Monday, March 22, 2010

Surprise, surprise, nobody returned my call.

Should I be surprised? I don’t think so. I case you didn’t read this and are not aware of my little adventure with a credit card theft, I’ll wait for you while you read it. Not bad, huh?

Following my posting the girlfriend I mentioned (from out of town) sent me an email in which she informed me the following Monday to their visit to town, they got a phone call from their bank informing them their credit card had been cloned. They were wondering where it could have happened. Doh! I guess we have our answer!

Friday afternoon, after being informed of this on top of my situation, I contacted the police and inquired what should I do in regards to this. I did report the “difference” to my credit card company, but should I do anything else? The officer I spoke with told me to come by their office and file a complaint. It was theft.

Saturday evening, Hubby and I went for a walk and stopped by a police station. I explained the situation, showed him my bill and statement. The officer was blown away, literally. When another officer would come in he would tell them about it. At first I got the impression he didn’t want me to file a complaint and was suggesting settling with the restaurant. Since I didn’t hear anything back from the restaurant manager or anyone else from Le Quartier, I said I want to go the legal route. I was aware it might be a lot of paper work, time and effort for only $18 but still; it’s for the principle of the matter. She stole from me. I filled out a detailed report, got assigned a case number and now I have to wait for the detective to do his work. It could take months. I don’t care.

Funny fact: while I was writing my declaration the officer consulted a few other officers to know if it was in fact theft or fraud… By the time we left the station, it was still undecided. It is both in a way.

I do realise maybe it wasn’t the waitress who did wrong, maybe it was the manager or somebody else who works there. I don’t really care. Whoever it was, did something illegal, and I have a feeling I wasn’t the last one. If I was the first, then I can only hope this will nip it in the bud.

Lesson learned: keep your receipts and always check your statement!

10 comments:

Robert the Skeptic said...

I had a $9.95 charge on my credit card. I did some research and called the company who charged it; they give me some bogus excuse that I had orders a web site. BS. What it REALLY was that this outfit had illegally obtained credit card numbers and had charged thousands of accounts. If someone complained, they would just refund and apologize KNOWING that no one would go to the cops for that amount. They rake it in on people who don't bother to review their credit card bills.

I filed a consumer complaint with the FTC. Guess what, since the amount is so small, they won't bother.

The moral is: Steal $10,000 from someone and go to jail. But steal $10 from 1000 people and nobody does a thing. Crime pays... pretty well, apparently.

Charlie said...

I applaud your decision to pursue the matter. And I'm willing to bet it's the manager. When or if he gets caught, he'll just go to some other restaurant and do the same thing.

Robert brings up a good point, as usual: tons of people don't review their credit card statements. Why should they? Most don't reconcile their checking accounts either.

Green-Eyed Momster said...

BBVA stole $21.66 from me and I smile every time someone finds the post I did about them. You wouldn't be able to steal from the restaurant, right? They don't have the right to steal from you!

You go get 'em, Stinkypaw! I think you can cross that place off of the list of places to have a party!

Hugs!!

kara said...

damn, that's a good lesson! you should also just go back into the restaurant and let them know the path you've taken. maybe that will get them to refund.

LeeAnn said...

Good for you! I would pursue it too. No matter how much money it is, it's wrong. I can't believe the attitude of the waitress in the first place. You go girl!!
:-)

Meg said...

Good job going after the scammers. My husband recently had his card duplicated and a $400 charge racked up. It was a mess, but eventually got sorted out.

Wandering Coyote said...

I missed the post from the 18th where this story started - sorry about that. I just read it and I am totally shocked that a staff member - whoever it was, it doesn't matter - would A) come up to you and complain about tipping and B) then go ahead and tip herself on your credit card! That makes me furious! Good for you for filing a report. I hope you follow through and that this restaurant gets its just desserts!

For the record, I ALWAYS check my credit card statements. I always have. I've never had any problems, but I think it's always a good idea in this day and age.

stinkypaw said...

Robert the Skeptic: It's frustrating to be a little fish in that big pond... :-/

Charlie: It's too bad people don't reconcile their stuff, but yet it's not really surprising.

GEM: Oh no, we won't be going back there, that's for sure!

kara: I thought of doing that, but then again, I will get a credit from Visa, so... the legal route it is!

LeeAnn: Thank yoU!

Meg: I'm glad that hasn't been the case... yet! ;-)

WC: No worries, I will follow thru. I still can't get over the 'nerves' of her to confront me about the tips and then "help" herself.

Attila the Mom said...

Go Get 'Em Tiger!!

lizgwiz said...

I had a tip "rounded up" once, but when I called the restaurant the manager immediately refunded the difference back to me, apologized, and said she was sure it had been an accident. Whether it was or not, at least she did the right thing by crediting me instantly. It was a restaurant I frequent regularly, and it had never happened before or since, so...who knows.