__________ is/are overrated.

[JayhawkCO]

Similar to how I always dealt with people who did bad math when signing their receipt after eating in my restaurants, assuming it wasn't some egregious error. If someone did something like:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $12.73
Total: $86.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the amount they were signing off on wanting to be charged. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

If they did something like this:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $22.73
Total: $76.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the correct math for the amount of tip that they were authorizing. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

Obviously if anyone had ever called to complain (which never once happened), I'd adjust it to how they saw fit, but at least I'd have justification either way.

[Rothman]

Similar to how I always dealt with people who did bad math when signing their receipt after eating in my restaurants, assuming it wasn't some egregious error. If someone did something like:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $12.73
Total: $86.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the amount they were signing off on wanting to be charged. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

If they did something like this:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $22.73
Total: $76.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the correct math for the amount of tip that they were authorizing. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

Obviously if anyone had ever called to complain (which never once happened), I'd adjust it to how they saw fit, but at least I'd have justification either way.

Hm.  I thought the total, even if calculated incorrectly, was supposed to be the amount charged.

[JayhawkCO]

Similar to how I always dealt with people who did bad math when signing their receipt after eating in my restaurants, assuming it wasn't some egregious error. If someone did something like:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $12.73
Total: $86.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the amount they were signing off on wanting to be charged. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

If they did something like this:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $22.73
Total: $76.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the correct math for the amount of tip that they were authorizing. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

Obviously if anyone had ever called to complain (which never once happened), I'd adjust it to how they saw fit, but at least I'd have justification either way.

Hm.  I thought the total, even if calculated incorrectly, was supposed to be the amount charged.

Sure, but if the total was clearly not the intent of the customer (i.e., the customer clearly didn't want to tip 2% or something of that nature), I think it's justified. What happens if the original bill is $63.27 and they put a total of $50.00? I don't just charge them $50.

[kphoger]

Hm.  I thought the total, even if calculated incorrectly, was supposed to be the amount charged.

What happens if the original bill is $63.27 and they put a total of $50.00? I don't just charge them $50.

Presumably, you'd hand it back to the customer to be corrected first.

[vdeane]

Hm.  I thought the total, even if calculated incorrectly, was supposed to be the amount charged.

What happens if the original bill is $63.27 and they put a total of $50.00? I don't just charge them $50.

Presumably, you'd hand it back to the customer to be corrected first.

At a sit-down restaurant, they'd likely be long gone by that point, since the procedure is usually "waiter gives out receipt", "waiter takes card", "waiter comes back with card and new receipts with the tip/total lines", "customer fills out and signs one copy of the new receipt and leaves it on the table when they leave".

[kphoger]

At a sit-down restaurant, they'd likely be long gone by that point, since the procedure is usually "waiter gives out receipt", "waiter takes card", "waiter comes back with card and new receipts with the tip/total lines", "customer fills out and signs one copy of the new receipt and leaves it on the table when they leave".

Oh yeah, good point.

That is a ridiculous system, isn't it?

[mgk920]

TurboTax is a scam.

16A is a scam. (FTFY)

Mike

[JayhawkCO]

Hm.  I thought the total, even if calculated incorrectly, was supposed to be the amount charged.

What happens if the original bill is $63.27 and they put a total of $50.00? I don't just charge them $50.

Presumably, you'd hand it back to the customer to be corrected first.

At a sit-down restaurant, they'd likely be long gone by that point, since the procedure is usually "waiter gives out receipt", "waiter takes card", "waiter comes back with card and new receipts with the tip/total lines", "customer fills out and signs one copy of the new receipt and leaves it on the table when they leave".

Correct. My one night a week I bartend, I normally pick up the payments after they've signed if I can, but sometimes they leave before I'm able to get to the table.

When I first started serving, I used to think it was rude to pick up the slips before people were gone, as if I was trying to rush them out of there or something. But, one of my first trainers once said, "It gives you another chance to say thank you. And if they're ashamed of you seeing how much they left you, they should have left more."

[1995hoo]

At a sit-down restaurant, they'd likely be long gone by that point, since the procedure is usually "waiter gives out receipt", "waiter takes card", "waiter comes back with card and new receipts with the tip/total lines", "customer fills out and signs one copy of the new receipt and leaves it on the table when they leave".

Oh yeah, good point.

That is a ridiculous system, isn't it?

A lot of restaurants in New York City bring the machine to you at the table. I like it a lot better, in part because the one time recently when I went to a restaurant there where they took the card away to run it my card number was then stolen and used for fraudulent charges (which I caught as soon as they were made). I assume the reason why that system hasn't spread to more places is usually a combination of inertia ("we've always done it this way") and cost-avoidance (don't want to pay for the portable machine you take to the table).

When you think about it, the supermarket checkout is also a ridiculous system: Unload your cart and put everything on a belt so a store employee can rearrange it all and put it back into your cart in bags.

[Rothman]

The only time my credit card number was outright stolen was at a Denny's in Indiana, by a waitress with a skimmer on her belt.  Caught in less than a day.  The scam made the local news due to her and her accomplice's recklessness.

[kphoger]

A lot of restaurants in New York City bring the machine to you at the table. I like it a lot better

Hate 'em.  So does my wife.  So do my parents.  When we go to a restaurant that has one of those machines sitting there in the middle of the table, the first thing we do is look for somewhere else to put the darned thing.

[1995hoo]

A lot of restaurants in New York City bring the machine to you at the table. I like it a lot better

Hate 'em.  So does my wife.  So do my parents.  When we go to a restaurant that has one of those machines sitting there in the middle of the table, the first thing we do is look for somewhere else to put the darned thing.

I've never been to a restaurant that leaves it on the table. Everywhere I've seen it, when you're ready to pay the waiter brings the little machine. Usually that also allows for leaving the actual card in your wallet in favor of Apple Pay or similar.

[kphoger]

I've never been to a restaurant that leaves it on the table. Everywhere I've seen it, when you're ready to pay the waiter brings the little machine. Usually that also allows for leaving the actual card in your wallet in favor of Apple Pay or similar.

I've seen both.  The ones that stay on the table typically play annoyingly distracting cartoon and/or trivia stuff non-stop.

[kkt]

At a sit-down restaurant, they'd likely be long gone by that point, since the procedure is usually "waiter gives out receipt", "waiter takes card", "waiter comes back with card and new receipts with the tip/total lines", "customer fills out and signs one copy of the new receipt and leaves it on the table when they leave".

In lots of restaurants in Denmark and France, the servers have a device like an ipad that has a card reader and they can run your card without having to leave the table and come back.  So usually they present the bill to veryify, and then come back and touch your card to the device.


Oh yeah, good point.

That is a ridiculous system, isn't it?

[TheCatalyst31]

I've never been to a restaurant that leaves it on the table. Everywhere I've seen it, when you're ready to pay the waiter brings the little machine. Usually that also allows for leaving the actual card in your wallet in favor of Apple Pay or similar.

I've seen both.  The ones that stay on the table typically play annoyingly distracting cartoon and/or trivia stuff non-stop.

I usually turn those away from the table so I don't have to deal with the distracting nonsense while I eat. Fortunately those only seem to be a thing at some of the big chain restaurants, so I don't run into them all that often.

[vdeane]

A lot of restaurants in New York City bring the machine to you at the table. I like it a lot better, in part because the one time recently when I went to a restaurant there where they took the card away to run it my card number was then stolen and used for fraudulent charges (which I caught as soon as they were made). I assume the reason why that system hasn't spread to more places is usually a combination of inertia ("we've always done it this way") and cost-avoidance (don't want to pay for the portable machine you take to the table).

I wonder if international tourism/immigration is the reason, given that this system is much more common outside the US.  In fact, I've read that the refusal of most of the US restaurant industry to switch is the real reason why we adopted chip and sign instead of chip and PIN!

[Scott5114]

Unless I'm missing out on some refund I suppose.

Do tax audits typically end up giving you more money back than you asked them for?

I want to say they can, but typically the reason they're auditing in the first place is because a computer identified something suspicious, and generally tax returns aren't suspicious because the person is trying to get less money.

But if someone theoretically happened to innocently screw up their return in such a way that it was flagged as suspicious, and it turned out that the corrected return was in the taxpayer's favor, the IRS would be obliged to issue a refund at that point.

[1995hoo]

Unless I'm missing out on some refund I suppose.

Do tax audits typically end up giving you more money back than you asked them for?

I want to say they can, but typically the reason they're auditing in the first place is because a computer identified something suspicious, and generally tax returns aren't suspicious because the person is trying to get less money.

But if someone theoretically happened to innocently screw up their return in such a way that it was flagged as suspicious, and it turned out that the corrected return was in the taxpayer's favor, the IRS would be obliged to issue a refund at that point.

Something along these lines happened to us some years back, though it wasn't a full audit and we didn't get a refund. My wife rolled over money from one retirement account to another when she changed jobs, but the transaction got reported with the wrong code and it made it look like we had underreported our income by a five-digit number. We got it fixed with no major trauma and showed the IRS that the error was not ours (they agreed), but getting that sort of letter in the mail is certainly a very nerve-wracking feeling.

[hbelkins]

Similar to how I always dealt with people who did bad math when signing their receipt after eating in my restaurants, assuming it wasn't some egregious error. If someone did something like:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $12.73
Total: $86.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the amount they were signing off on wanting to be charged. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

If they did something like this:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $22.73
Total: $76.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the correct math for the amount of tip that they were authorizing. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

Obviously if anyone had ever called to complain (which never once happened), I'd adjust it to how they saw fit, but at least I'd have justification either way.

That's why you just pay the total of the meal with your card and leave cash for the tip.

[Rothman]

Similar to how I always dealt with people who did bad math when signing their receipt after eating in my restaurants, assuming it wasn't some egregious error. If someone did something like:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $12.73
Total: $86.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the amount they were signing off on wanting to be charged. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

If they did something like this:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $22.73
Total: $76.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the correct math for the amount of tip that they were authorizing. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

Obviously if anyone had ever called to complain (which never once happened), I'd adjust it to how they saw fit, but at least I'd have justification either way.

That's why you just pay the total of the meal with your card and leave cash for the tip.

What is this "cash" of which you speak?

[vdeane]

Similar to how I always dealt with people who did bad math when signing their receipt after eating in my restaurants, assuming it wasn't some egregious error. If someone did something like:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $12.73
Total: $86.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the amount they were signing off on wanting to be charged. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

If they did something like this:

Bill: $63.27
Tip: $22.73
Total: $76.00

I would close it to $86, since that's the correct math for the amount of tip that they were authorizing. The server would receive $22.73 for a tip.

Obviously if anyone had ever called to complain (which never once happened), I'd adjust it to how they saw fit, but at least I'd have justification either way.

That's why you just pay the total of the meal with your card and leave cash for the tip.

What is this "cash" of which you speak?

I believe it's the substance the guy in front of me at DiBella's was using to pay when the cashier needed to take five minutes to explain to him how rounding worked given the discontinuation of the penny.

[kphoger]

So, are stores actually unable to get enough pennies, or are they all just pretending?

[JayhawkCO]

That's why you just pay the total of the meal with your card and leave cash for the tip.

The cash that I carry on a daily basis is two $20 bills, just in case there's some issue with all my cards and I need gas.

[kphoger]

The cash that I carry on a daily basis is two $20 bills, just in case there's some issue with all my cards and I need gas.

I try not to have only large bills, in case there's some issue with my car and I need to catch a city bus.

[1995hoo]

The cash that I carry on a daily basis is two $20 bills, just in case there's some issue with all my cards and I need gas.

I try not to have only large bills, in case there's some issue with my car and I need to catch a city bus.

Heh, I don't think of $20s as "large bills." $50s and $100s, yes, but not anything smaller than those.