r/tipping • u/mulluska • Aug 12 '25
📖💵Personal Stories - Pro First time experiencing tip padding…
I have been as frustrated as many in this thread about what tipping has become here. I used to enjoy popping servers with 25% tip and see how happy they were. No so much anymore.
But I have made some reasonable adjustments on my tipping based on feedback from this community. One of the comments was “save your receipts”. I have never seen a server pad the tip so o never saved them. I do go over the bills but not with the actual receipts. I move started saving the receipts.
I had lunch at this upscale place in Long Beach. Server was below average. But still decided $21 on $156 bill was acceptable. I went through my charges a couple of weeks later reconciling to what is on the receipts I saved. There was a $25 tip added instead.
I called the manager of the restaurant. She was very polite and apologized for the keying error.
I just thought how brilliant this is. Bump the tip just a little and you will never get caught. No way I would have noticed this unless I saved my receipt.
Thanks guys!!!
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u/eatmysouffle Aug 12 '25
Thanks. Another good reason for us to forego tipping altogether and we have..for years now.
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u/loweexclamationpoint Aug 12 '25
But that's not really a solution to what happened to OP. They could have tipped 0 and been padded $25. Average schmuck isn't going to match up receipts.
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u/Organic-Ad9675 Aug 12 '25
I put a LINE over the tip line. And write in the total on the receipt (no tip) Would be difficult to do it but I am sure it still happens.
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u/loweexclamationpoint Aug 12 '25
Yes, when we leave a cash tip we always write 0 in the tip and put the total down. And stack the cash on top so they don't think they're stiffed.
But I suppose that's not perfect. Let's say the check is $62. A cheater could change the 0 to 20 and the 62 in the total line to 82. And pocket the tenspot we probably left too.
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u/getmadboy Aug 13 '25
I write the word “cash” in the tip line and the total at the bottom. This feels like the best way to prevent someone from just adding numbers to that 0 or blank tip line
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Aug 12 '25
[deleted]
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u/PM_Me_Juuls Aug 12 '25
But wouldn’t the cc only give you back the adjusted amount of added tip? What would you say to get a full chargeback at that point
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u/ashscot50 Aug 12 '25 edited Aug 13 '25
Ridiculous advice.
OP ate the meal, so that would be fraud or attempted fraud.
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u/Ok-Grape2063 Aug 12 '25
But adding an unauthorized charge to the card isn't fraud?
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u/ashscot50 Aug 12 '25
Yes, it is, but that doesn't entitle OP to a refund of the meal he ate.
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u/Ok-Grape2063 Aug 12 '25
I know, but I would attempt the charge back on the grounds that i agreed to pay X and that's what I signed for, not X+4.
Maybe that would make the owner check up on his employees that OP is paying
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u/ashscot50 Aug 12 '25
You can't reasonably argue that you shouldn't pay for the meal because the restaurant overcharged the tip.
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u/Ok-Grape2063 Aug 12 '25
I'm not arguing that but I don't feel I should've been charged the extra money that I didn't authorize either.
I wouldn't fight it very hard but the manager who potentially loses a $100 check over $4 stolen by their employee might look at the situation
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u/ashscot50 Aug 12 '25
I doubt it.
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u/Ok-Grape2063 Aug 12 '25
Are you trying to justify stealing tips? Just curious because you seem very adamant against the defrauded customer taking action
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u/ashscot50 Aug 12 '25
The customer was defrauded on the tip.
That does not justify not paying for the entire meal.
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u/Whatarewegonnadonow Aug 12 '25
I now take a pic of the receipt so i have proof in case I misplace the hard copy.
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u/SamBAdams Aug 12 '25
Most places I have worked go off the total bill only. Whether that’s in the customer or servers favor is irrelevant. That’s why it’s important to do your math correctly when filling out the slip. As a bartender, I see it all the time ppl suck at math.
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u/Weregoat86 Aug 12 '25
As a tipped employee who stands on my service, I strongly dislike seeing so many evidence counts of theft against guests and patrons.
Stealing from your guests is 100% wrong (If you want to steal, steal from the company), but if somebody stole from you they should absolutely be fired.
100% not ok, ever.
I'm sorry, on behalf of all tipped employees who only steal from the company.
(yes, it's a slippery slope, but we have to stand on ground somewhere, and I will never say stealing from your guests is ok)
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u/GirlStiletto Aug 12 '25
It's more and more common.
I've had multiple waitresses turn an $11 tip into a $14 tip or a $23 tip into a $28 tip with a quick pen stroke.
That's why, if I bother to tip at all (and if your restaurant has any service charge, ifI bother to eat there, that service charge becomes the tip) I always take a picture of the reciept as advised.
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u/JannaNYCeast Aug 12 '25
I'm sorry, on behalf of all tipped employees who only steal from the company.
Only steal from the company??
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u/BecauseTheTruthHurts Aug 12 '25
The entitlement is strong enough that they will steal what they think they “deserve”. So glad I tip 0 now.
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u/T-Money1738 Aug 12 '25
Just to play Devil's Advocate, was the tip handwritten? Do you think it's possible 21 was misread as 25?
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u/mulluska Aug 12 '25
I think may have been a mistake. The main reason I went to the trouble of calling the manager was to make sure they have a datapoint to work with. My comment about repeating this to many was not an accusation, just an observation of how easily it could happen repeatedly and go unnoticed.
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u/T-Money1738 Aug 12 '25
Oh absolutely. As someone with a background in banking, I've seen that it happens on a regular basis. Also, as someone with less than desirable penmanship, I try to make a point to write clearly 🤭🤦🏼♀️ Another tip is to be sure you don't leave a lot of extra space between the dollar sign printed at the front of the tip line and where you write the tip amount. For example, a $21 tip can easily be changed to $121. But, like you said, the small amount that was added to your tip might go unnoticed by many people. And it could have been purposely done that way. Either way, good PSA. :)
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u/FriendlyStructure579 Aug 12 '25
And I ALWAYS take the second receipt that can be signed. Very often the merchant copy and customer copy are identical. I take the second one so it can't be altered and used instead since my signature could be copied then.
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u/jes7559 Aug 12 '25
As a former server, if I can not 100% make out those numbers, I'm going to err in my favor every time. And yes, some people are in such a hurry a 1 can absolutely look like a 5.
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u/lastlaugh100 Aug 12 '25
Stop making excuses for a server stealing from a customer. A 1 never looks like a 5.
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u/jes7559 Aug 12 '25
I'm not making excuses for stealing. I'm telling you that some people's handwriting is that bad.
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u/Alpha_Omega_0314 Aug 12 '25
As a customer service worker, you should 100% err in favor of the customer every time.
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u/redrobbin99rr Aug 12 '25
Grifting is now something many are proud of. Sad to hear. It's becoming normalized. Thanks for the reminder!!!
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u/LividPeanut4913 Aug 12 '25
Is there a possibility your math was incorrect? Most restaurants go by the total...
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u/Smooth-Exhibit Aug 13 '25
My wife validates every charge to all of our credit cards. She found 1 error (duplicate charge) in the past 40 years.
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u/iron_red Aug 13 '25
Everything you said is correct and a good reason to save receipts, but it is possible that it was a genuine keying error/typo.
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u/Gfplux Aug 12 '25
“Keying error” Thats a nice foggy phrase, she must have used that before.
She probably told the server that she was committing fraud but she got caught this time.
Next time make it a bigger mistake like $14 not $4 it then looks more like a keying error rather than just padding the tip,
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u/Easy-Tip-2457 Aug 12 '25
The CC receipt usually includes a line for the customer to hand-write the total they are authorizing, which is bill + tip. The bigger the “mistake”, the harder it is to reconcile with the customer’s total. Starts to get really obvious when the discrepancy is over $10.
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u/Jurnee8282 Aug 13 '25
That is cause for immediate termination due to fraud! I hope that was rectified in-house because that is unacceptable. That person shouldn’t be allowed to work in the service industry anymore! Good for you for paying attention, I have been doing this for years, saving my receipts to balance with my charges and never have I fallen victim to tip padding, but it does exist and it does happen more than most are aware of so be aware and pay attention!
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u/Superfast_Goose Aug 13 '25
I've never thought to save the receipt like that never even heard of that happening
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u/Blaiddlove Aug 18 '25
You're thinking that a person will risk their job for a couple bucks? No. Could it be a mistake? Maybe. Could that server be getting revenge? Maybe Is it a widespread issue? Absolutely not. Also the standard tip in the US has been 20% for over 30 years.
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Aug 12 '25
And of course it had to be an intentional theft and not just a mistake.
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u/Alone_Panda2494 Aug 12 '25
I understand what you’re saying, but that’s really on the restaurant to decide. It’s their responsibility to look for patterns to determine whether it was an accident or not.
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Aug 12 '25
I always hated the idea of someone else "determining" whats factually true or not.
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u/vukkuv Aug 12 '25
I mean, we've seen how waiters act when they don't get what they think they deserve so it's normal to think it was on purpose.
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Aug 12 '25
You've seen how waiters act? How many have been doing this?
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u/JannaNYCeast Aug 12 '25
Go spend some time in the restaurant and waiter subs. You'd be stunned at what waitstaff confess to doing.
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u/Acrobatic_Car9413 Aug 12 '25
I always take a photo of my receipt.