Theft from food servers has become a big thing. While it’s convenient to pay by card, it’s also convenient for food servers to accept cards for payment. Problem is, many food servers now download apps and run customers’ cards in their own cellphones, as opposed to running it in the restaurant’s system. Wireless is never a good idea for to taking payments.
The thing to know is that restaurants should have their own letterhead on all receipts and customers should always be with any server when they use your card, or call a manager. Disgruntled food servers feel otherwise, with an opinion that they should be paid more, even if they have to “take matters into their own hands”
This problem is very wide spread and restaurants need to be more to secure their systems so that customers pay them and not unknowingly pay the food server personally.
I have had to contact my bank several times to cancel personal payments to servers. It is easy to take advantage of a customer that. Furthermore, I always tip the food server in cash, and on my terms, not theirs. I always remember that food servers do not make the rules.
The way they do this is either by holding a debit card to the phone and the app reads the chip on the card, or swipe the card through a slot reader jacked into the bottom of the phone. Once one of these actions is performed, the only way to reverse it is the customer calling his or her bank to get their money back. But then is is too late for the restaurant to recover the money that should have been paid to them, unless the customer in good faith volunteers to come back to the restaurant to pay the money.
Food servers are fired from their jobs (in the unlikely event they are caught), but customers like me are banned from these restaurants and held responsible to pay the money back, even though it went to the food servers who use their own devices to collect it. As unfair as this sounds, I consulted with an attorney to find out why.
It turns out that I am responsible for paying the restaurant the food I eat, and if I leave without the restaurant getting paid for that food, I am on the hook for the bill, including making sure the money goes to the restaurant. Too many people take this for granted. This matter is not only with restaurants. I am responsible for paying for any merchandise or service, including insuring that the store or service provider receives my payment.
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