Saigon Star overcharge credit card

[King James]

This is a friendly reminder that DO NOT use you credit card in Saigon Star Fine Vietnamese Restaurant or just avoid this restaurant completely. We have a group dinner last week and the service was pretty slow although the curry crab was good. Because of the bad service, I left a little bit less than 10% of tips I will normally give in Chinese restaurant on a $100+ bill. I still remember the exact amount and I also copied the amount to the customer receipt. To my surprise, I checked my online CC statement and they charged me $1 extra. I probably won't dispute this $1 different but in my mind they still have committed CC fraud.

Just found a similar story from a fellow rfder:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5497191&postcount=11

[Pete_Coach]

Lemme get this straight...you paid by credit card, you signed the receipt to validate the purchase for a certain amount and then they then altered it after you signed? Your copy is different than the one on your online bill?
This is fraud and theft, you can (and should) charge them, no matter what the amount.

[ji2o0k]

hmmm I don't know....for a $1?

You sure there wasn't a mistake they made reading the writing on the bill.

..the other RFD story sounds kind of plausible (mistaking $80 for $86 but that is a bigger mistake IMO).

You should also check the bill and make sure they didn't charge you the old GST rate.

Pretty much any Chinese restaurant, I pay cash only. Harder to do with larger bills yes, but still don't know what they would do with your CC info. At least CC you can argue and get your money back and if you are scammed, the CC companies are good at refunding your money quickly.

[ssainani]

it's normal for credit cards to be charged slightly more/less when it initially posts to your online statement.....but rest assured it will correct

that's just the merchant running your cc through before giving you the bill.... they reconcile later on

[King James]

it's normal for credit cards to be charged slightly more/less when it initially posts to your online statement.....but rest assured it will correct

that's just the merchant running your cc through before giving you the bill.... they reconcile later on

Really? Why will they charge approx when I put the exact amount there? I've never seen that before. I will see if there are any changes.

To the other, the number is changed from '8' to '9'. They should look quite different no matter how bad my writing is. Also, I filled in the exact tips/total amount and they won't add up unless I filled both of them incorrectly and also copied them to my customer receipt incorrectly at the same time.

As I said before, I won't dispute $1 but what stops restaurant from adding whatever amount they want, or do the same $1 trick to thousands of customer to get a good amount of extra tips.

[ji2o0k]

it's normal for credit cards to be charged slightly more/less when it initially posts to your online statement.....but rest assured it will correct

Really? Why will they charge approx when I put the exact amount there? I've never seen that before. I will see if there are any changes.
yeah I haven't seen that either. I use mainly my Amex and MC and check it online periodically and haven't seen that happen. But definitely keep an eye on that and see what ends up on your paper bill statement.

To the other, the number is changed from '8' to '9'. They should look quite different no matter how bad my writing is. Also, I filled in the exact tips/total amount and they won't add up unless I filled both of them incorrectly and also copied them to my customer receipt incorrectly at the same time.ok, that sucks then. If there is no way they could mistake the amount, then yah they are trying to scam you (for the $1 but to your point, if they do that for 1000 customers, hello extra $1000).

Cash only, esp. Chinese places.

[Kranberry]

it's normal for credit cards to be charged slightly more/less when it initially posts to your online statement.....but rest assured it will correct

that's just the merchant running your cc through before giving you the bill.... they reconcile later on

I've got to say I haven't seen that either. I always see my post date several days beyond the date I use it so it is always correct for me.

[ricenice]

it's normal for credit cards to be charged slightly more/less when it initially posts to your online statement.....but rest assured it will correct

that's just the merchant running your cc through before giving you the bill.... they reconcile later on

MBNA does this. After purchasing something you can see the transaction as pending in your account. The amount is usually for what you owed when they swiped the card. A few days later it will show the posted transaction with the correct amount i.e. if you added tip.

[gilboman]

ummm...


it most likely was a honest mistake.. its not hard to imagine them settling the charge and punching in a number wrong or reading your total wrong as well..

before throwing around accusations and so forth, you should sort it out first.

[gucci17]

I personally love that restaurant so even if they did charge me an extra $1, I wouldn't care :D

I'm chinese so I'm used to paying cash only at restaurants. I don't think I've ever used a CC in my life at a chinese restaurant.

[ssainani]

Really? Why will they charge approx when I put the exact amount there?

because they swip and authorize before you add the tip

(otherwise how will they know if you were declined or not....)

[thelefteyeguy]

I personally love that restaurant so even if they did charge me an extra $1, I wouldn't care :D

I'm chinese so I'm used to paying cash only at restaurants. I don't think I've ever used a CC in my life at a chinese restaurant.

...that's just silly...sure I love Saigon Star.

but not using credit card when you can (and not getting a discount on cash)...think of all the points you can get ;)

[bobbings]

Well, overcharging an extra 1 dollar and risking the chance of getting caught and charged with fraud is just dumb. However, they could have some messed up thinking that if it's only 1 dollar, you will probably let it slide and in this case, you did just that.

[rogerrabbit168]

for $1.00 its not worth to dispute, like one of the other guys say, might be a honest mistake when they were punching it, if it was like $10.00 then its a different story

[thelefteyeguy]

Well, overcharging an extra 1 dollar and risking the chance of getting caught and charged with fraud is just dumb. However, they could have some messed up thinking that if it's only 1 dollar, you will probably let it slide and in this case, you did just that.

well...that would be impossible to prove because it's not occuring on most transactions.

it's likely a human error...

[Pete_Coach]

it's normal for credit cards to be charged slightly more/less when it initially posts to your online statement.....but rest assured it will correct

that's just the merchant running your cc through before giving you the bill.... they reconcile later on
Never! This cannot and better not happen.
MBNA does this. After purchasing something you can see the transaction as pending in your account. The amount is usually for what you owed when they swiped the card. A few days later it will show the posted transaction with the correct amount i.e. if you added tip.
This is an outrage if it occurs. What I sign for is what I pay, not one penny more.
for $1.00 its not worth to dispute, like one of the other guys say, might be a honest mistake when they were punching it, if it was like $10.00 then its a different story
Really, for $1 I would report this guy to the credit card company fraud department and to the Cops. He is stealing, it does not matter how little, it is theft. It seemed it happened before and made it to this forum.

[Ojam]

This is an outrage if it occurs. What I sign for is what I pay, not one penny more.

Look up what pending and holds means. It's like paying at the pump, there will be a hold put on more then what is paid until the actual amount clears, you are still only charged the correct amount, not the pending, or held amount.

[squall458]

$1? you must have time on your hands. if they were going to rip you off, they would take more than $1. its not an honest mistake either. i bet you just forgot what the total was. cmon, $1!!!

[silentio]

That saigon place went downhill about 2.5 years ago, after a bout of food poisoning. It used to be jammed pack not these days ppl dont have to line up.

I urge you to figure out exactly what happened here, and if that saigon place did fake a charge on yoru account, contact the CC company.

[Siefer999]

$1? you must have time on your hands. if they were going to rip you off, they would take more than $1. its not an honest mistake either. i bet you just forgot what the total was. cmon, $1!!!

if they were going to rip you off so you would notice for sure, they would take more than $1. $1 would be easily overlooked by most people.

[7Stryder7]

ok that's nothing:
my gf and i went to a new jap restaurant and she paid with a credit card.
when she checked her online statement, they overcharged her $300. both of us didn't look at the person swiping the card but we assume he/she swiped it more than once (we think they were inexperienced cashiers). Straigtening it out right now.

[gucci17]

lol $300 !! That's something to dispute about. Not $1.

Honestly, I know you feel cheated but is it really worth your time? My time is definitely worth more than a $1. If I felt as strongly about this as you, just don't go back. I've been going there for quite a few years and I still enjoy the food. I can say that it may not be as amazing as it was years back but it's still great tasting curry crab. The grilled jumbo shrimp are my favorite actually. I have noticed there hasn't really been a need to line up anymore. lol

For everyone that is urging him to contact the CC companies, it's $1!!!! Jeeze. How many times has Rogers ripped you guys off? You've received a parking ticket for no reason? Get your car towed? I value my time and would rather pay than take a day off work to settle all these minor disputes. Just shows how much free time you guys have on your hands. lol