Tipping Error - Should it be Fixed?

Hypothetical:

A large group goes to the bar at a well known downtown hotel for a happy hour. As it is a work function, one person picks up the tab, to later be reimbursed. For purposes of this, let's assume the final bill was $300.00. Attempting to tip 20%, the person picking up the tab writes "$60.00" on the tip line, making the total $360.00.

Unfortunately, due to a rushed math error, the person actually writes "$380.00" on the total line. So, the check looks like this:

Subtotal: 300.00
Tip: 60.00
Total: 380.00

The person does not notice this error until a few days after the event. When checking the online credit card statement, the total charged was $380.00. Should the server have fixed this, rather than pocketing an extra $20 due to an addition error, or was it the patron's fault for not adding it up correctly?

The actual numbers weren't quite so simple, making the math error a little more conceivable.

While I'm not currently in the business, as a customer I'd expect to be billed the bottom line total. The restaurant doesn't know if your error was in addition or subtraction, and can't be expected to be mindreaders. (In other words, you might have wanted to tip 25% or so, wrote down $380, and then accidentally tipped the server $60 instead of $80 - it happens - I know I figure a 20% tip in my head, add it to the subtotal and round up to an even number, and then subtract to get the tip - sure, it's complicated, but that's how I do it)

That is a tough one, but next time works buying, hook me up. I’m sure I’m in need of some legal counselling. Speaking of legal, how would the law view your dilemma?

The problem with that, annemarie, is:

- You call for a credit and chaos ensues.
- The owner feels compelled to get it back from the server (Not always).
- The server may have already tipped an assortment of assistants based on his tips with your error. He/she is unlikely to seek out all of those people and request the money back. This means you will be not returning the tip to 20% but a lesser amount.
- The server already spent his net on debauchery post shift and will have to work the next night to pay the owner back.

If you made the error, I think the right thing to do is let it go.

[Robin Garr]

If you made the error, I think the right thing to do is let it go.

Bingo. It's an extra 20 bucks on a large bill, and the restaurant reasonably charged the bottom line. Yeah, you can complain, but at this late date the classy thing to do is figure a little extra on the tip won't hurt anybody.

If you made the error, I think the right thing to do is let it go.

Bingo. It's an extra 20 bucks on a large bill, and the restaurant reasonably charged the bottom line. Yeah, you can complain, but at this late date the classy thing to do is figure a little extra on the tip won't hurt anybody.

I'll third that. If the math error was $125, maybe a little adjusting would be in order. But not over $20.

I agree - if they had called the next day after checking the receipt, that would be different. That happened to me, it was actually 2 days later. Too much wine, forgot my glasses and added wrong.
The tip would have been $30 more than I wrote down. The manager told me they go over all large tabs and corrected my addition, so the server got the tip I intended (22%) - I thought that was really nice, although had they not fixed it it would have been my error!

I'm with Annemarie on this one. When I was a server, I always entered my own credit card tips and entered the amount as written on the tip line, not what it would have been according to the final amount line. If there was a math error, be it in my favor or theirs, I assumed that it was merely that, a math error, and that the table had intended for me to have the TIP amount that they wrote for me. Honestly, it sounds a little disingenuous of the server to me.

I doubt that chaos will ensure if you call to recoup the difference. And yes, I'm sure the server will be required to pay it back, assuming that they entered it into the machine. Also, the server's tip-out to other staff was most likely determined by his/her sales that night, not on tips acquired, but I suppose that varies among establishments.

The last place I worked insisted that we use the bottom line amount, regardless of what was entered on the tip line. Makes some sense, as often the tip line is left blank while the total line is filled in. Not the best way to do it, IMHO. The fairest system (to the customer) is to enter the lowest of the two possible amounts, which is what happens at most of the better bars/restaurants I have been associated with. Usually you can determine what a person meant to tip based on some simple math, and usually it is the smaller of the two amounts - especially on a large tab. I have personally broken the above bottom line rule when it was obvious to me that the patron meant to tip me $80+ on a $400 tab, not $180 dollars like the bottom line said.

On the other hand, maybe I was just that good and deserved a 45% tip? I'm good, but I don"t know if anyone is that good. By entering what I'm sure they meant I believe I helped our business retain a customer that would tip me well in the future. Taking the long view is something servers (and even bartenders like myself) often have trouble doing.

I get the perspective of "patron messed up, it's only $20, etc." However, the numbers in the real situation were a little higher, and even at the intended 20% it was a substantial amount of money for 1.5 hours work (not to mention the quick legal question we answered for her, at no charge of course, after she found out we were a table of lawyers). However, if the credit card slip looked like the following, would the server still have entered the bottom number?

Subtotal: 300.00
Tip: 60.00
Total: 340.00

My guess is no. She would have noticed that based on the total, her tip was only 13%. She would have looked at the tip line, noticed the 20% amount, and in my opion, have entered that. It should work both ways.

I can see it from both sides, but what if cash was used to pay the bill? I don't see that working out in the customers favor. "I left $60 by mistake, can I have my extra 20 dollar bill back?"

That goes from making one appear they made a calculation error to being an ass.

I believe there's an adage about becoming a lawyer so you don't have to do math. You should just be able to flash your KBA card and get a free pass on calculation errors. Right?

Kind of my point. It is the customers mistake either way, but it really seems out of line when you look at it as a cash transaction.

Kind of my point. It is the customers mistake either way, but it really seems out of line when you look at it as a cash transaction.

I agree about the cash situation, but I would argue that the situations are different. When you're dealing with a credit card slip, the subtotal, tip, and total all clearly appear. In the cash situation, it's not so clear.

It's the same as if I accidently under-tipped with cash; I wouldn't expect the server to come back asking for more. If I undertipped on the credit card slip, I wouldn't have a problem with the server coming back to say, "The amount on the tip line doesn't add up to the total."

Here's the deal - in full disclosure, I was the person that made the mistake, if that wasn't already apparent. We sat at the table a full 10 minutes or so after the server took the signed credit card slip. She could have easily returned to point out that things didn't match.

This happened to a colleague at a Keeneland suite a month or so ago. That server actually came back and pointed out that the total written in was higher than the subtotal + tip. I think that's the proper way to handle it, regardless of whether it's an accidental under-addition or over-addition.

I have no plans to ask for the $20 (actually more) back, but I do feel slighted.