Emeril's: Arrogant thieves  

The manager didn’t lie, you are. I’m sure he explained that when you pay with a credit card, banks are now reserving an extra 20% to cover the tip. After the tip is entered, that amount will be charged to your card. They do this because when you run a credit card, you only run it for the amount of the check, not including the tip since you don’t know what the person may give you. SOME people don’t have enough on the card to cover it, so the bank does this to cover their butts!!!! I’m sure this was explained to you, so next time tell the whole story!!!!! It’s people like you that make restaurant workers CRAZY!! You shouldn’t judge when you don’t know what your judging!

Posted on 09/07/2007 at 6:01 PM

Lottie, if it’s supposed to work the way you explained, the patron wouldn’t have an extra charge on their card, it would have been corrected in the reconciliation with the credit card company after the tip was entered…

Sounds like THE RESTAURANT doesn’t want to get stiffed, has nothing to do with the bank. That’s understandable, but then the restaurant needs to have a stated “gratuity included” policy and the manager needs to explain it properly.

Posted on 09/08/2007 at 8:16 AM

She checked her account ONLINE, before the charge was dropped off. It’s like a pre authorization, it doesn’t drop off immediately. The BANK holds the amount until the complete charge is batched out and clears the bank.
As far as the manager is concerned, she called him immediately, he could have explained the situation better. One solution is to have a sign posted stating this procedure.
THIS IS DONE BY THE BANK not the restaurant. When you run a credit card, you swipe the card, it asks for the amount, you put in the amount, and it is approved for that amount, plus a percentage of the check reserved for tip. This is done by the bank.
At the end of the night, the credit cards are entered into the machine, and the tip is added. Then, the whole days cards are batched out and sent to each bank. After the charges clear the bank completely, usually within a few days, the reserved amount of money is put back on the card.
We solved this very problem by posting a notice at our front door explaining the procedure to our patrons.
Restaurants aren’t perfect, but we can only be blamed for what we have control of, and what the bank does with your money can only be blamed on them. Call your credit card company and see what their policies are. Everyone is different.

Posted on 09/08/2007 at 3:16 PM