AI Legalese Decoder: Your Solution to Sorting Out a Mix-Up Over a Charged Bar Tab
- April 12, 2024
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
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## Situation Overview
I had an unusual experience at a bar over the weekend where my tab was unexpectedly increased without my knowledge or consent. The total amount charged to my credit card ended up being significantly higher than what I had originally authorized. Despite tipping generously, I woke up to find a charge of $207.10 on my Amex account. After contacting the bar, I learned that they had mistakenly transferred another person’s unpaid tab onto my card.
## Difficulty in Tracking Down the Responsible Party
The person whose tab got added to mine was a stranger who had tagged along with a friend of a friend. This individual is unknown to me and to my close circle of friends and family, making it challenging to track them down for reimbursement. Without any prior interaction or exchange of information, the chances of recovering the additional charges are slim.
## AI Legalese Decoder Assistance
Utilizing the AI Legalese Decoder could be beneficial in this situation, as it can help analyze the legal implications of the unauthorized charge and provide guidance on potential actions to take. By translating complex legal terms and concepts into more understandable language, the AI Legalese Decoder can empower individuals to navigate legal issues effectively.
## Lack of Consent and Documentation
I never consented to having another person’s tab added to mine, nor was I informed or provided with a new receipt for the revised total. The absence of a signed agreement or acknowledgment raises questions about the legality of the transaction and my liability for the additional charges imposed without my consent.
## Questions and Considerations
1. Is disputing the charge through Amex the most appropriate course of action, and what are the chances of a successful resolution?
2. How can I obtain evidence to support my case, such as an affidavit, and what steps should I take to secure this documentation?
3. Are the actions taken by the bar in transferring the unpaid tab onto my card considered legal under consumer protection laws?
4. Can I be held responsible for the original $70 tab if it was effectively canceled and replaced without my consent?
## Potential Resolution and Recourse
Given the circumstances, seeking a dispute with Amex may be the most viable option to challenge the unauthorized charges and potentially recover the original amount I had paid. The AI Legalese Decoder can provide insights into the legal implications of the situation and suggest appropriate actions to assert my rights and seek redress for the unauthorized transaction.
## **TL;DR**
After closing a bar tab of $70 and tipping $20, I woke up to a $207 charge on my credit card due to another person’s tab being added without my consent. Seeking legal guidance and exploring dispute options to address the unauthorized charges and potential liability.
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****** just grabbed a
Definitely file the complaint with AmEx. In my experience, AmEx has been terrific with disputes. At the outset, you should be able to just lay your side of the story out in a word doc/PDF that you attach to your dispute. If you feel like it, attach a screenshot of your phone logs showing the amount of time you spent talking to the bar.
Total BS for that bar to charge you. They don’t have the right to do that.
Dispute with amex and tell them exactly what the bar told you. An affidavit is the form the bank will have you fill out saying you swear that what you are saying is true. The bar will need to produce a signed receipt that you did in fact consent to being charged that amount (which you stated you did not) and if they fail to do that your card should rule in your favor
Work in a bar, not Legal, can only charge you for what you signed.
Call the bar again and ask for a refund and only get charged for you paid for, if they insist, open a dispute with Amex, would be helpful to have the original receipt.
File a dispute with Amex and they’ll tell you what to do next.
Amex will see the original $70 charge that they canceled. Even though it isn’t showing on your account transactions, if they printed a receipt the charge went to a pending status, and was either canceled or modified to the new amount. This should support your case.
They were separate tabs. The bar can’t just charge you for someone else.
As a bartender I can tell you that this is a big no no. It is called credit card fraud and yes, I would absolutely take this up with AMEX as well as with the bar in question.
You didn’t authorize the charge. File a dispute. AmEx will give you your money back. You don’t have to prove anything, the bar does.
I’d post about this incident on google maps or something as well. Screw this bar
You dispute the charge with Amex. A merchant is only permitted to charge you for authorized charges. Presumably, you signed a receipt that reflected The $70 + $20 tip for a total of $90. That’s what you authorized. Period.
You call Amex, explain that you authorized a charge for $90, but the merchant charged you for $207. The rest is a waste of breath. You tell Amex that $90 is all you authorized, but the merchant somehow believes they are entitled to re-open your check and charge your card without authorization.
Amex is generally pretty good about siding with card holders, so you should be fine.
Repeat after me – “I have not authorized this transaction. Please remove this charge from my account.”
After that, you call Amex. AND if the bar tries to charge you for your original amount. Call again “I have not authorized this transaction” It was their choice to cancel that charge and comp your bill. They will have to live with that.
This is scummy behavior. Also illegal, I believe.
Dispute the charge for fraud. Now they get nothing. And leave a 1 star. Might want to alert the TABC as well (not sure if they would do anything about fraud charges but it couldn’t hurt).
No it’s not legal. The bar is committing theft.
What the bar did was fraud, plain and simple. Dispute the charge and dont go back.
Now they get zero.
Because someone else didn’t or couldn’t pay their bill doesn’t mean the establishment can randomly just charge someone else. What they did was illegal and could either get them a harsh fine from their processing company or banned from accepting cards in the future. You should pay what you agreed too, even if they admit fault. You still owe what you you agreed to.
I always take a picture of the signed copy I leave with the merchant.
I use that to dispute, but your own copy should suffice as well.
I would dispute the amount. Nowhere in their terms & conditions given (if they even have this displayed/written on receipt) does it say you’re liable for the full amount if another card in same bill declines. THEY have the burden of pursuing with that person.
What little it might help, the bar is lying. I do sales tax for a living. Your original receipt exists as a voided transaction on its point of sales.
Ask the bar to provide their copy of the receipt reflecting the amount they put on your card. Tell them you have your copy, and it shows a different amount.
Do not talk to the server who put this charge through, talk to the manager or owner. If they have any brains at all, they’ll understand that your second phone call to clear this up is their last chance to prevent a dispute and a chargeback from AmEx, which is more than you should do for them.
Their responsibility to handle a declined card is at the point of sale. It has clothing to do with you. No they cannot put random charges on any card that’s handy.
If you are forced to dispute the charge, dispute the maximum amount AmEx will allow you to dispute. In all likelihood, they will tell you that is the cost of the drinks you received. You should be allowed to dispute the entire $20 tip because that is for great service, which it turns out you did not receive. There’s no way this abuse of a customer warrants a nearly 30% tip. What were they thinking?
Which bar was it so we know to avoid?
>EDIT: Seems like a whole bunch of people are calling it fraud or theft that’s good to hear. Since it seems like they refunded me and recharged me, would a dispute make the original 70+20 I paid void as well?
The dispute shouldn’t make the original amount void… because you don’t dispute that amount…
The fact they canceled the original amount to put in a fraudulent amount very well might, though!
Amex does not fuck around and 100% will refund you. I used to deal with charge disputes for years and we had instances of packages delivered with a photo and signature matching the cardholder and they still reversed the charges.
Let the bar know your good to pay your own bill but you called Amex and they said they’ll take the money back no issue since you never signed a receipt nor authorized the ticket and they’ll be out both tabs for fraud.
They can keep running the card on file and it’ll run as soon as the girl makes a payment
Amex will cover you. That’s awful business practices from that bar. They will 100 percent lose the dispute against you if they fight it. They will have no signature of the 207 charge and they had to manually do it after the fact. Don’t feel bad about it either. They are getting what they deserve.
That would be like a group going to a restaurant and telling the waitress to give separate checks, then one member’s card declines who had the most expensive food and drinks and they just randomly put it on one of the other people’s cards without telling them.
Is it possible after the card declined they asked this girl, who you don’t know but was “with you”, if it was okay to put it on the other card and she agreed without you knowing? That’s still *wrong* either way—they need to ask *you* and not her, but I can see some moron doing that. Never underestimate how stupid some people are.
File a dispute. You called the business as they would “expect” to attempt to resolve the issue, with no success.
AMEX will see the reversed charge and new charge. They will contact the merchant and the merchant will have no proof you actually consented to this charge since the only thing you would have signed for or used a point of sale terminal to authorize would be the original charge and your money will be returned.
The vendor would have to go further down the fraud hole to try and pin this on you and for a few hundred bucks it’s not worth it. They may request AMEX recharge the original payment which could happen. They might also eat the loss and you get a free night on the bar for their shady business tactics.
This is fraud. They do not have your signature on that $207 dollar bill. Contact Amex, let them know. This should be an open and shut case.
“Just so we’re clear: you presented me a receipt for service. I signed the receipt. I added a tip. Then after I left, you charged me an amount other than what I had authorized?”
Them: “Yes.”
You: “And when I present this recorded conversation to my bank and the police, you expect to *only* have to repay the amount that you charged me without authorization?”
Go to the bar and talk to a manager. Tell they you want the charge reversed or you will be reporting it to the police as credit card fraud.
If they are knowing charging you for things which you did not purchase, then it’s fraud.
Bars cannot charge you for a receipt that they don’t have a physical signature on. Dispute it and they won’t be able to produce the documentation for it.
I would start by telling the bar that you don’t know that person, they were a friend of a friend and you are not going to be responsible for their tab. They need to restore your bill to what it was. If they refuse to do that then get your credit card company involved. Tell the bar that you’re going to call for a chargeback if they don’t issue you a credit.
They committed theft against you and it is a crime. If the bar isn’t willing to make it right with a refund, press charges but have all of *your* documentation needless to say
I don’t think the bar can do that. You signed off on the amount you were charged – and that’s that. Dispute the whole charge, including the original since they took it upon themselves to be a bunch of douches, write them a godawful review on the internet, and prob win the dispute because Amex is actually kind of good at that thing.
>TL;DR I closed a bar tab of $70 and tipped $20. Woke up to a $207 charge that included 0 tip. Called bar and they put another “group members” tab on my card bc it declined and I’m on the hook for it apparently.
Sounds like fraud to me. You only authorised the original $70 + tip and they charged you $207 instead. If I were you I would be contacting Amex to dispute things.
Everyone pretty much said it. Call Amex, dispute it. If you have the receipt even better but they should’ve seen the original $70 charge.
I personally would go a further with a news outlet and make the bar accountable for what they did. Again that’s just me. Because what the bar did was wrong- whether or not if you knew the other person or not .
Keep us updated.
I own a bar, maybe not in the same state, either way that’s not something that they can do. Just because members of a party came and left at the same time doesn’t put them on the same tab. The bar owner has a responsibility to either speak to their insurance (if it’s big enough) or the police about an unpaid tab, they are not able to simply apply the charges to another member of the party who had a separate paid tab.
Talk to your card’s fraud department. This should be an easy refund.
They won’t be able to provide proof, with your signature, on the receipt for the $207.10 charge. You are 100% not on the hook for this. Call Amex and they’ll sort that out.
What business let’s someone walk away with a declined CC. Also what business processes a CC transaction days later???
That is fraud file a police report on line, this is identify theft. You dont know this person and you did not authorized these charges. Keep it simple. Stop arguing with the bar do not call them any more they commit fraud.
Keep it simple.
Did you keep your copy of the receipt you paid with the tip? FWIW always keep receipts for a few days just for stuff like this.
You can file a chargeback with AMEX and list the amount you paid and the tip. The bar should have to show them your receipt with your signature with that amount. Since they cannot it should be reversed.
Also, what state do you live in? You can call the bar back and record the conversation if you aren’t in a 2-party state. Send that to Amex if they admit to what they did.
Definitely dispute. If you have original receipt or any proof of the $70+20 that will help. Maybe even their statement (if in writing) about how they charged you for other people’s drinks when you had already paid for yours. That is definitely being charged for goods or services that were not provided to you.
Call the bar and tell them you plan to do a dispute, see if they will change thier mind. This is the easiest way to get an adjustment.
If they don”t budge, definitely file the dispute with Amex. Include a description and add details about exactly what you ordered (name, quantity), etc so the dispute team has a sense of what you ordered compared to the 207.10 bill you are forced to pay.
The bar/restaurant has the responsibility to ensure the charge went through for each customer, that isn’t your problem.
> I would think a dispute thru Amex would be the best option here right? What’re my chances
Your chances are pretty close to 100%. You got charged for something you didn’t agree to be charged for. This is an unauthorized purchase.
> What are my options for “proof”? My roommate mentioned something about an affidavit but idk how to go about getting one of those.
Same as any other time. Let Amex chase it down. If they have a signed receipt from you authorizing the charge then it’s a good charge. Otherwise….
> Is this legal?
No, it is not legal to charge someone for something they didn’t agree to.
> Am I even on the hook for the 70 given they basically cancelled my original check and I never consented/signed for the new one?
You are, but given the audacity of how this was handled, I would not be surprised if you ended up with everything being voided out and the bar losing out on the entire sale.
Sorry i’m not answering your question but why tf would the bar not run her card when she was still there??
Dispute w AMEX. Vendor has to respond to AMEX. If they don’t, the charge is reversed. If they respond,.they have to have proof you endorsed.
You are going into way too much detail. Doesn’t matter how much you know person x. You authorized a charge for a certain amount and the bar charged you for more than you authorized. They are not allowed to do that. Period. End of dispute.
What bar is this and where?
Yes, dispute the charges. You’re not responsible for anyone else. You didn’t order the drinks, you’re not on the hook.
They can call the police on the person who skipped paying, or just sue them. They have no right to take money from you for them.
It’ll be easy since they won’t have your signature on anything other than your bill.
this is a dispute, hopefully you saved your signed receipt with the $20 tip on a $70 tab, But even if you didn’t they’re not going to have one on file for you for $200 and you’re probably going to win the dispute, because Amex will be able to see the original $70 charge authorization.
The bottom line is that if you dispute it, they’re going to ask the merchant to produce a signed receipt. If you signed for the new amount, that’s on you, and you’ll probably have to accept it. This amount isn’t worth chasing someone down for.
But if you didn’t sign, you know you’re going to win a dispute.
I would give one more crack at the bar. Call and ask for the manager, and basically give one more attempt for the bar manager or owner to talk to you. Say that you’re happy to pay the amount you signed for, but you’re not going to pay someone else’s tab that you didn’t agree to cover. Just explain it politely, and say you want to do the right thing for them. As a last resort, say you regret you’re going to have to dispute the charge.
You can always hit the I-win button and dispute. But that might mean you aren’t going to be welcome back there. And it’s also possible the dispute might not go as planned. Finally, the goodwill of trying to work with them might help you out later.
A good lesson is, take a pic of your signed receipt. I always lose any that I keep.
Agree that AmEx will absolutely back you.
Dispute the entire tab now. Tell the bar you decided since they just randomly added charges to your card you will be randomly disputing all the charges. It’s only fair. Good luck (to them)