[diabloo]

Got this in email:

************************************************** *******************************
Dear all

Last Wednesday, dated July 23rd 2008, I had been to hotel Citi Towers, Coimbatore- which is one of the most renowned restaurant over here. The bill was for Rs.2596/- and I had given my ICICI bank debit card as the mode of payment. As usual, they took the card and came back to me with a ‘merchant’ and ‘customer’ copy of the transaction for Rs.2596/-

They gave the card back to me first and then these two papers. I put signature in both and gave them back merchant copy. Before leaving, I gave Rs.20/- in cash to the waiter

Today I got my ICICI debit card statement and in that I found two transactions made for this hotel July 23- Rs.2596/- and July 26 – Rs.44/- . Astonished to c this, I called up the hotel and they transferred call to accounts section. The account manager in charge told me that he’ll sent me the details of the transaction I have done in their bank.

Attached is the message I got from them


NOW COMES THE BIGGEST CHEATING !

In the first pic u can see that, they have written in hand 44 Rs using the same pen with which I put the signature. I have no idea till now on how they made the second scanned copy and how they took that amount from my account, WITHOUT my card on july 26th

I called them and told that I am gonna raise a complaint based on these factors :
1) tip sale adjustment customer copy has not been given and is not signed
2) money is debited on a different date from my account

They fell at my feet and told not to raise complaint and hereafter they will give me food free of cost from there

Pls take this as a warning and be cautious hereafter when u give cards for shopping and in restaurants. They can deduct how much amount they want, without ur knowledge

LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE

************************************************** *******************************

[NetfreakBombay]

Good that you caught it.

Credit / Debit cards are like floppy/CD ROM, it takes just a few minutes to "duplicate" the card. (By copying information in magnetic strip).

Then any number of transactions can be done with duplicate card.

NEVER EVER use a debit card in any restaurant. Always use your credit card. Debit cards do not give same protection as offered by credit cards.

Use debit cards only in situations where it is scanned in your presence.


And PLEASE mask your signature in the images.

[Zappo]

I will add only thing here. You made the biggest mistake when you signed the merchant's copy as it is.

Remember, when you sign a transaction slip at any hotel and are paying the tip in cash do remember to strike out the tip portion on the slip and then again write out the amount in front of the Total Amount:.

[Zappo]

By the way, there is nothing surprising about how they got the second copy of the slip made. The machine given to the hotels is different from the other merchants in the sense that their slips generate a Tip row which is left blank followed by the Total Amount row which is again left blank.

Now their swiping machine also has an option to regenerate a Tip Adjustment slip against the same transaction. I strongly suspect that it is not the hotel but some dubious individual, most probably the waiter or else the cashier who did this.

I never pay the tip on the slip because most hotels put that in their own coffers. This I have been told by many a waiters in different hotels and hence they request you to pay it to them in cash if wish to pay. But some hotels have a policy wherein they let the waiter claim the tip amount in cash from the hotel which the hotel then recovers from the bank through the tip adjustment sale. In your case someone used that as a loophole to claim the Rs.44 from the hotel which the poor guys then recovered using the Tip Adjustment Sale slip.

Remain assured though that someone would have lost his job there.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Zappo

I will add only thing here. You made the biggest mistake when you signed the merchant's copy as it is.

Remember, when you sign a transaction slip at any hotel and are paying the tip in cash do remember to strike out the tip portion on the slip and then again write out the amount in front of the Total Amount:.

Thats great advice Deb. I always do that, strike the tip section and mention the billed amount below ( in the event, paying my cash). This is the best way to safeguard your interest

[tsk1979]

I had a similar issue recently
I went to IOC royal service station near Vasundra enclave on Delhi Noida border, and purchased diesel for around 1250.
I check my e-statement and see for the same date there is a transaction for 1250 and another transaction at the same place for 210!
I immediately called up credit card helpline of HDFC and they asked me to fax complaint. Got a letter from them recently that they are investigating and meanwhile they will negate the 210 charge.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by diabloo

Last Wednesday, dated July 23rd 2008, I had been to hotel Citi Towers, Coimbatore- which is one of the most renowned restaurant over here. The bill was for Rs.2596/- and I had given my ICICI bank debit card as the mode of payment. As usual, they took the card and came back to me with a ‘merchant’ and ‘customer’ copy of the transaction for Rs.2596/-
Before leaving, I gave Rs.20/- in cash to the waiter

Completely but I think that it is sad that someone would tip 20 Rupees on a 2.6 thousand rupee bill.

That's a 0.77% tip.

Better not to tip at all in this case and leave the restaurant with a thank you, rather than do that.

I mean no offence, this is merely my opinion.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Good that you caught it.....
And PLEASE mask your signature in the images.

Originally Posted by Zappo

I will add only thing here. You made the biggest mistake when you signed the merchant's copy as it is...

I dont think this is a personal experience of diabloo.
He has forwarded the contents of an email he got, so that we can be forewarned about such practices.

Originally Posted by diabloo

Got this in email:

************************************************** *******************************
Dear all

Last Wednesday, dated July 23rd 2008, I had been to hotel Citi Towers, Coimbatore- ..........They can deduct how much amount they want, without ur knowledge

LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE

************************************************** *******************************

.

[Bass&Trouble]

Wow, I didn't know this scam is so easy. Its a good thing I, as a habit, always add tip on the slip, re-write the fresh total and then circle it.

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Completely but I think that it is sad that someone would tip 20 Rupees on a 2.6 thousand rupee bill.

That's a 0.77% tip.

, I was thinking the same thing too. I feel a bit ashamed even when my tip is 5% of the bill, which it usually is if the bill is 2-3k+

Btw Sam, do you tip even when there is a 10% service charge included in the bill? I'm not sure who gets that, the restaurant or the service staff.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

, I was thinking the same thing too. I feel a bit ashamed even when my tip is 5% of the bill, which it usually is if the bill is 2-3k+

Btw Sam, do you tip even when there is a 10% service charge included in the bill? I'm not sure who gets that, the restaurant or the service staff.

No Ajay, generally as soon as I see a Service charge on the bill, I do not tip. I however make it a point to call the waiter/captain and point to that figure in the bill asking if that is indeed, a service charge.
This makes it clear to them that this is the reason I leave no tip.

Otherwise I leave anything between 5% to 10% depending on the bill and the services offered. Sometimes in cash, sometimes on the card.

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by diabloo

Got this in email:


In the first pic u can see that, they have written in hand 44 Rs using the same pen with which I put the signature. I have no idea till now on how they made the second scanned copy and how they took that amount from my account, WITHOUT my card on july 26th

If you observe both receipts, its clear that the transaction happened at the same time 21:12:31. Normally this should have different times. It looks like the waiter/biller entered the tip amount on his own directly as part of initial processing.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

No Ajay, generally as soon as I see a Service charge on the bill, I do not tip. I however make it a point to call the waiter/captain and point to that figure in the bill asking if that is indeed, a service charge.
This makes it clear to them that this is the reason I leave no tip.

Otherwise I leave anything between 5% to 10% depending on the bill and the services offered. Sometimes in cash, sometimes on the card.

I do the same. In fact i am yet to come across any Restaurant/hotel/Pub etc. where service charged is not levied upto the tune of 10% in NCR region. Queried a waiter once where this charge goes and he said 50% is kept by the hotel and 50% is distributed among the staff. God knows if thats true!

[HappyWheels]

Had a recent lunch outing with the team at 'The Club', which is just opposite to the 'Rajarajeshwari Arch' on the Mysore road. Bill came up to Rs.5000 and this was inclusive of a 5% service charge!

It seems they charge this 'service charge' when the bill crosses 1000 rs.

[mmmjgm]

New gimmick by banks.

Forced by the HC judgements that Banks cannot send harrasment inducive personnel to homes of borrowers.

New techniques as below feature in new recovery techniques.

1) Hire a private detective, such as prominent detective agencies (one of whom owns a detective agency and is close to the author of this post)

2) find out every financial aspect of the defaulting borrower such as
where he stays,
is it owned or rented.
if rented whats the rent & deposit
if owned when did he buy it, how did he come to receive the title of the property (owned/bought/inherited/gifted/transferred)

3) if he has children
where do his children study
what are the fees. (% of default amount)
where does his children study, - pvt school/ govt school
what are the expenses of the same.

4) what other cards/spending profile does the defaulter have.
such as which car does he own. is it owned or rented/leased/co provided or bought cash down or on installment.s

in otherwords, the entire case is perceived to be a willful defaulter in the books

next thing you know they get a warrant in your name you are arrested, no fear, its a bailable offence.

this is as per news received from various banking channels, press and the detective agency operators.

cheers

MMM

[normally_crazy]

A couple of days back, I booked tickets for a movie through the Adlabs website.

I logged on to HDFC bank website and created a NetSafe card number from my HDFC credit card. Read about Netsafe - Online Credit Card Payment, Virtual Credit Card, Safe Online Shopping, Safe Online Payment - HDFC Bank

Then I used the netsafe card number on the Adlabs website and everything went smooth. I took a print out of the confirmation of tickets.

Walked to the ticket counter and handed over the print out. The guy asked for my credit card to verify the number. I hand over my HDFC card.

He says I have not used this card to book tickets. I had to explain to him what Netsafe was and told him I used a number that the bank website generated for safe shopping on the net. I thought they should be aware of this.

The guy at the ticket counter was not convinced and asked for other identification. I gave him my DL and he kept a copy of the DL with him.

If the merchants are not aware of the NetSafe thing then why are banks offering us the facility ?

The problem I faced was minor - 600 bucks. What if the amount was 50000 or 1 Lac? What would happen then ?