Applebees - Mistake or credit card scam

Posted by DebtorBasher on 2012-06-07:

NEVER hand your Debit card to a waitress. It is best to get the cash from an ATM before going to the resturant and paying with the cash. I never hand my card to anyone, if I can't swipe it myself, it's not leaving my grubby little hands.

Posted by ok4now on 2012-06-07:

D.B. You stole my comment but your advise was dead on. Never Ever let your C.C. or especially your Debit Card out of your sight. You are just asking for trouble.

Posted by Churro on 2012-06-07:

My goodness most the free world hands their debit/credit card to a waitress without incident. The odds of getting taken is slim to none. Even in the case of the OP they got their money back.

LOL, I guess I'm just a "risk taker".

Posted by matt on 2012-06-07:

Yes. That going to be a new rule for me too

Posted by DebtorBasher on 2012-06-07:

Yeah, well with all that money you have sitting in the bank with nothing to do, getting ripped off by a waitress wouldn't even put a dent in your account...

Posted by Churro on 2012-06-07:

Basher, perhaps in Basherville all the waitresses are thieves sophisticated enough to rob you via your debit/credit card but in the real world that seldom ever happens. You got a better chance of getting in a car wreck on the ride to the restaurant than get card-jacked by a server.

But hey to each their own.

Posted by jeremy on 2012-06-07:

Guess we all need to be more dilagent when using a card. Lessons learned the hard way. Like to feel most are honest or at least are on camera lol

Posted by DebtorBasher on 2012-06-07:

There are no Debit or Credit cards in Basherville.

Posted by ok4now on 2012-06-07:

Shhh..keep this berry berry quiet. The Basher is no fool and knows how to protect her credit/debit card. She would be the last person to get card-jacked.

Posted by out of luck on 2012-06-07:

Seen these scams on the news tv to often lately maybe the news TV is giving these people bad ideas thinking they can get by with it for a while before they get caught. We are on hard times and easy money can be very tempting. But its not worth it.

Posted by madconsumer on 2012-06-08:

were you the poster over charged by $10 or $50? you mention both.

i do not believe there is a worldwide scam going with waitresses. perhaps she made a mistake by looking at the wrong bill? mistakes do happen.

Posted by Ally on 2012-06-08:

Three "mistakes" in an hour means somethings wrong. If they are true mistakes, then the waitress needs to at least be sent home for some rest or something. At the very least her activities need to be supervised to make sure of what the problem truly is.

Posted by yoke on 2012-06-08:

It sounds like she may have gotten the bills messed up. She may have been doing more than one at the same time. Was the bill $10 or $50 over? As long as the manager took care of it there is no harm done.

Posted by littleshorty on 2012-06-08:

Did the waitress overcharge the actual bill or her tip amount? I can see how she would have something to gain by overcharging her tip, but she doesn't get to keep the extra money if she overcharged the bill by $50.

Posted by trmn8r on 2012-06-08:

I always let my credit card out of my sight at restaurants. I NEVER let my debit card into anyone else's hands, let alone out of my sight. Nobody is getting direct access to my cash, not even Basher.

Posted by DebtorBasher on 2012-06-08:

*Changing today's plans*

Posted by trmn8r on 2012-06-08:

Sorry for the confusion - you may want to reread my comment. Look for the words "not even".

Posted by Comfortably_Numb on 2012-06-08:

hopefully the manager will keep an eye on ashley. i will continue to freely hand over my debit and credit cards. i've yet to be scammed **knock on wood** and should i ever become a victim then i will take advantage of my bank or credit card company's theft/i.d. protection services.

Posted by CowboyFan on 2012-06-08:

This is helpful, because it shows the importance of reading the bill and what is being charged BEFORE signing. Did the OP's wife sign the debit card receipt without noticing the error? When I get a bill at a restaurant, I look at it to make sure it is right. Then I give the credit card to the server, and when they come back, I review what I am signing on the credit card slip.

Posted by mattbivens2005 on 2012-06-08:

Revise. When ashley came to the table the first bill showed $37. And change. The reciept when she came back showed $83.30 charged to the card. And NO we did not sign that reciept. The bill should have been $29.48. And at the end that is what I paid. Thanks for taking notice.

Posted by Kahula35 on 2012-06-13:

What would be the scam though? If she was purposely over-charging then she would be making Applebee's more money and not herself. Unless the implication is she was padding the bill to improve her tip which would be insanely risky since most people would know the difference between 30 dollars and 80 dollars worth of food at an Applebees. Instead it sounds like she probably swiped your card for someone else's check which happens.

The only time I ever got "scammed" in a place was at a lousy bar in Springfield Mass where I used my card to pay a 40 dollar tab I had run up with friends. When I got my statement a few weeks later I saw that the bartender had swiped my card for my check and two other checks totaling close to $200 bucks. When I called to complain the manager immediately reversed the charges and credited me back. Apparently the kid was charging his friends checks to other peoples cards and was promptly fired before I even called.

Waitress padding is usually small amounts. Maybe an extra drink or doubling your entree or something like that. Those are small adjustments that are easily missed but you will tip on the total. Over the course of a week a waitress can rake in as much as 50 or even a hundred bucks in extra tips if she is smooth. This is very rare though.

I work in retail though and every credit transaction requires me to physically handle the card. If the customer denies then I deny the transaction so clinging to your card isn't gonna do much.

Posted by momma passion on 2012-06-17:

okay people, there are ways to over charge a bill at applebees to credit there own tip to the good, i watch alot of that when i trained there and worked that, and yes it is a good idea never to give your server a debit card because if a mistake is made it takes up to 3 days to credit that amount back!!not to mention some of those people who just sign and never thank about looking at whats being charged or never take another receipt with them just a warning people pay attention

Posted by Whoever on 2012-07-09:

I worked at Applebee's, it's very easy to mistakenly close out the wrong tables check on their computers. Also, You cannot change a check total without Ringing in more food, which gets sent to the kitchen and made. And charging you extra would send the money to the company, not your waitresses pockets. Just an FYI.