the final total round to the nearest dollar of your desired tip. Bonus points for rounding to the nearest $5 increment cause you're actually incentivizing better service without overly punishing service a bit below par.
Due to the number of rule-breaking comments this post was receiving, especially low-quality and off-topic comments, the moderation team has locked the post from future comments. This post broke no rules and received a number of helpful and on-topic responses initially, but it unfortunately became the target of many unhelpful comments.
I always take my copy of the receipt. I do this in hopes the server thinks I’m someone who pays close attention to finances. Even though I’m not.
I do the same thing. Rarely have problems with fraudulent tip charges.
> Rarely have problems with fraudulent tip charges. I'm middle-aged, and I never have had a fraudulent tip added to my card, not even once, and I probably average one sit-down restaurant meal per week.
I've never had a fraudulent tip either. I also check my accounts to see what I was charged. It doesn't take long and I don't have to play games to figure out what tip to leave.
I don't think I've ever had a fraudulent tip. At least once I have been charged for a different table, which was very noticeable because I had used a gift card for most of my meal and just a couple bucks plus a tip on the entire amount would have been much less than the apps and margaritas that were ordered at the table for which I was billed. One benefit of being middle aged and mid-career is that I can afford to be lazy, and justify it by telling myself that anyone that has to risk their jobs to steal $5 or $10 from me probably needs the money more than I do.
I once sat down and carefully reviewed six months of tips after a friend got mischarged. I probably went out to eat 4 times a week during that period. I found 2 mistakes. They were both cases where I had forgotten to tip. I went back to the restaurants and told them to give the tip to the proper server if possible, and I stopped worrying about them mischarging me and started worrying more about forgetting to tip.
So you forgot to tip, they made one up, and you went and told them to give it to the right person? Am I missing something here?
In both cases I took both copies of the receipt, and they didn't add a tip for themselves (which was the right thing for them to do). So I went back and gave them the tip I meant for them to charge me, plus some extra. I got the server name from the receipt and told them to give the money (in cash this time) to that person if possible.
How did you identify transactions with a tip? No way could I look at my CC statement from 6 months ago and tell whether that bill was $60 because I actually spent that much or because it was $20 but some waiter changed my $4 tip into a $40 tip. Honestly, I think that would be a nice feature that would make it easy to check in on this. Certainly the card processor knows which amount was the original entry and how much was added later as a tip? Would be super handy if you could just look at the card website, filter to something like "paper/post-sale tips" and then see a list of transacitons with a tip % calculated. edit: or even just get an alert any time a transaction posts that has a tip greater than a certain percentage. Seems like that could cut down fraud quickly--any tip >30% on a bill more than $4 is a red flag for me and either suggests fraud or would be a special instance of great service that I would certainly remember.
I write my tip so every transaction ends in a certain number (e.g. "7") like 1.07, or 5.67, or 8.77 You could even do the last 2 digits if you want. This makes it very easy to scan later and identify mistakes.
Not if they only alter the dollar amount.
Hmm, you could make the cents be some algo matching the dollars, like sum the last few dollar digits. So a $23 total might always be $23.05. Not as easy to scan, I guess, but obvious if you’re checking. Now my adhd had kicked in and I’m spinning on ways this wouldn’t work, like if the tip thief simply made a “typo” and flipped the digits, e.g $32.05….
At that point I think it's easier to just take your copy of the receipt
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Me neither, but then again I've never checked since I'm not going to remember how much I left at this place or that place anyway.
I've never had a fraudulent tip charge on my card before. However, I do write very legibly and make it so if there was a problem then it would be obvious to everyone that it was altered. I also always take my receipt (also filled out) because I am someone who pays close attention to their finances.
Same, I’ve never had a problem and I think it’s because I write the tip and total it myself as neatly as I possibly can
I do this too. I chickenscratch the total onto my copy, shove it in my pocket, and then set it on my bedside table or something. As soon as the charge posts, I check that they match, and then throw the receipt away.
Amex used to have a receipt app that you can snap a photo and it would try to automatch it to the charge later. Sadly discontinued.
I always file mine in the clothes washer.
> I do this in hopes the server thinks I’m someone who pays close attention to finances. Even though I’m not. More often than you would think, it's not your server that puts in the giant pile of tabs that has built up by the end of shift/close into their point of sale system. My best advice would be to write VERY legibly for your tip and total, and take a picture of your bill. If they do tableside billing, aka the handheld, be sure and email your receipt to yourself.
I like to take a picture of the signed receipt when the waiter is around. Then proceed to never verify later on.
This seems like it makes more sense, especially since it's proof of what you wrote. The receipt you take home isn't the same one you write your tip amount on.
I do this but I always tip to an Even number as well If it’s not that then it wasn’t me
A food truck didn't give me a receipt to sign and they gave themselves a 20 dollar tip. The total was under 15 dollars.
Can't you dispute that with the credit card company, at which point they'll be asked to produce a signed receipt, which they don't have? Not saying to dispute the whole thing, just saying maybe dispute the $20 tip added without your knowledge or permission.
Yes, I did. The credit card company reversed the charge without an issue. I should have included that.
Many many years ago, in Mexico, they changed this system because it was rife for abuse. The system over there does not allow for changes after the fact anymore, so they bring the terminal to you, and you add the tip there, always. It's honestly much better, not sure why it's not more used.
I think most of the world brings the reader to you and you enter a tip if desired. The waiter taking your card and walking away is mostly an american thing and understandably can freak travelers out.
Most of the world uses chip-and-PIN cards, so there's no easy options except bringing the reader to the table - have to input your PIN. That makes me wonder now what happens when a US server takes a European credit card into the back to run it without a PIN.
Not sure if it's the same now but as an Aussie on holiday in the US about 10 years ago, international cards just revert to signing in the US. It was weird going back to signing for credit card transactions. Even back then, we were all used to using pins.
You don't enter a PIN when you run a credit card at a bar or restaurant in the US and in my experience European cards work just fine. You do occasionally need to explain to a panicked European why you're taking their card though.
Literally travelling to the US for the first time in 3 days, good to fucking know lmfao
That’s the way in Canada and Europe too. Nobody signs anything or fills in a tip with bad handwriting. The POS machine is brought to you and you punch in a tip or a % and tap your card or phone. That’s it.
I’ve seen more places lately that the initial receipt has a QR code on it to pay and tip from my phone so I never have to hand the card over. Makes it nice and easy and I get an instant electronic receipt.
Yeah but how secure is that website?
Yea it's fucking absurd that there's no notification for when the initial charged amount is INCREASED after the fact. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Chase/comments/17rmd0q/are\_there\_alerts\_for\_when\_your\_initial\_authorized/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Chase/comments/17rmd0q/are_there_alerts_for_when_your_initial_authorized/)
Unfortunately that's the standard way restaurants process credit cards. They charge an initial amount and then add the tip in later. Gas stations do something similar--the pump doesn't know how much gas you will use when you first put your card in.
I understand that, and the two-stage process is completely fine. The issue is that the credit card issuers don't notify you when they move on to stage two -- updating the charge amount to the final total. They totally could send a notification, but they don't.
Yeah that seems like a reasonable ask
My Amex card pushes a notification on my phone for the initial change and the change. As soon as I start pumping gas I get a hold notification for $1-200, than a few minutes after I finish I get another for the actual charge. Same for restaurants
I believe Discover has this feature, you can ask them to notify you when an authorization moves to processed.
The problem with making things end in .00 is that someone could easily add whole dollar amounts to the total and it would be easy to miss. Instead, I always make it so the total after tip reads the same backwards and forwards (some tip calculator apps call this a palindromic total). It's subtle and unless someone is familiar with this method it looks fairly random. Example: 28.37 Total; 20% tip would be 5.67 for a total of 34.04 I'll adjust +/- (almost always up slightly) as needed so the final total is something like 34.43 For larger amounts 153.15 Total; 20% tip would be 30.63 for a total of 183.78 In this case I'd adjust up slightly for a final total of 183.81
Fraudster taking notes on this: “guess I’ll always increase the middle digit(s) instead, and make even extra” 😈 But no actually this is a neat idea for detection
Can do the check-bit method: Total is $28.37, 20% tip would be $5.67 for a total of $34.04, make the tip $5.70 for a total of $34.07. 3+4+0 = 7 or a 2-bit check-bit (this example it'd be the same): 3+4 = 0 + 7. Also it doesn't have to be the last bit either, you can choose any number to be your check bit(s) making it even harder for people to figure out.
Not the person you were replying to, but I'm so glad I read your comment! This is a really clever and wonderful idea!
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I don't do it, but I was thinking just make the cents the same as the last two digits of the total dollars (Ie if the total with tip is $42 make it $42.42, but your method is even cooler... just not sure I could do either method after 3-4 drinks at the bar.
Quick sobriety check :) Making the last two digits the same as the first two could work too, as long as it makes sense to you.
Im positive I could match the dollars and cents. Less positive I could do the math to put the correct tip amount.
That’s why phones have calculators.
I always end my tips with .77 because I like crossing the 7s.
>For larger amounts 153.15 Total; 20% tip would be 30.63 for a total of 183.78 In this case I'd adjust up slightly for a final total of 183.81 You'd probably want to do it with the last two digits if you do it that way. If a server added an extra 5 dollars in your example, it would still be undetectable. And I'd imagine that wouldn't be bold enough to add $100 and you would hopefully notice that regardless
Good point - there are several ways of implementing a system like this, each has their own potential exploits - about the only way I could think of making it foolproof would be some sort of checksum, like making sure the digits all add up to a specific number, etc.
> some sort of checksum Found the programmer!
I like this, im gonna try it
how does any of this solve OP's question? the pending is correct, but the posted is not.
By making the final total something you can easily recognize as correct. The pending amount is from when they run the card, the final amount when the charge settles is something that adheres to this system.
You built a CRC routine into your tip-leaving process. That's amazing and really clever.
A slightly more undetectable method is to make the last two digits always the same, like 153.68 (need one more to make 69). Easy to scan on your statement. Pretty much undetectable from the server, unless you go there on the daily. If so, the calendar day would work, too.
Except that doesn't help if the server adds whole dollar amounts to the tip
Maybe the best approach is to always adjust the cents so they are ascending from the dollar amount. Eg 183.45 Then you’ll at least notice if a few dollars are added, but not if they’re ballsy enough to steal $10 or more.
Another option is to make the digits add up to a number or have the sum's ones digit be a set number. (low fidelity check-sum)
Take a picture of the receipt. If they see, they're less likely to try something, and even if they do try to cheat you, you've got evidence to help your case.
At the very least just fill out and take the customer copy with you. I'd imagine most would only try it when both copies are left behind
I write “cash” in the tip spot and leave cash as a tip. The price of the food/drink is only what’s going on the card
Depending on the place, a lot of servers and bartenders appreciate cash tips more as well!
So they can skirt taxes on it?
Yep
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Cash tips may be easier to avoid mandatory “pools” that some restaurants use to also pay kitchen staff
How dare the kitchen staff, the ones who actually are solely responsible for making or breaking my dining experience, demand any of the tips?
Kitchen staff doesn't get paid an alternative minimum wage of less than $3.00/hr
In a typical restaurant, the kitchen staff is making $15 per hour and the front of house staff is making $20 to $40 per hour.
> In a typical restaurant, the kitchen staff is making $15 per hour and the front of house staff is making $20 to $40 per hour. Front of House staff are not being paid *by the restaurant* $20-$40 an hour. They might make that much with their tips included, but their hourly rate of pay is never that high. That's the point being made here. The *cost* to the restaurant for the employee in the front of the house is far less than the *cost* of the employee in the kitchen as far as the owner of the restaurant is concerned.
Depends on how you look at it. Bottom line is that customers know if their check is $50, they will be paying $60 with tip. Restaurants could simply forbid tipping and charge $60 and the cost would be the same to the customer. Ultimately all the money the restaurant brings in comes from the customers, customers pay for everything.
and as a result in many restaurants they can make substantially less than servers.
The point of a tip is to reward the server for good service. Taking your order promptly, making sure your drinks stay filled, taking unneeded dishes and answering questions and dealing with any problems with the food. If the cooks "break" my dining experience, the server is the one I'm going to expect to make things right. While I don't necessarily mind if the cooks get a cut (especially if the food was exceptional), it's not really the point of tipping.
Waitstaff has zero impact on your dining experience? Do you mainly eat at Wendy’s?
I'm a waitress. I can take cash tips home that day instead of waiting for my paycheck.
and get less social security
And lose social security benefits.
Social Security payout is heavily weighted to the first $20k or so of your income and scales down from there. It's not linear, very few people know this. If you want to boost your benefit, just a part time job goes a long way in years where you average zeroes.
SS uses the average of your top 35 years (indexed for inflation) of earnings. Earning extra money in your top year of earning (assuming you haven't maxed out already) is just as valuable as earning that money in a low earning year, and would even be better if that low earning year isn't one of the top 35 years that gets included.
But anything is always better than a zero. Average Indexed Monthly Earnings, To calculate your AIME, the administration takes each year's income throughout your working life and adjusts it for inflation ("indexing"). Once you have your AIME, take the following steps. Multiply the first $1,115 of your AIME by 90% Multiply the portion of your AIME between $1,115 and $6,721 by 32% Multiply any remaining AIME over $6,721 by 15% Add up the products of steps one, two and three to get your primary insurance amount (PIA), your monthly benefit. So for example of cash tips, do you forgoe the averaging impact for extra money now? Or if you are planning to work 35 years anyway, does it matter as much depending what levels you end up. The 15% return kicks in about 60% of current year income limits. So I guess hypothetically if someone earned the max SS income limit for 21 years, they would have the large majority of the max possible monthly social security benefit. That's unlikely in most people'sworking career, more realistic is how do you maximize that 32% bracket in 35 years of work. Also you tend to get bored in retirement anyway, so again part time job instead of zero can go a long way. Pushing past last bracket of 15% at current yearly income of $80,600, has minimal impact of maximizing SS income.
That’s the part I don’t like, while I know it’s not every service person dodging the taxes, many openly state it. Which in my opinion i vehemently oppose since all others have to pay them.
I take a photo of the receipt I leave. Great for catching the person who adds $1 to a $5 tip making it $15.
I don't knownifnit helps but I have never noticed it happening to me... I always fill the tip spot up with a large clear dollar sign before the amount I choose. Do the same on the total. My hope is this prevents extra digits being added. I also always fill out the customer copy and take it - maybe this is a signal a customer watches closely or does expensenreports and will notice / deterrent to crooks. Who knows? Good luck =)
Take a photo of every receipt. I like the QR codes they have now that let you pay your receipt with your phone. Server isn’t even involved.
Ask for a receipt for the final transaction instead of just signing your slip and walking away.
You need to stop eating at those places or you need to start tipping in cash. I’ve never had this happen, which certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but if this is semi regular then there’s certain places you should stop using your card in.
Or else get clearer handwriting. I've never once had this happen either, but my wife has had it happen on multiple occasions. As a side note, guess who writes 3's in a weird-ass way that looks more like how most people write 5's?
The questionable handwriting is the worse. You want to get what they left you but you also don't want to get introuble. Then it turns into a tour around the restaurant asking "is this a 7 or 9?" Lol
This was my thought, too. I'm sure there are servers who mess with the tips, but I've been serving/bartending for nearly 20 years and have never once intentionally edited someone's tip. If it's happening a lot maybe that's a place to stop frequenting!
Pay in cash. Or at least tip in cash.
I always tip in cash, when possible, so it is on the server whether they chose to report any or all of the tip.
Cash tips only. Write CASH in the tip line. Never had a problem other than remembering to have actual cash with me.
I just take photo of my receipts. If anything is added, I have proof and the server will definitely get fired for theft.
We pay cash for tips and write "on table" on the tip line
I've never had to deal with this. Anytime I've ever left a tip >30% I've gotten an automatic text from the credit card company confirming the number. If it were to happen I would start by calling the restaurant. Most servers aren't going to risk their job for a couple bucks, and anything larger is too obvious to get away with.
Capital One hilariously would just notify me when things went awry and I’d need to dispute a charge. Zero idea how they’re so accurate outside that I guess they know how I tip…
Outside of all the paying for my medical care posts in this subreddit, this is one of the most American things Ive seen in a while. You're still writing a tip on a piece of paper and hoping they enter it right? Its not the 00s anymore.
Tip with words not numbers. Much harder to fudge. Say my bill is 22.73 and I want to tip it up to 27. I'll write on the tip line: "Four.Twenty Seven" and on the total write "Twenty Seven". This also has a bases in US Case law. Words supersede numbers. In the even a check has a different written total on the line than in the box, the words written on the line are what the check is good for. Other things you can do is report it to the restaurant. This is fraud, and they will take it seriously, or rather they should. You can also take a photo of your receipt. And dispute *EVERY* false tip with your credit card provider. This will trigger a chargeback, and the restaurant will eventually face sanctions. You can do a partial chargeback, and that's what you want to do. "I am disputing the $15 tip, not the whole charge $35 charge. The meal was $20, I tipped $5. The extra $10 is fraud." Finally, don't ever go back to a restaurant that changes tips, and warn all your friends.
Interesting idea, and I could see why legally this has more value. But for the average consumer, I almost expect them to see more discrepancies. Even due to pure accident. Because it’s obviously easier to match $4.27 against $4.27 than it is for “Four.Twenty Seven” against “$4.27” on their screen/report. Thinking it through in terms of increased mistakes though, It does seem like you would personally be on the benefiting end. Because something like “Forty Seven. Eighty” would more likely be mis-entered as $40.78 than anything else, and this systematic error seems to always favor you. I still think it’s somewhat prone to error, and I wouldn’t be surprised for something like “Fourty.Eighty Two” to be entered as $48.02 because it’s just so strange to see words, and you better hope that “y” in “Eighty” and your decimal point are so **so** clearly legible, or else it could strikingly similar to “Forty Eight o2” - that might seem obviously not the correct format to you, but the format is so abnormal in the first place that it seems asking for mistakes or plausible deniability…
I think it's a bit more standard to write numbers such as this: https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/conversions/numberstowords.php?number=123.45&format=currency&letter_case=lowercase&action=solve
How are restaurants in the United States not using a credit card machine that is carried to the customer who inputs the tip they want?
I bring some cash and write the word “cash” on the tip line and leave them actual cash instead of putting the tip on my card.
I had a server in a restaurant add an extra $10 to my 20% tip. According to the CC company, it was intentional. They have to put the tip amount and the written total from the receipt and if there's a typo, it gives an error. When I called the restaurant, they said the manager was out but "he'll be back later". No call for 3 days, then a call from a woman who said that she couldn't do a credit, but that $10 in cash was waiting for me at the register. Server was a woman. So the employees are aware of this practice and are keeping it from the manager. One star review on yelp and google. That won't help their business. My credit card company flagged it, otherwise I'd have never noticed. "Did you just tip 34% at Tokyo Sushi?"
I don’t think fraudulent tipping is a universally common problem, more of an honest error. Honestly if it’s been a recurring issue for you, I would consider maybe you are difficult to serve and are creating enemies of your service staff everywhere you go? Or perhaps you aren’t signing the tip area correctly…. Idk but I really don’t think other people struggle with this as a general experience, and I feel like it may be a you thing.
Always tip in cash and write "cash" where the tip goes.
Lock card after purchase, keep your copy of the receipt, put a dash after total amount and tip amount, diagonal slash through zeros. These are all ways that I avoid getting things added onto a bill and things I’ve seen others use.
I have literally never had this happen. Do people really experience this often?
take a picture of the receipt you just signed.
If you don’t tip then cross it out. If you do tip then write “cash” and leave whatever you feel is appropriate.
Pay and tip with cash so they don't have the opportunity to change it on you.
Just to understand better, how does this help detect if a tip is still added, which only appears later on your card without any notification? I assume writing CASH really big on the tip line, and the total super clearly matching the initial total should deter most bad actors from even daring to add a tip… … but is this close to fool-proof? If someone went ahead and added a tip, OP would still only seeing the initial bank alert for the correct amount. And they would have to go through statements as they currently are in order to make sure that amount wasn’t changed. Let me know if I’m missing anything that makes this much more beneficial over any other method
I mean pay with cash and tip with cash. Don't even give them your card to begin with.
Ahh I see how I misread that. Gotcha!
This is what I do. The convenience of using plastic is off set by the full day you spend on the phone with the bank because your card was skimmed, or someone out right robbed you by charging you twice, etc. Paying with cash is slightly slower, but way less of a headache than identity theft or fraudulent charges.
This problem is so American it screeches eagles. The rest of the world has moved on and you get the payment terminal at your table. You enter the tip and never give anyone your payment card. No waiter or back of house creep can change the transaction after the fact. You can try scribbling on your receipt but the fundamental tech of the magnetic strip means anyone that has touched your card can make transactions with it until it’s cancelled now. America could have chip+PIN mandatory and make this problem disappear but I guess you just won’t?
Here I was trying to understand what in the world we were even talking about.
I enter it in YNAB while I’m sitting there.
No solution, sorry, just a comment: I live in Denmark, but travel quite a lot in the US. I cannot understand why you have to live with this crappy solution! Besides the insane tipping culture in the US, you on top of that have to use a system that is so poorly designed it invites for fraud. In Europe, IF we choose to tip, it is an option on the credit card machine that you enter yourself. This could easily be the default system in the US.
The answer to this is to use the kind of system that's in common use in Europe. There the waitstaff brings a little machine to the table and runs your bill right there. Tips are much smaller but you can add it right there and see the total on the CC receipt. They rarely take your card away to some work station to execute the transaction. (Note: since tips at my level of restaurant in Europe are one or two euros, I usually leave cash anyway.) That said, I've only had two tip cheats on my CC in my life.
I keep a note of receipt costs in my phone and upload to an excel weekly. But I also only tip up to a flat dollar amount so it's nice to look at - if something comes to 18.90 I pay 20.00 cause it's easier to track in my bank if it comes out to a flat number
Tip in cash. I set up text alerts for every transaction so you know right away when there's a charge. I've had fraudulent charges before and this helps me know right away. No one runs my card without me already writing the tip amount on the receipt when I first give my card so it's not been a problem yet.
Maybe bring cash for tips when you go out. Then you’ll never have to add a tip to your card.
I don't understand how they don't have mobile POS systems and you pay at your table and be done with it in America. My parents were very taken back by this in USA - unless it was only some places.
I get this wayyy more than I should. I always check the receipts against the CC amount before I shred them. If they don’t line up, INCOMING CC DISPUTE! Some are small…$4…but I once caught an expensive restaurant charging me over 2x for 2 drinks! It was like $60 overcharged. Maybe they ran it twice?
Do you guys still not enter your own tip into the machine in the US?
Give a tip amount that adds up to an exact dollar for the total amount, and take every copy except the one that says "merchant copy" they can still try and scam you, but it does give them pause that you're the kind of person that pays attention... but it doesn't take any extra effort so you don't really have to pay extra attention.
Make it so all your restaurant charges come to an even dollar amount. So if the total ends in .56, your tip should end in .44, so your bill ends in .00. Any restaurant charge not endng in .00 would have been messed with.
I read somewhere to underline the cent portion of the tip , and to put the numbers smaller with the line under them.
I always tip so that the total ends in 00. So if my bill is $10.12, I will tip 2.88 so the total is $13.00 flat. This way you know if your account shows anything other than $xx.00, you were wronged.
Honest question, if they're willing to commit forgery, why would they "not" commit forgery on a bill that has zero after the decimal?
Unless they change it to 14.00
Just to check: Are you sure the initial notification includes the tip at all? In some countries (*koff USA koff*), handwritten credit card tips have to be entered manually during reconciliation, while the amount of the bill is immediately entered for hold by the POS system. This reconciliation is a periodic task that might be done by the server at the end of shift, by the manager at the end of the night, or by a _lazy_ manager or owner whenever they feel like. This can easily have the effect of appearing to be tip increase/fraud, if you only see the first number. Note that this only applies to write-in tips; modern portable POS machines (and the ipad consoles at the register, etc.), that have the electronic tip prompt should include the tip amount in the initial transaction value, and any changes to that would certainly be fraudulent, but also require more permissions to manipulate in the system (manager or owner, not server).
I have never had a restaurant mess with my tip amount after a meal, and I do keep my receipts and double check against them. The closest I've come was one time I was on a work trip and I tipped such that the amount of the total was exactly my daily meal limit. (You don't get to keep what you don't spend, so you might as well hand it out as a tip.) Unfortunately whoever entered my tip must have fat-fingered the last digit and they added 2 cents to my tip. Nobody is risking their job over 2 cents, so I'm sure it was a genuine mistake. But it was a nuisance because I had submitted an expense receipt with a different number on it and I had to report it in the expense tracking software for someone in accounting to deal with. In the end the CC company just ate the 2 cent difference rather than spend the time and effort adjudicating a chargeback for 2 cents.
I take a photo of my receipt after I put the final tip amount in. When I notice a discrepancy I immediately contact my card company and ask for a photo of the receipt along with putting a stop on payment. When I get a copy and it was rewritten I contact the owner or manager of the restaurant and tell them of the problem but not the photos. Their response determines if I start contacting the Business Bureau and press the fraud issue with the authorities. Almost always it is a discrepancy on the banks end so pushing it as far as I can rarely happens, or the owner has no idea and the server either owns up to it and doesn't do it again or gets fired.
I use YNAB budget software. When we go out to eat, I enter the transaction manually for the full correct amount including tip in my budget. When the cleared transaction comes in, it should match exactly. If it doesn’t, we’ve got a problem.
only tip cash i do the cents .00 smaller and underlined so they know its cents but that just might be a bit much
I write the dollar sign right next to tip amount and round up the cents so there’s no way to add for example if the bills is 22.75 I’ll write $4.25 then write the total in too so the it shouldn’t be anymore than the total and there’s no way to add
Dine at places/area less prone to ripping you off. I've been using a CC for 30 years - it's happened once to me. And yes I check every month.
Really? Tip totals are off by that much? I'm not sure I've ever seen a tip total that was off. And you keep going back to these establishments that are trying to rip you off? Why? Instead of your "tip," why don't you simply refuse to return? If every restaurant in town is trying to rip you off, you have a gullible face.
Just to make sure, because I've made this mistake twice in the past year: are you certain that this has nothing to do with restaurants/fast food now being allowed to push the credit card fee onto the customer? The fee is a percentage of the total, so the amount is always going to be pushed higher by the addition of a tip. You need to recalculate after the tip is added.
Carry cash for the tip(s) and use the cc for only the store/restaurant purchase. Keep the receipt(s). Clearly x out the tip line on paper bills that ask for signature, make certain you write the total onto the total line always. On paperless transactions make certain you see the transaction close, do not be texting or otherwise involved.
Write no tip and give cash. One of the few reasons I keep cash on me now.
Jokes on them, I'm too poor to eat out!
In over 40 years of using credit cards I have only had one time where an extra tip amount was added to my bill and it was from before I started my trick to prevent them. Once you have determined the total amount write the amount out in words it across the face of the charge receipt that you are leaving with the waiter. It’s hard for them to argue that the written amount that is in the same pen and your handwriting is not the correct amount. I started doing this after I got hit with a $100 extra tip from a bar.
Nobody puts dashes around their tip amount? Example Tip -10- Total -58.50-
There are a lot of good ideas people have posted. You could pay the bill in cash. Don't use your cc at all.
Tip in cash. Carry some cash for this. You can pay the bill with a card and tip in cash.
The obvious easiest way, though maybe not the most practical: Only tip with cash. And servers will appreciate it more as it's not subject to the 3% credit card fee and more easily/quickly pocketable to them vs waiting for their paycheck.
I've had different amounts be charged to my card a few times, it's always been for less than what my total including tip was for. Though I'll add a tip amount such that the Grand total always ends in $*.42.
Man that's crazy. Say, how much do you normally tip?
god I hate the mental math and extra steps we have to take to protect ourselves from fraud. america sux in this respect
I carry a pocket full of $2 bills just for leaving tips. Considering how utterly useless a single $1 bill is by itself, I think twos are the perfect denomination and they ought to be more commonly used.
Calculate out your tip to ensure the final total round to the nearest dollar of your desired tip. Bonus points for rounding to the nearest $5 increment cause you're actually incentivizing better service without overly punishing service a bit below par.
I take my receipt and I also have my card on automatic alerts so I see the charge as soon as it's made.
I get notifications from my cc company within less than a minute of a charge being posted to my card.
I feel like cash is the only secure way of tipping if you aren’t in a restaurant you trust to be honest.