I live in PA.
This experience is worse than the time I was at a place I frequented for a whole year, weekly, and payed with a credit card almost every time. Once, I payed, accidentally dropped my card, came back ten minutes later, and they wouldn't let me take it back without ID. The person who blocked me was the same waitress I'd had for months. *Shudders*
Okay, big story ahead. I ventured to Red Robin, a chain restaurant famous for their multitude of burgers and bottomless fries. I was with a friend. We are both young males, and not that anyone should care, we are both white nerds. We came, ordered two waters, and two $9.99 entrees, both of which were delicious. Service was fine, prompt, no chatting essentially (arguably for better or worse). When the bill came, my friend handed me 11 dollars. You must see, he's a nice man, but a horrid tipper. I think he thought it was off of $10 precisely, which would then be a 10% tip, but instead it was a 40 cent tip off of $10.59. He shrugged and said he'll give me 60 cents in the car. I don't feel like I can tell a man what to tip, if he wishes to tip poorly, that's him. The best I feel one can do is go with like-minded tippers.
Okay, that was the set up of this situation. I myself had precisely 11 dollars in dollars, and more than one dollar in change. I had the 22 in my hand, and as I was going to essentially give her all my change, and would count it first to make sure it was decent; alas, the waitress came and asked if I wanted change. I really didn't want to count change in front of her, and said, **** it, mentally of course. I just gave her my credit card at this point. Here's the essential part, it's my mother's credit card (which I use, all the time, as it's essentially mine in practice). That's not the issue, and I don't need a rant on getting my own card.
About five minutes later, the waitress and a manager came over. Because I clearly wasn't a woman, the waitress asked me for ID, which I didn't have. So, in a thought process I've had, I pretended to look for my ID, so as to let her know I'm me, but don't have ID. Then I immediately looked to my friend to see if he had his card (which he didn't, although it is his card and he does have ID). So we offered to just pay the cash. This is when it got hairy.
"Do you have a number to call your mother?"
Horrid coincidence, this. My mother had been bombing my phone about half an hour before, and I'm quite old enough (21) to not have to go out of my way to let her know where I am. See, I'd picked up the phone, and her end was garbage, static, so I took out the battery in my phone to give it a rest, since it was so low. Thus, when I tried to call my mother, it kept freezing up, then my sim card wasn't active. Jesus. So I just wanted to end it, and persisted in just paying with another method.
To paraphrase them in my own words, "Actually, we'll have to keep your credit card. Regardless of if we call your mother or not. She'll have to pick it up." At this point, the waitress right next to the manager said, "Oh, that will be good." As if I'd been a trouble maker so far ... but still, Red Robin is at least 20 minutes from my house. That'd be 40 minutes of driving plus the hassle of picking up the card from them, all because I wanted to tip better then 10%.
We had polite questioning argument with the sir, a sort of laughing absurdity that they would do this to us. I hadn't given them any indication I wasn't Joe C., the card didn't come up declined or stolen, and we weren't looking for trouble. I understand this may or may not be corporate policy, or at the least, an extremely conservative method to do what's best from the manager. One thing he said was, "But it's not your credit card." Our response was, "But it's not yours either." When we asked if he could legally do this, he pretty much backed off.
After that, the GM I assume came over, to the same legal question said, "I think we can." It ended such that I let her call a number on their phone, my mother did answer, and that was that. Luckily, I got my card back right then. My friend then gave them the money, which I later learned he had given them $22. I would normally feel bad about that, but the hassle they gave us was far worse than any service the waitress provided.
Now what I'd like to know is how legal it would have been to take the card. Imagine if you will, a small shady shop did the same thing, and wouldn't let you have your card even with after you confirmed with someone else. That's an extreme, but similar. I can totally understand not allowing a credit card to go through because I'm not such and such, but COME ON. Could anyone shed some light?
PS - no lectures on my credit card habits, please. I know I need to at least get ID.
"tl;dr - waitress took my mum's CC cause I didn't have ID, wouldn't return it without badgering; is this cool with the police?"
This experience is worse than the time I was at a place I frequented for a whole year, weekly, and payed with a credit card almost every time. Once, I payed, accidentally dropped my card, came back ten minutes later, and they wouldn't let me take it back without ID. The person who blocked me was the same waitress I'd had for months. *Shudders*
Okay, big story ahead. I ventured to Red Robin, a chain restaurant famous for their multitude of burgers and bottomless fries. I was with a friend. We are both young males, and not that anyone should care, we are both white nerds. We came, ordered two waters, and two $9.99 entrees, both of which were delicious. Service was fine, prompt, no chatting essentially (arguably for better or worse). When the bill came, my friend handed me 11 dollars. You must see, he's a nice man, but a horrid tipper. I think he thought it was off of $10 precisely, which would then be a 10% tip, but instead it was a 40 cent tip off of $10.59. He shrugged and said he'll give me 60 cents in the car. I don't feel like I can tell a man what to tip, if he wishes to tip poorly, that's him. The best I feel one can do is go with like-minded tippers.
Okay, that was the set up of this situation. I myself had precisely 11 dollars in dollars, and more than one dollar in change. I had the 22 in my hand, and as I was going to essentially give her all my change, and would count it first to make sure it was decent; alas, the waitress came and asked if I wanted change. I really didn't want to count change in front of her, and said, **** it, mentally of course. I just gave her my credit card at this point. Here's the essential part, it's my mother's credit card (which I use, all the time, as it's essentially mine in practice). That's not the issue, and I don't need a rant on getting my own card.
About five minutes later, the waitress and a manager came over. Because I clearly wasn't a woman, the waitress asked me for ID, which I didn't have. So, in a thought process I've had, I pretended to look for my ID, so as to let her know I'm me, but don't have ID. Then I immediately looked to my friend to see if he had his card (which he didn't, although it is his card and he does have ID). So we offered to just pay the cash. This is when it got hairy.
"Do you have a number to call your mother?"
Horrid coincidence, this. My mother had been bombing my phone about half an hour before, and I'm quite old enough (21) to not have to go out of my way to let her know where I am. See, I'd picked up the phone, and her end was garbage, static, so I took out the battery in my phone to give it a rest, since it was so low. Thus, when I tried to call my mother, it kept freezing up, then my sim card wasn't active. Jesus. So I just wanted to end it, and persisted in just paying with another method.
To paraphrase them in my own words, "Actually, we'll have to keep your credit card. Regardless of if we call your mother or not. She'll have to pick it up." At this point, the waitress right next to the manager said, "Oh, that will be good." As if I'd been a trouble maker so far ... but still, Red Robin is at least 20 minutes from my house. That'd be 40 minutes of driving plus the hassle of picking up the card from them, all because I wanted to tip better then 10%.
We had polite questioning argument with the sir, a sort of laughing absurdity that they would do this to us. I hadn't given them any indication I wasn't Joe C., the card didn't come up declined or stolen, and we weren't looking for trouble. I understand this may or may not be corporate policy, or at the least, an extremely conservative method to do what's best from the manager. One thing he said was, "But it's not your credit card." Our response was, "But it's not yours either." When we asked if he could legally do this, he pretty much backed off.
After that, the GM I assume came over, to the same legal question said, "I think we can." It ended such that I let her call a number on their phone, my mother did answer, and that was that. Luckily, I got my card back right then. My friend then gave them the money, which I later learned he had given them $22. I would normally feel bad about that, but the hassle they gave us was far worse than any service the waitress provided.
Now what I'd like to know is how legal it would have been to take the card. Imagine if you will, a small shady shop did the same thing, and wouldn't let you have your card even with after you confirmed with someone else. That's an extreme, but similar. I can totally understand not allowing a credit card to go through because I'm not such and such, but COME ON. Could anyone shed some light?
PS - no lectures on my credit card habits, please. I know I need to at least get ID.
"tl;dr - waitress took my mum's CC cause I didn't have ID, wouldn't return it without badgering; is this cool with the police?"
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ed them over by claiming he never purchased from them.
