Do You Keep Your Credit Card Receipts When Dining Out?
Why Your Credit Card Receipts Are So Important
Whenever you use your credit card in a restaurant, you have the option of putting the gratuity on your credit card. This is often a nice convenience because you don't have to worry about carrying cash around to leave at the table. However, unless you keep your credit card receipts each month, this could lead to trouble.
Tipping on Credit
Tipping on your credit card usually requires that you fill out the tip amount on the receipt. It’s also required that you add your tip to your restaurant bill to total the two numbers. This will be the total amount charged to your credit card.
An additional copy of your restaurant receipt is provided for your records. For most unorganized people, the credit card receipts from restaurants end up in coat pockets, on the floor of the car or in the garbage. This, however, can be a very costly habit.
A Bit of a Discrepency
Now, most waitstaff are honest and hard-working people. That doesn't, however, mean that there aren't a few bad apples in the bunch. If you don't compare your credit card receipt with the monthly statement when it comes in, how do you know you're really only paying for the amount that you authorized?
More than a few people who track their restauran tcredit card receipts and compare them to the monthly credit card statement have been suprised to discover that the amount they were charged for the tip is more than what they authorized. After all, it's easy to turn a 1 to a 7 or, worse yet, a 5 to a 15.
You are not required to pay for any charges that you did not agree to. However, unless you have proof you didn't agree to the charge, you may be out of luck. The only way to know for sure what exactly you charged is to keep your restaurant credit card receipts and maintain the proper paper trail.
What to Do
If you notice a billing error on the statement of one of your credit cards, you should notify your credit card company immediately. The credit card company will perform the necessary research to follow up with merchant on this. You should also contact the restaurant management so they can be made aware of the problem.