Second Helpings: Check those receipts
When someone I know (in another city) was working as an assistant, she noticed an odd thing when she did her boss's expenses each week ...
Waiters sometimes added a few dollars to the tip her boss had written in on the credit card slip.
When you think about it, the system is easy to abuse. The servers are the ones who type in their tip to the credit card company after you've signed off on it. Her boss let the discrepancies slide; the amounts were small enough that he didn't want to bother about them.
Before she told me about this, I didn't always check my statement against the receipts as carefully as I should have. Now I do. I don't know whether servers are more honest in Baltimore (I like to think so) or they just haven't thought of this particular scam yet; but so far it hasn't happened to me. Still, it doesn't hurt to keep checking.
Comments
OH NO!
BY POSTING IT IN YOUR BLOG YOU ARE NOW GIVING THEM THE IDEA!
OH NO NO NO. AIEEEE.
Posted by: Francesca | April 6, 2008 12:11 AM
Calm down, Ms. Francesca. First, those that would do such a thing are not the type of person in this sandbox. Second, it occurs to me (non-lawyer that I am) that doing that is probably a federal offense, in addition to what ever local charges might be involved. Credit card charges are processed over telephone lines: wire fraud; FBI agents, guns, handcuffs.
Posted by: Robert (the Single One) | April 6, 2008 10:21 AM
I've never had this happen. The only reason I know is because I check all my receipts online even before a statement comes, being a victim of identity thief once will make you do that.
Posted by: Janet | April 6, 2008 11:12 AM
I've never heard of this scam. I was wondering doesn't a restaurant have someone who handles reconciling charges/tips and could that person pick up on this? You have to determine what a tip pay out is for servers, so you have to add up the amounts? Since you hand enter a tip on a charge slip, don't you add an amount, strike through on the tip line or write NONE? This would be bad for the restaurant's reputation. I always leave a cash tip, but thanks for the heads up.
Posted by: Dave | April 6, 2008 2:44 PM