Credit Card Etiquette

In my original post I should have said was that it can be a long, drawn out process getting debit refunds, and the bank sometimes holds the money until then - unlike a CC transaction that isn't tied to your checking account. The same way when a hotel puts an auth hold on your debit card - might be up to $500, money that can't be accessed until the auth is cancelled or the final charge goes through.

Personally, my checking account is pretty low at the end of each month, but all cards are paid off in full. I'd be in deep do-do if I got a big auth hold put on it then. YMMV.

I have had my wallet stolen three times over the past 15 years; twice at work and once at Freedom Hall. I've never had an issue with instanly removing charges from either my credit card or debit card. It was easy dealing with big, impersonal National City Bank. With the last theft, the credit card fraud detection services left a voice mail message before I could call them. As for the restaurant scam, several friends had their data lifted while lunching at a local restaurant. In their case, purchases suddenly began occuring in Mexico.The police reported that they were aware of issues at that location.

Well ... here's what I did.

I never, and I mean never, do NOT leave a tip, but this was one instance that I felt merited such actions. Besides no tip, I told the lady that brought my order that it was not good business to leave someone's credit card on a counter unattended. She laughed it off and acted as if it were no big deal. My final action will occur today when I go back to the restaurant and speak to the owner (who I met on my previous visit). I've been monitoring my account, so I'm fairly sure there wasn't anything nefarious intended ... it just isn't good business and really made me an unhappy (and angry) patron.

I felt bad about no tip, but after reading your responses, I feel better about it. If (and that's a mighty be if) I return to this establishment, it will only be cash from now on.

I felt bad about no tip, but after reading your responses, I feel better about it. If (and that's a mighty be if) I return to this establishment, it will only be cash from now on.

Maybe you just have a heart that works better than mine (for mine is pretty dark and jaded), but I never feel bad about not leaving a tip. I always plan to tip 20-25% and only deviate from that plan when warranted. Poor service can have many causes, although I think I often receive poor service based on the fact that I look younger than I am. Seems some servers assume a poor tip is coming and then they provide the poor service that leads to the very bad tip they expected. Seems to occur even more when I am out with my gf, as we both look younger than we are. Never do I feel bad docking the tip, as I'm only doing it as a result of the server's actions. I should only feel bad if I am choosing to leave a less-than-appropriate tip for some malicious reason. There's only been a few instances where I left no tip, but each instance was predicated by a major violation of service expectations.

The waitress obviously does not take seriously the task of protecting other people's financial security, as demonstrated by her response. To reward her with a tip for such action is to say, "Well, it bothers me, but I'm not going to do anything about it."