[Vision2020] Heads up

[Art Deco]

Ellen, et al,

What Ellen describes happens just not to restaurants but to many other businesses such as convenience stores, gas stations, etc.

The best solution is not to use a debit card, but a credit card!  Debit cards are a boon to banking interests. They charge the business about the same fee for processing as they do for credit cards.  Float on the banks' money instead of letting them float on yours.

Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ellen Roskovich 
  To: diannarella at hotmail.com ; ele1955 at adelphia.net ; kb7bzy at hotmail.com ; rmagyar at moscow.com ; jmagyar at moscow.com ; kat11 at thinairnet.com ; mbiladeau at hotmail.com ; rainstar100 at hotmail.com ; rockthed at hotmail.com ; sroskovich at yahoo.com ; carolwstrobel at hotmail.com 
  Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:54 PM
  Subject: [Vision2020] Heads up


  Hi Everyone. . . . this is just a little heads up. . . some info you might not know but will find interesting.

  For about three months I've been getting calls from customers that have eaten at the restaurant and then have questions regarding the charges that show up on their bank accounts when they check them online.  It seems that the charges appear to be more than their bill and they immediately assume that I somehow overcharged them after they left the restaurant.  Of course I haven't.  At first it was only a call now and then.  But as we've gotten closer to the holidays people seem to be checking their accounts more closely. . . . and the calls became almost daily.  One man called me three days in a row DEMANDING I return the money I took from him.  I went over all my paperwork. . . checked my batch transmittal sheet and the figures he gave me in no way matched anything in my night's receipts.  He informed me that he would never do business with me again and would inform all his friends that I changed the totals and overcharged him for his meal.

  Well, to make a long story short, this is the deal. . . . . I finally got to the bottom of it. And it only happens in restaurants.  Seems that when Visa customers use their debit cards 20% is automatically added to the total as a "gratuity authorization"  "just in case" you decide to add a gratuity later.  This shows up on their online account as Gambino's overcharging for the purchase.  People can become really abusive when they think you've done this on purpose. . . . and I can't say I blame them.  But it is a sneaky underhanded thing to do on the part of Visa. . . . yes, they "correct" it in 48 hours but I have found several people that were put in an overdraft condition because of this practice and then charged for it by their bank.

  This practice also shows up if the customer eats at a fast food place.  I have found one person who ate at Subway and another who got a Big Mac at McDonalds and ended up with a $30.00 overdraft charge from his bank. This doesn't make any sense. . . . no "gratuity authorization" should be needed at a fast food place.

  I have been very vocal today. . . . I've warned several of my customers who didn't pay in cash or checks.  I am urging everyone to check their accounts and COMPLAIN  to their banks IMMEDIATELY about any questionable charges that show up.

  I was informed that this is a "service" . . . . but let me tell you, when I start to lose business because I look like a thief and a crook and my reputation is tarnished, then it is a very poor service indeed.

  Ellen A. Roskovich, Owner
  Gambino's Italian Restaurant



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