Suggested tip amount calculation on receipt is wrong - is this user defined or software?

 
Someone I know recently went to a restaurant, and when the receipt arrived it had a suggested tip amount on it.   That's not unusual these days, but what was unusual is while the calculations said 15%-18%-20%, the dollar amounts indicated on the receipt were exactly double that (30%-36%-40%).
 
Here's a pic of the receipt:
 

 
 
As you can quickly see, the suggested dollar amounts are wrong.
Have any of you in the restaurant business ever seen or heard of anything like this?
 
In all of my research around the internet (admittedly limited as I can't find much info on the subject), I can only find that a user of a credit card processing machine or restaurant software system has the ability to enable/disable suggested tip calculations at certain percentages.  In other words, they can turn the ability to print suggested tip calculations on or off, and if they turn them on they can choose certain percentage amounts.   But I can't find anywhere where a user can actually go in and adjust the tip calculations to be incorrect like this to take advantage of customers.  
 
If you can shed some light on this, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Take the amount at 10% x 2  20% is a good tip. If I found this on my reciept, I would leave a penny standing on it's egde.
 

Wow, I'd be pretty agitated if someone handed me that check.  Amazing. 

Wow- I would be pissed.Even if their calculations were to be correct, I would still be pissed.I am tired of our society telling me how to live.Or what to do.

The only place I've seen anything telling customers how much to tip is the now (thankfully) closed 33 Diner between Lancaster and Logan, Ohio.

I am sure that someone with a lot of computer savvy could go into the machine and make the necessary changes, but the moral and legal aspects should be what would prevent them from doing so.  I can't imagine this being an accidental error or the result of wires crossing in the computer.  With all the lawyers out there chomping at the bit looking for new cases, I am surprised one hasn't already latched on to this for a large class-action fraud suit.  Perhaps the name of this restaurant should be divulged in the interest of the general public so it can be avoided, or at least so the patrons will be aware of what is happening.
 
 

Well I have some POS (touch screens at the restaurants for your tickets/checks) experience so I'll weigh in on this.
 
First, this receipt looks like one that would come from a Micros ro Aloha POS system (I think) but keep in mind, a lot of POS systems can somewhat customize the receipts and tickets so Aloha, Digital Dining, Micros, Maitre D, and a ton of others could look like each other if they really wanted to. Most of the time though, they just go with the standard settup that the POS company had 20 years ago.
 
Anyway, I have most of my experience with Digital Dining and I know that we could manipulate a lot of wording and things in the receipt to do some really cool stuff like if you had a charge account with us how much you owed, when you last paid, etc. A ton of other stuff too and you could also put this in the receipt too. Even though Digital Dining had a standard calculation that would be correct, I believe you could actually go in and manually change the percentage because it wasn't "hard coded" into the software. If memory serves me correctly. I may be wrong but I think you could. So in this case, yes, you could change the calculation even though it "says" 15% it could be double or triple that if the person made the total on line x = 0.25 or whatever.
 
Like some have said, even though this option is in the software, it's really a terribly bad idea to put it on the receipt. It's asking for a tip but even more disgusting is it's telling you how much. Why isn't there a percentage for 5% or 10%? We all know why.
 
Not to hijack the thread and start a different subject but I do have an issue with people that tip based solely on a percentage. I was out on a date with my girlfriend once (and she worked as a server at the time) and when we got done, she got her calculator out and was going to start calculating her tip. Before she could start pressing buttons, I told her that I couldn't believe that she had the nerve to do that especially considering that she herself was a server.
 
If people are tipping based on a percentage, then they really don't have any idea why they're tipping other than other people do it and they feel that the "norm" is a certain percentage so that's what they'll do. If you want to show appreciation for your service, do it appropriately by tipping what you think would be reasonably sufficient. And for frick sakes, round up already. If you're ticket is 11.18 and you thought the service was good, just write $14.00 in the total line and call it good. If it was great, $15.00 or $16 would be nice. If it wasn't great but not terrible, just do $13. Not this, well $13 isn't enough but $14 is too much crap so I'll make it $13.50 because it's right in the middle. That's only $2.32 dodo head. Don't go out and eat if you can't afford to.
 
For the record, even though I was in the industry, I never thought tipping should be a way of life either like someone else on here said. An old bartender pal of mine once said the same thing but mentioned he didn't know when or where tipping originated or how it got to be so commonplace but he was going to take advantage of it. Hey, I will too but I wish that people in the industry could just get paid better and there wouldn't be a darn debate about tipping but that's another thread.

you know....a good waitress in OZ can make 25-30 bucks an hour....as an hourly wage, they do not tip over there....
funny thing is, you can still get that nice steak dinner with all the trimmings for around 30-40 bucks..... just about the same as here....
thats how it was 10 years ago anyway....
 
it really makes me wonder why they can pay that, and still only charge roughly the same amount as a place here that pays 7-10 if she is lucky, and relies on the customer to make up the difference 

personally, i stay away from places that hawk tipping jars(cant turn without seeing one) and do receipts like the one above 

Are you going to have on on your truck?

nope
actually, yea i will...inside out of site, if someone asks, i will hold it up for them, and then put it back down on the shelf
i hope no one on here chimes in with something like "well, if its not out for them to see, your cutting your money" 
because then, its not graciously accepting a tip...its asking for a hand out
 

 

the tipping syndrome is so bad around here that even the coffee shops have tipping jars set up right in front of the cash registers...... why ??
a cashier in no way deserves a tip, she is getting paid for what she does, but you want to get snubbed in front of everyone really fast....dont stick a dollar in it 
 
dont get me wrong, i tip when i feel its warranted, when i feel like i have been served above and beyond
not too long ago i tipped 107 bucks on a 13 dollar meal... she was the most awesome waitress i have ever seen.... she would have been/is an asset to anyone that she would choose to work for... truly one in a million, but i have also left my fair share of pennies laying on a table.... sadly, much more pennies then dollars
 
snot nosed kids with entitlement issues sitting behind a register will never see a dime from me

I did not have a tip cup for the first several months, owner/operator, I don't need one.
Everyone asks where the tip cup is, said I don't have one. They would just throw change and 1's back into the window, I would try to give it back, they won't take it.
I now have a tip cup, it's out of site, but most know it's there. I just pulled $75 out of it for the gas tank, and there's still 30-40 in there.
I'm not going to refuse $300-400 a month.

Anyone else notice that the suggested tips were calculated (at twice the stated rate) on what has to be the after-tax total?

gulfbreeze


 
Someone I know recently went to a restaurant, and when the receipt arrived it had a suggested tip amount on it.   That's not unusual these days, but what was unusual is while the calculations said 15%-18%-20%, the dollar amounts indicated on the receipt were exactly double that (30%-36%-40%).

Here's a pic of the receipt:




As you can quickly see, the suggested dollar amounts are wrong.
Have any of you in the restaurant business ever seen or heard of anything like this?

In all of my research around the internet (admittedly limited as I can't find much info on the subject), I can only find that a user of a credit card processing machine or restaurant software system has the ability to enable/disable suggested tip calculations at certain percentages.  In other words, they can turn the ability to print suggested tip calculations on or off, and if they turn them on they can choose certain percentage amounts.   But I can't find anywhere where a user can actually go in and adjust the tip calculations to be incorrect like this to take advantage of customers.  

If you can shed some light on this, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks in advance for your help!