Dispute CC Charge?

[Joffrey]

Went to a bar in baltimore last weekend. Bought a bunch of 'premium' drinks (Stella's, Guinness', GG & Cranberry) and received a $0.41 tab. Me and my friends figured it was a mistake or the bartender was gay and didn't argue with it and left a large tip. Last night I was looking through my CC charges and found a $49.15 charge which sounds like I should've been originally charged (including my tip). However I'm a little miffed they would switch the charge on me behind my back and am considering calling them to have it removed (the bartender could've told me he miss charged me as I remained at the place for another 10minutes and they weren't busy).

Thoughts?

 

[aybojs]

I'm a little confused. Did the 41 cent thing show up on the receipt as given to you while physically in the bar, or was it a charge that came up on your online statement a day or two after? If it's the latter, it's standard practice to preauthorize the card to make sure it can cover the eventual bill, with the proper charges (with gratuity added in) only showing in full days after.

How many drinks did you get and how much did you tip? At least based on the bar I work at, $50 seems pretty much in line with how much a round or two (depending on the number of people) would cost for premium drinks at $6-8 a pop, with a 15-20% tip counted in (e.g. 49 = 7 drinks at $6 each plus a $7 tip). Your post also suggests that you agree that the charge seems appropriate. So why would you want to dispute a charge that seems to be in line with what you purchased?

Basically, if it really, really concerns you (and I don't think it should from how I've interpreted your comments), you might find it worthwhile to stop by during the day and just ask a manager if it would be possible to see an itemized receipt for your tab because you were confused about how it showed up on your card. If it's at least a decently organized bar, it should be possible, albeit time-consuming, to pull at least your total authorized bill from old records. However, definitely don't show up with an accusatory attitude or come out asking for the charges to be removed. That will instantly lump you with the many people trying to scam free stuff, and possibly put you on a shitlist of sorts if you plan on being a regular at that bar.

 

[Alter]

Originally Posted by Jodum5

Me and my friends figured it was a mistake or the bartender was gay and didn't argue with it and left a large tab.
I have read the quoted sentence above around 10 times now and I seem to have less and less understanding each time.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by Jodum5

Me and my friends figured it was a mistake or the bartender was gay and didn't argue with it and left a large tab.

Did you mean to say you left a large "tip"? Basically, the cc company, amex especially, will refund you if you think there is any discrepancy. I did this last month with a sandwich shop who said my charge didn't go through and made me pay with cash. I just called them up and they gave me my $10 bucks no questions. I think amex lets you claim like $2k a year or something like that.

If you got a receipt and it said $0.41 then definitely complain to the cc company. If you didn't get a receipt and the charge sounds about right, then you have the option of complaining to the cc company.

 

[Joffrey]

I meant to say the $0.41 total was on the bill I signed. While the $49.15 was on my CC statement. I got two Stellas, 4 Guinesses and 2 Cranbery-vodkas, which comes to about $5/drink and the nice tip I left due to the initial lower total. The only reason I want to get my $40 back is because the thought of paying so little for all those drinks made my night. And now its gone

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by Jodum5

I meant to say the $0.41 total was on the bill I signed. While the $49.15 was on my CC statement. I got two Stellas, 4 Guinesses and 2 Cranbery-vodkas, which comes to about $5/drink and the nice tip I left due to the initial lower total. The only reason I want to get my $40 back is because the thought of paying so little for all those drinks made my night. And now its gone

Call the CC company then. If that is what you signed then that is the price, if I were drunk I prolly wouldn't say anything either since you prolly got shafted on weak drinks anyways. You left a big tip so whatever, their mistake.

 

[aybojs]

So basically you are just trying to get free stuff. Maybe you might get lucky and have a manager lazy enough to just throw out a comp without checking, but for the most part, as long as they can pull a list of what you consumed and a list of drink prices, you really don't have a leg to stand on. Either way, if just for the sake of karma, please don't stoop to this just because you want free drinks.

 

[Vintage Gent]

Don't dispute it. You've as much as admitted that that sum represents what you should have paid. The fact that you didn't speak up when confronted with the erroneous bill in the first place speaks volumes. You walked out of the bar that night, knowing that you didn't pay what you should have, if only because of an honest screw-up. To my mind, it's morally equivalent to theft.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by aybojs

So basically you are just trying to get free stuff. Maybe you might get lucky and have a manager lazy enough to just throw out a comp without checking, but for the most part, as long as they can pull a list of what you consumed and a list of drink prices, you really don't have a leg to stand on. Either way, if just for the sake of karma, please don't stoop to this just because you want free drinks.

The cc company won't care, and it was the bar's mistake. Had they accidentally charged you $491.50 on accident, I'm sure they'd clear that up for you asap. He left a large tip, the bartender was paid, the house is only out a couple of bucks worth of booze.

 

[Joffrey]

Just got off the phone with the card company. Seems like its gonna take a while to have this resolved. Not worth the trouble for a relatively small sum, however Im still going thru with it. Thanks for the input!

 

[sho'nuff]

this is how i understand it:

you purchased 49.15 dollars worth of drinks.

bar accidentally charged you .49 dollars on your receipt.

you paid the .49 with your c.c. And left a 40 dollar tip cash.

days later via phone/online found out they fixed the charge and charged your c.c. 49.15 the correct amount.

now you are having to pay the correct amount on c.c. BUT also lost out on the $40 tip you left due to the small bill initially.

so since you left the 40 dollars you believe the corrected c.c. charge should be reversed.

ok,
yes, you are correct. you have a right to the reversal due to the bar's mistake in charging you the incorrect amount resulting in your response of a large tip which would have been diffferent in the case they charged you correctly in the first place.
i dont think you did anything wrong, rather this is similar to fraud on the bar's part (although they probably did it by accident, but still)


i did go to a restaurant once and they charged me 1 dollar on the receipt which i paid with my c.c.
in a couple of days i saw my c.c. account online and they had changed the amount to 11 dollars ( the correct amount) even though i SIGNED the slip stating 1 dollar amount owed.
luckily this was not a restaurant where you would normally tip, but if i had felt GOOD VIBRATIONS and GENEROUS that day and left a 10 dollar tip cash on table for them, and found this out later, i would DEFINITELY call the c.c. company and/or the restaurant manager and explain what happened.
to me small money but still principle is the business does have to take accountability for negligent mistakes like that to inconvenience the customer.

 

[tiecollector]

My tailor said he stopped taking Amex because some guy called Amex saying he returned the $700 suit and my tailor didn't refund the money. Amex backcharged him $700 for the suit that the guy never returned. Never heard my tailor swear but during this story the expletives were flying as easily as a native English speaker.

 

[Quirk]

Personally, I'd have them adjust the total charge to reflect the proper drink charge, plus a tip of about 12-15% (less than normal, due to the bartender's error and the resulting inconvenience). That's assuming the generous tip was included in the bill. If the generous tip was in cash, that makes it more complicated, I guess...

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by tiecollector

My tailor said he stopped taking Amex because some guy called Amex saying he returned the $700 suit and my tailor didn't refund the money. Amex backcharged him $700 for the suit that the guy never returned. Never heard my tailor swear but during this story the expletives were flying as easily as a native English speaker.

this really scares me. how is it any merchant able to conduct any kind of business if these things are easily done by a fraudulent buyer? i am wondering why amex did not investigate this any further.

 

[Joffrey]

The company is looking into reimbursing me a little less than $40. I forgot the exact amount of the tip (the receipt I have only has the total and not the tip amount, I should remember to write the tip amount and total on BOTH receipt copies next time) so I told them I probably rounded up $.41 total, $9.59 tip.