question about tipping and paying with credit

[orijinal]

so we all know that when we go to most sit down restaurants and pay with credit, the receipt gives you your total, and then also a line where you can write your tip amount.

so say i had a bill of $30 and wanted to tip $5. i'd write $5 on the tip line, and give the total amount to $35, right?

shouldn't they then charge me for $35?

at all the sit down restaurants when i have had to tip like this, i always find on my online checking account that they are only taking the billed price, not the total price with tip. what is going on with this?

[dot_null]

so we all know that when we go to most sit down restaurants and pay with credit, the receipt gives you your total, and then also a line where you can write your tip amount.

so say i had a bill of $30 and wanted to tip $5. i'd write $5 on the tip line, and give the total amount to $35, right?

shouldn't they then charge me for $35?

at all the sit down restaurants when i have had to tip like this, i always find on my online checking account that they are only taking the billed price, not the total price with tip. what is going on with this?

It sounds like they aren't entering the tip into the computer. That is odd if it is happening at multiple restaurants. Does it say $35 on the printed reciept that you get when you are paying?

[chrix]

I skip that tip line and just add 10%/15%/whatever it is and write the whole sum rounded to next $10.. and they always bill the sum I write.

[Twelve]

this reminds me of the time a friend of mine tipped the waitress .2% casue she had no clus what she was doing.

[NineToez]

and they always bill the sum I write.

Yup, mine come out that way too. Haven't messed that part of it yet since that's how they make their money.

[jondon]

You're probably talking about the restaurant asking for authorization for the price of your meal without tip first. That's the amount the bank will hold from your account until the restaurant submits the final amount of the sale, which would likely take a few days to process and show up on your statement.

[JenJen]

^ Just like he said. It's the same kind of thing as when you use the Pay-at-the-Pump feature when filling your gas tank, they authorize it for $1.00 and that's the amount that shows for a few days in your checking until the authorization amount drops off and the actual amount posts.

P.S. -- I used to waitress, and if you're gonna write in both the tip amount and the final amount, make sure you add right!!! People would put in a generous tip amount and then add wrong, in their favor, but that final amount is what your server/the restaurant has to go by...sucks!

[walkguru]

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Nokia6230/2.0 (04.43) Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

Yes that is how it works.

[Big Calhoun]

Hmmm, I don't know what kind of restuarants you guys go to. I go and if I pay with credit, I just fill in the tip and then total it up...done. Go home and it's on my statement as a pending charge...food and tip. I guess some of you are going to places where they authorize the card first then bring your check. Whereas around here, they just bring your check, you do your thing and it's done.

[Paolo]

I always give CASH tips, its a general thumb rule for me and my friends to NOT tip with CC.. peopel who work in bars/restraunts want their tips in CASH, so why make it difficult for them?

[mascabeza]

^^^For the same reason I'm not paying in cash... I don't have any on me.

[Big Calhoun]

At a restuarant I go to occasionally, it's usually credit. Restuarants that I frequent alot, the tip is always cash b/c there are certain waiters and waitresses that took good care of me and I want to make sure they get the money directly.

[techwiz]

This reminds me of lunch from a couple days ago... there was no tip line! And the total was already filled in! Forced me to pay a cash tip.

[orijinal]

I always give CASH tips, its a general thumb rule for me and my friends to NOT tip with CC.. peopel who work in bars/restraunts want their tips in CASH, so why make it difficult for them?

from what i understand, they take the money that is tipped to them from the cash register, and the restaurant makes that $ back from the CC. so they do get cash.

so what i understand, it's like a hold similar to at gas stations?

ah, this makes sense... now that i look at the final transaction that i had at TGI Friday's a couple months back, the final billed price included the tip that i put.

thanks a lot all

[mascabeza]

Another thing that can benefit the server with cash tips is cash doesn't always get fully reported as income for tax reasons, where the paper trail left with a cc pretty much requires the employer to report it as income.