Dissatisfied customer

It's a new practice for credit card processors to authorize and hold
funds for 20% over the amount of the charge for service industries in
which tipping is customary. It is not the restaurant that is
authorizing and holding over the amount - it is the processor. The
restaurant has no control over it.

The same applies when using your debit card as they are processed
through the same processor.

I might know what happened and if so, then it's temporary. When we
used to do credit cards, we were told to do it for a few dollars over
the amount. I'm not really sure why but we did it that way for years
until we went with another credit card machine. I don't even know if
that's what happened with you, but maybe? If not, it sounds like the
server gave themselves a tip. You didn't stiff them, did you? It's
very illegal on the server's part, but it wouldn't be the first time a
server gave herself/himself a tip after getting stiffed.

I think you are completely in the right to want this fixed. And the
people who say "Well, you should make sure to have more money in your
account!" need to STFU. Why does it matter how much money was in your
account? If the restaurant had told you they did an overcharge to
insure being paid, or included a tip, then you could have planned
around it. They didn't, so they're in the wrong.

Good luck getting this fixed! I've had this happen way to many times
to count. I've never been overdrawn because of it, but it's still
annoying when I'm balancing my checkbook!

I think the extra five dollars was most likely "war" pay for putting
up with you.

Why don't you invest five dollars in a new brain. You need one! And
since when did credit card purchases get deducted from your checking
account?

They probably added an extra $5 hoping that you would not notice so
they can pocket an extra %5 in tips.

When a customer pays for their meal with a debit/credit card in a full
service restaurant, there are generally two transactions done. The
first one is when the customer hands the card over to pay the bill.

The waitress/waiter then runs the card and gets a "pre-authorization"
for the amount of the bill plus a preset amount (in this case it looks
like 10%). Since the restaurant doesn't know if the customer is going
to leave a tip (or how much if they do) they need to include an
estimate because there are many times when a card will authorize for
the bill amount however the addition of a tip would cause the card to
be denied.

The pre-authorization may create a hold on an account for more than
the actual bill however this is only temporary and is updated after
the customer signs the bill and adds (or doesnt add) the tip. At that
point the server goes back to the terminal, finds the transaction and
adjusts the total based on what the customer signed for.

If the server doesnt update the transaction (either forgets or does it
on purpose) then the pre-authorization is converted to an actual
transaction at the end of the day when the card totals are batched for
delivery to the bank.

That's what likely happened in this case...the customer didn't leave a
tip on the card but the transaction wasn't updated by the server.

There is a simple fix to this problem and it doesn't involve using PFB
to complain. All the customer has to do is take their signed receipt
with the original total along with her bank statement showing the
erroneous charge to that Applebees and ask them to refund the
difference. She can also use that visit to express her complete
unhappiness with how her transaction was handled.

This is something restaurants have been doing for awhile. They will do
one of two things: One, they will run it for over as a hold to make
sure they arent getting jacked out of money. Two, they will run it for
more to guarantee the waiter/waitress gets a tip and then reimburse
the overage. IHOP does this often, and the money is usually returned
within 72 hours.

In the future, I recommend that you not go out and eat when youre
dangerously close to being overdrawn.

Is it possible that they misread your handwrititing? Some resturants
automatically add a gratutity although it is usually if your party
exceeds a certain number of people, but I have been to a few that add
it automatically no matter the number of people. Was it a debit (did
you punch in your pin number) or was it processed as a credit card?
You can always dispute it with the bank and they will have the
merchant provide the original credit card receipt that was signed so
they can see what the amount was. If this was indeed and error I
think that the fees will be refunded to you.

I know that it is not entirely relevant here if at all, but you should
try to keep a better cushion in your account. Where you closely
watching what you ordered so that you did not go over a certain amount
with tax and tip?

This sounds like you used your debit card, not a credit card. If
that's the case, restaurants sometimes put a hold on an amount higher
than the check and then it's resolved when the actual transaction is
sent to the bank. This can also happen at gas stations.

If $5.00 extra caused you to overdraft, you may want to put more of a
cushion in your checking account.

This SOUNDS like an error, for which they should immediately correct.
However, it's doubtful that they'll do anything for your overdraft.
If you're keeping your account tight enough that $5 sets you over,
then you don't have a sufficient cushion.

This said, I'm confused about something. You said you paid by "credit
card." How in the world would this overdraw your checking account?
Unless you have automatic payment of your credit card, you have the
chance to review you CC bill and refuse payment for the wrong amount.
If you are automatically paying credit card bills without reviewing
them, let this be a good example of why you should always review your
bill before it gets paid.

Did you call the manager of that restaurant? That's the only way this
will get resolved.