Automated tip?

Train 1 is traveling from Cowtown to Mootown at a rate of 80 miles per hour, and a train A is traveling from Mootown to Cowtown at a rate of 60 miles per hour, but leaves 10 minutes earlier. Cowtown is 70 miles from Mootown. Which of the following is true:

a. Train 1 will reach Mootown 20 minutes earlier than train A
b. Train A has overpriced dining service
c. Mootown is a dump
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
f. 20%

Stevekoe is right. My wife works at a bank. Retsaurants will always run the charge with a tip figured in. It disappears when you get your records, gas stations run $1.00 which disappears.

A word of advice, when on vacation, never use a debit card for a hotel or car rental. They will take the deposit amount out of your checking account and hold it until sometime after you have turned over your room or car to them. This almost ruined one of our vacations. The hotel deposit cleaned out our account, and we spent $60.00 in long distance charges to straighten it out.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmos

A word of advice, when on vacation, never use a debit card for a hotel or car rental. They will take the deposit amount out of your checking account and hold it until sometime after you have turned over your room or car to them. This almost ruined one of our vacations. The hotel deposit cleaned out our account, and we spent $60.00 in long distance charges to straighten it out.

Good advice for those who have a credit card, frustrating advice for those of us who only have a debit card. Also FYI, as far as I know, in the US, only Budget car rental will even accept a debit card, the rest of them require an actual credit card. Discovered that while standing at a rental car desk last year with people I'd just met five minutes before (online friends I went to visit out of town). Not exactly the first impression I wanted to make.

I knew Grampy would be the one who would come up with the simple and corredt solution to this confused forum.

But, just last night at a local restaurant I learned the straigh and simple truth.

When the waiter brings your bill for your meal, you examine it for accuracy and give it back to the waiter along with your credit card, thereby, implicitly approving that amount to be charged on your card.
The cashier then charges your card for the amount of the bill and you are presented with a receipt to which you may add a tip. No one, at this point knows whether or not there will be a tip added to the bill by you. Meanwhile the credit card / banker scam artists have already added 20% to your charge. The restaurant had nothing to do with that 20% charge. The credit card / bank Fagins added the (temporary) 20% because they figure that is the maximum tip you are likely to give and they want to be sure your account has enough money to cover the tip and the bill. When, and if, you add a tip to the receipt and sign it the restaurant sends the amended bill to the credit card / banker crooks and that final amount is charged to your account and any (temporary) difference is erased from your account balance.

Everybody got that? Can we drop it now?

Well, no, we can't drop it now because I have a new question.
Why can't the restaurant present you with a bill to which you add or don't add a tip, and the waiter then brings your total bill , along with your credit card, to the cashier to be rung up one time without all the crap about adding and then subtracting that 20%????

Cheers, John

All this is fine & dandy but it still doesn't answer my question of why they put on the 20% charge for my purchase from what was a food store not a restaurant!! I repeat I do not tip at stores!!

Is it possible, ocdreamer, that this store, when they present you with your credit card receipt to be signed, has a line on there where SOMEONE might add a tip? I know I have been to some places where I have seen a tip line and thought it to be strange, inasmuch as I would never tip there, but I guess someone might.

seafarer john...the assessment you got from the waiter was what I was trying to explain. The only differences in opinion that we have here is that I would think 20% to be an average tip, rather than the maximum -- but, an amount that credit card company feels would adequately address their risk. Also, I think it is possible that rather than placing blame on the heads (I don't know if this is the type of thing that would cause me to call them scam artists or Fagins) of the banks for trying to reduce their exposure to fraud, you might think that there are people out there that cannot control their spending habits such that they do not overdraft. Once the bank authorizes the charges, they are obligated to pay the restaurant the authorized amount. If there is no money in the account to cover the obligation, the bank must then try to recoup its losses from the customer. Not exactly fair, either.

I would think that most people would probably rather add the tip, sign the slip and leave, rather than be asked to tip before the server runs the card.

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by stevekoe

Is it possible, ocdreamer, that this store, when they present you with your credit card receipt to be signed, has a line on there where SOMEONE might add a tip? I know I have been to some places where I have seen a tip line and thought it to be strange, inasmuch as I would never tip there, but I guess someone might.

seafarer john...the assessment you got from the waiter was what I was trying to explain. The only differences in opinion that we have here is that I would think 20% to be an average tip, rather than the maximum -- but, an amount that credit card company feels would adequately address their risk. Also, I think it is possible that rather than placing blame on the heads (I don't know if this is the type of thing that would cause me to call them scam artists or Fagins) of the banks for trying to reduce their exposure to fraud, you might think that there are people out there that cannot control their spending habits such that they do not overdraft. Once the bank authorizes the charges, they are obligated to pay the restaurant the authorized amount. If there is no money in the account to cover the obligation, the bank must then try to recoup its losses from the customer. Not exactly fair, either.

I would think that most people would probably rather add the tip, sign the slip and leave, rather than be asked to tip before the server runs the card.

Steve

Two long-term habits of mine seem relevent here: (1) I ALWAYS draw a line through that space on the receipt for a tip so that one can't be added by anyone else and (2) I almost always leave the tip in CASH (so that the amount is known only to the receipient and God, but not the IRS).

BT, I agree about tips being paid in cash. The IRS is so busy these days trying to put the squeeze on waitpersons that they have no time for Enron personnel. One restaurant fooling with an employee's tips is too many. For that matter, instead of the line drawn, I write "TIP PAID IN CASH" and write the amount again. We're all well served by BT's warning, because there's any number of scammers out there, and we all need to be watchful. Oh, and about those suggested tip amounts listed, I've noticed they're calculated after sales tax is added. Isn't a tip based on the actual purchase amount, not taxes?

For that matter, my partner and I used to have delicious food delivered by a Chinese restaurant here in San Francisco until the night we ordered, but the food never came. It usually takes them 40-45 minutes, so after 1 hour we called, to be told "it's on its way." After another hour had lapsed, they told us, "We made a mistake, it's on its way now." A total of 3 hours after we ordered, we called again, only to be told, "We delivered that food 45 minutes after you called." We told them we've been ordereing from them monthly for over 3 years, and we were very upset. We pointed out that we'd called twice before to inquire about our food. "Maybe someone else got your food." Fine, then don't charge US for your mistake! Of course, they put the charge through. We had another rude awakening when we found out the credit card company will not take calls alleging fraud, but rather they insist you wait until they send you a statement and then you have to write. Sure, we all know you really have to put your complaints about fraudulent charges in writing, but you'd think they'd at least talk to us about it--but, no! True, after about 2 months the credit card company quietly reversed the charge, but we haven't ordered from that restaurant again. Even if it's the credit card companies who are doing what you don't like, BT, I'd like to tell you what restaurant did this to us, so email me. I'd email you but you listed no email address on your profile.

quote:

Originally posted by michaelgemmell
We had another rude awakening when we found out the credit card company will not take calls alleging fraud, but rather they insist you wait until they send you a statement and then you have to write. Sure, we all know you really have to put your complaints about fraudulent charges in writing, but you'd think they'd at least talk to us about it--but, no! True, after about 2 months the credit card company quietly reversed the charge, but we haven't ordered from that restaurant again. Even if it's the credit card companies who are doing what you don't like, BT, I'd like to tell you what restaurant did this to us, so email me. I'd email you but you listed no email address on your profile.

I'll email you--because I'm dying of curiosity. But to the world I'll point out that Bank of America, whose card I mostly use for this sort of thing, has a place on their web site to dispute credit card charges and since those charges (as their adds claim) appear almost immediately on the same site, I should think you could, in fact, go ahead and launch your protest right away. I admit I haven't actually done that, but I can't see any reason you couldn't.

quote:

Originally posted by stevekoe

Is it possible, ocdreamer, that this store, when they present you with your credit card receipt to be signed, has a line on there where SOMEONE might add a tip? I know I have been to some places where I have seen a tip line and thought it to be strange, inasmuch as I would never tip there, but I guess someone might.

Just checked my receipt, nope no tip line.

quote:

Originally posted by ocdreamr

quote:

Originally posted by stevekoe

Is it possible, ocdreamer, that this store, when they present you with your credit card receipt to be signed, has a line on there where SOMEONE might add a tip? I know I have been to some places where I have seen a tip line and thought it to be strange, inasmuch as I would never tip there, but I guess someone might.

Just checked my receipt, nope no tip line.

Gotta tell you -- that is odd. I would have bet there was one there.

I think it is now official -- after three pages of debate on this topic -- you're situation was honked!

Steve

Steve: I think you are correct- it would be kind of awkward to be sitting there at the table after having left the tip - unless it was very generous. But I also have to tell you that "scam artist and Fagins" are very mild terms compared to how I refer to any and all financial services people in private conversation

Although I usually leave the tip in cash, when we're traveling we like to conserve our cash (for some imagined emergency) and usually tip on the receipt. But cash is certainly the way to go - best for us and the waitperson.

Cheers, John

quote:

Originally posted by seafarer john

Steve: I think you are correct- it would be kind of awkward to be sitting there at the table after having left the tip - unless it was very generous. But I also have to tell you that "scam artist and Fagins" are very mild terms compared to how I refer to any and all financial services people in private conversation

Although I usually leave the tip in cash, when we're traveling we like to conserve our cash (for some imagined emergency) and usually tip on the receipt. But cash is certainly the way to go - best for us and the waitperson.

Cheers, John

John,

I surely understand about the cash aspect of things, and when I am traveling on my own dime, I surely try to do that. One item that came up recently was with the woman who cuts my hair. I have always tried to tip in cash, as she is a family friend, more than a barber, per se. One day, I came in with no cash on me (tactical error), and apologized for putting the tip on the credit card. She told me that she gets the full amount of the tip (which I had previously heard was different -- the company charged the server/person being tipped for the service fee from the bank to the tune of X%). For whatever reason, I still try to tip in cash, as I would not want the amount of my tip reduced by any charges, but all things otherwise being equal, I would tip on the card.

When paying on the company dime, the tip will go on the card, as that is the only way to get reimbursed!

Steve

Unfortunately for us, we travel on our own dime - we're retired...

Cheers, John

While traveling in NJ tonight, I stopped for dinner at a Charlie Brown's Steak House (I didn't realize it was a chain -- had never heard of it -- until I was already seated with a group, so save the venom!). I paid the bill with my credit card, but the receipt provided came with a note on the bottom, as follows:

"ALL DEBIT/CHECK CARDS ARE PRE AUTHORIZED FOR AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN CHECK TOTAL, AND WILL BE RECONCILED IN A FEW DAYS. ANY QUESTIONS, ASK TO SEE A MANAGER."

I am guessing this is becoming standard practice and more folks have noticed it than the few that post here. At least this place is being pro-active about it. Advance notice would probably cause fewer complaints down the road.

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by stevekoe

While traveling in NJ tonight, I stopped for dinner at a Charlie Brown's Steak House (I didn't realize it was a chain -- had never heard of it -- until I was already seated with a group, so save the venom!). I paid the bill with my credit card, but the receipt provided came with a note on the bottom, as follows:

"ALL DEBIT/CHECK CARDS ARE PRE AUTHORIZED FOR AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN CHECK TOTAL, AND WILL BE RECONCILED IN A FEW DAYS. ANY QUESTIONS, ASK TO SEE A MANAGER."

I am guessing this is becoming standard practice and more folks have noticed it than the few that post here. At least this place is being pro-active about it. Advance notice would probably cause fewer complaints down the road.

Steve

Indeed it would.

Thank you for the follow-up, stevekoe.