Credit card tip disputed by customer?

Question

I am a server at an upscale restaurant. Last week a customer called my boss disputing a $10.00 tip on their credit card slip that they signed. They are accusing ME of tampering with the slip, WHICH I did not & never would do such a thing. The actual slip is in tact & there is no sign of tampering and it is signed by the customer. TODAY the people are coming to the restaurant to dispute the issue. My boss looked at me yesterday like I'm guilty of something. I asked him if he believed that I would do something like this & jeapordize my employment? All he said is, "This isn't good". What's your thoughts on the issue?

Answer 1

If there is proof that you did not do anything wrong then you should be safe on your job.  However, the manager is going to have to side with the customer because the saying is "the customer is always right."  However, he should not treat you as if you are guilty.  Offer your boss the 10.00 tip back if you really feel like you have to prove your innocence.  He should not take it back but it will look like you are the better person.  If the customers are willing to come in to fight the tip then they are convinced they are right.  Were they drinking that night?  If so that is probably the problem.  Do you work in a restaurant where the gratuity is automatically added?  If so maybe the customer did not know that.

The manager should realize that their servers are a reflection of him/her so he should be careful about how he speaks to you.

I worked in the food and beverage business for 12 years and it is a pain in the ***.  A lot of people do not realize the hard work that goes into taking care of their customers.  Some people are just uneducated or cheap.   If the restaurant is really upscale then the customer should not be disputing a tip, because they usually have the money to not worry about such things.

What some of our servers did when we worked was to have a piece of paper that they kept on them to keep track of their tips with the check number on them.  Sometimes that helps.  Also, they made the customer inital the tip to prove that it was the customer that did the tip.  If they come back later then there is a hard copy of the inital and the signature.

Good luck and I hope things work out.