my local market is conducting fraud by adding a tip amount to my credit transactions, what can do to stop it?

Question

The punk at my local market rounding up my transactions by adding a bogus tip amount to my credit card transactions. Smells like fraud, what can I do to prove and stop this?! thanks

Answer 1

This person is stealing. No questions. He may make some excuse, but he knows what he is doing. Is this a place where you normally leave a tip, you said market, like supermarket. Retailers that don't have tipping should disable the tip feature on the credit card machine.
For example at a business with tips, the waiter can swipe the card, bring me the printed reciept for $50, I sign the bill, add $10. In most places, that reciept is handed to a single person, ie manager, head waiter, cashier, who then enters a code (which the waiter does not have) to add the tip. This a control process to prevent bogus tips from being added.

I guess the simple answer is to talk to the owner or manager and explain what has happened. Let them know while it is a small amount of money (I am assuming that), you are very concerned that someone is minipulating the credit card charging process.
Also let them know you have to report this to Visa and Mastercard, as it is quite possible this person has been doing this quite often and those $1-$5 thefts add up to some real money.
As for proof, if you have a recipt for $38.13 and the bill came in at $40, there is your proof. But you really don't need proof, if you are stating that the transaction was inflated your card company is going to belive you.
Mail a letter, not a phone call, email, or text message, old fashioned letter and stamp (it is required) to the dispute address on the back of your credit card statement. Short note on what happened.
If it is a bank check card, fill out an affidavit of false charges at a branch.

Answer 2

I doubt there is anything going on.

What is probably happening is that the transaction has not posted yet. It's not uncommon for a retailer to preauthorize an amount rounded up to the next dollar. In a pre-authorization the bank will set aside temporarily an amount reserved for that transaction. In 2-3 days it should post with the amount listed on the receipt.

If you just bought the stuff, wait a couple days. If there is still a discrepancy, then call the bank, not the store. Keep the receipt.

If it still bothers you, call the bank anyway. If you just purchased the goods, they will more than likely say the same thing I did.

Answer 3

As the above answer said, it could be a matter of them authorizing a set amount above the actual amount. This is because they do not know if you are going to leave a tip or not. If this is the case you need to give it a couple of days to have the real amount posted. Now, if it has actually cleared you can dispute then amount of the tip with your bank. The bank will investigate and depending what they find they may reverse the amount.

Now, if they did add this amount without your knowledge you need to stop going to that location. Be sure to talk to the store manager and let him know why you are no longer going to go to their store.

As protection in the future, on a receipt that has a place for a tip. If you do not leave a tip be sure to either write 0 or ------ and carry down the total. This way it makes it very hard for them to add a tip. If after this a tip is added you can dispute it with the bank. They will then pull the receipt and see the actual amount you put(which is 0).

Answer 4

Pay cash.

If you are concerned about the tip, I would offer to be more concerned about the interest that you are being charged by your credit card company.

Paying cash will solve any issues and keep your finances in order and allow you to save money for your future.

Look for ways to get rid of your credit cards or at the very least drastically reduce their usage.

Credit cards should only be used for emergencies.

Pay cash for the rest.

Answer 5

Several of the answers already given are not incorrect, but sound like more trouble than they are worth. If you are being overcharged, fraudulently or otherwise, by a local market, stop shopping there and go to a different market that is more honest.

Answer 6

What exactly do you mean by this?