Explained in a Reddit thread:
That is a common scam. I used to be a bartender, and every once in a while that would happen. The person just has to put something "impossible" on the bill, and Visa will not process it. Since the amount and the tip are hand-written, it means you had to enter it into the till with the tip amount AFTER the sisters had left. Visa would outright reject it then as almost no one has that much credit. Even if Visa accepted it, the customer would just call later and claim she had been scammed. Visa would annul the entire bill. The only thing you could have done is pointed out her error, which is why she "secretly" and repeatedly kept asking you not to talk to her sister about the tip. That and the fact that she added 200K to 111 dollars and came up with 211K.More at the link.
A restaurant running that transaction. As written would never get the funds as they are not setup to process a transaction that large. Never mind VISA, it wouldn't get past any processor doing their job.
ReplyDelete?what are "processors"
DeleteProcessors are companies that process financial transactions, especially credit card transactions. For example, TSYS, out of Columbus Georgia, is one of the largest. So is FDR in Omaha Nebraska.
DeleteTx, Ron. Funny - it seems like that's what the credit card company should do. (I obviously have no experience in the world of business).
DeleteEvery credit card transaction involves 3 or more firms that must be communicated with and VISA and Mastercard have little to do in most transactions. Your CC account is likely owned by one business, managed by another, might involve anotherbank, there's also your bank, processors, sometimes a clearinghouse (of sorts) and Visa/MC. And all ot that is vague and simplified. When someone runs a CC the funds do not simply move from the customer's account into the merchant's.
DeleteWhat are the issues regarding declining the tip? If I were the restaurateur, I would be inclined to just process the bill without the ridiculous tip. Yes, you've lost out on the gratuity, but at least you'll be reimbursed for the meal. Is that possible?
ReplyDeleteI'm from the UK, where our tipping culture is nothing at all like in the US, so this is a genuine question!
Seventh
I'm with Anonymous... if you could spot that transaction ahead of time, why not just skip the tip and at least recoup the cost of the meal?
ReplyDeleteFurther, I would hope that Visa would have a customer service center that could easily deal with the issue of a customer willfully attempting to get out of paying for service. In my imagination, the scene would go like this:
Server: "Hey boss, this is a weird tip to leave - it can't possibly be correct, right?"
Boss: "Yeah, it's not. It's a scam. Let's call Visa and deal with it."
Visa: "How can I help you?"
Boss: "Jerk customer did the ol' 'leave a million-dollar tip' scam. Can you approve the charge and flag the transaction for fraud?"
Visa: "Done. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We'll notify the card-issuing bank and lock the card."
Boss: "Thanks."
Server: "Sucks to lose out on this tip, but at least those fraudsters won't be able to use that card again today."
That would require that Visa, or any other major financial institution actually give a damn about their customers. As they have proven time and time again, they don't and likely never will.
DeleteThe scenario above wouldn't happen. The fraud would have to be committed frequently enough to be identified as fraud and not a simple error. The sad part is the merhcant puts his ability to accept Credit Cards at risk when impacted by fraud. Processsors see a business impacted by fraud again and again they may charge that merchant more to process and possibly refuse to do business with that merchant.
DeleteAlmost forgot: not processing the tip as written on the slip is a bad business practice and a great way to lose a chargeback request from the customer. If the charge amount the merchant processess doesn't match the receipt total (including tip) they are vrey likely to loose those funds .
DeleteIt may also be a violation of processor. And card brand rules which could result in more expensive processing rates, fines, and loss of ability to process.
Too bad. It seems that it would be ludicrously simple to identify this type of fraud.
DeleteNot that it would work, but I wonder if any merchant has ever tried to claim such a tip through small claims court. Huge waste of time, but on principle, it might waste enough of the fraudster's time to make a lesson out of it. Unless the card was legitimately stolen or something.
Not to mention, the tipper is so "smart" they got the math wrong.
ReplyDeleteTake the receipt, tear it up in front of the patron, void the transaction and do another one, produce another receipt. "Sorry, sir, Madam, we can't accept any tips in excess of the value of the entire meal." Or something.
ReplyDeleteI've waited tables for eight years and at every restaurant I've worked in, they simply throw the signed copies away at the end of the day. The electronic version is the only version used. I imagine if this happened at my restaurant, the manager would just settle the check for the original amount, sans tip, and be done with it. The only person getting screwed would be the server who isn't getting a tip on a $111 check.
ReplyDelete~Robert
I was thinking the same thing. Slam dunk to prove a charge for $111 using electronic copies verses wasting time trying to prove a $210,889 tip with the signed (and easily forged) copy.
DeleteAnd the meal amount is usually reserved in the customer's account when the card is ran then the tip is added later. So I see absolutely no reason why the restuarant would be stiffed, just the server. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_hold
I've charged in restaurants, added tip to the bill and later was only (accidentally, I suppose) charged the original amount, sans tip, on my charge statement. So the merchant should be able to reject a tip.
ReplyDeleteLurker111
Seems you all should come to live in NZ, we just don't do that tipping thing here.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the service/tourist industry some years ago now, I would frequently be offered tips from North American people. They were very surprised when I said "no, we don't accept tips here".
Only a few persisted to the point where they would secrete some money somewhere, and which I would find eventually. Those monies always went to the SPCA, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
So, thanks, you persistent North Americans.