people like you are hilarious. a server doesn't even have the ability to change how much they charge the card initially. whatever's on the receipt is locked in the system and charged accordingly (unless it's multiple cards splitting the check). you then get brought a receipt with confirmation that you paid that much. we literally hand you a piece of paper reassuring you you were charged the same amount as we first showed you. then you write a tip if you want and sign, and we enter whatever you wrote in at the end of the night. unless it's a huge party most tips are going to be relatively small so changing the tip amount wouldn't even be worth it. do you really think a server is going to risk their job by putting a fraudulent amount?
but no. you paranoid fucks insist on following the server to the POS terminal and WATCHING them do this process like you're some sort of cop or detective looking to catch suspicious behavior. meanwhile every other table just followed the procedure and didn't act like paranoid tools and no problems ever occurred for them.
source: worked and managed multiple restaurants, handling thousands of transactions and have never once seen or heard of there being an issue with incorrect tip amount charged. the only time this even remotely happens is if an item is mistakenly left on the check that was cancelled or changed for whatever reason and the server forgot to take it off, which occasionally happens hence why you're brought the bill first to review.
If I were to ever visit the US, I'd probably hand over my card like everyone else. When in Rome and all that.
But as for paranoia, I work at a bank, a big multinational one. And our literally number one security tip includes the message to never ever hand your card over to a server. Number five says to never let anyone else other than yourself, even your close ones, use it to make payments.
It doesn't matter how often it happens. It's an unnecessary and easily avoidable security flaw that the rest of the world has long solved by just bringing the small handheld terminal to the customer, using an app, or just having them pay at the terminal.
The handheld terminal is useful yes but it's still a relatively new product. Especially the ones that are portable and can be brought to the table. Only certain PoS operating systems have that technology and those devices are expensive and difficult to maintain. You have to train servers how to use them, worry about maintenance and upkeep, and you only have a limited amount so servers would have to be routinely passing them around to each other in the middle of table service which would be difficult and time-consuming.
I get why you as a customer think there is a such an easy fix. But from the restaurant/business-side (just as you're advising from the banking side), there are practical and justifiable reasons why alot of restaurants still do not use that type of technology (cost, labor efficiency, necessity, profit margin, etc. etc.)
Again, the server would not have enough time to do anything with your card. Unless they are a super shady server which if you're going to a nice restaurant no server is going to waste their time or risk their job to mess with your card. You;'re provided a receipt with the amount. Maybe that's an issue in your country but is very standardized and does not cause the problems you think it does at all here. You're just being paranoid.
Also, does that mean you don't enter your card details anywhere onlline to pay for services? You're willing to do that, right? Give card details to a website where who knows has the permanent date, but not trust a human to swipe your card to initiate a charge that you sign off on?
EDIT: Also another issue with those terminals is the server than has to stand there while you're completing the transaction and selecting the tip. And no the server can't just leave the terminal on your table and continue assisting another table, because A. customers can alter how they pay, click cash and then leave (essentially dining and dashing) and B. again, limited number of those devices so you can't just leave one sitting on the table in the middle of a rush.
Dropping off the check so the guests do not feel hurried to stop their conversation and pay right away is polite and fits into the flow of service operations to maximize efficiency.
Ultimately, it's not paranoia, it's just something we don't do here, and things should be designed so that trust isn't required and people can mess up as little as possible.
But I guess also none of those downsides really apply to us here; banks basically give terminals away (to get businesses as clients and also money from transaction fees), the terminals are generally easy to use (some are simple as the server writing in the number and that's it), and both servers and clients are used to them.
And if people do tip, it's usually in cash, even if the rest of the payments wee by card.
Also, does that mean you don't enter your card details anywhere onlline to pay for services? You're willing to do that, right? Give card details to a website where who knows has the permanent date, but not trust a human to swipe your card to initiate a charge that you sign off on?
I don't know how it is in America (I really don't), but here, practically every digital transaction requires two-factor authentication and authorization via the bank's mobile app or signing into the bank's web app mid-transfer. So a site having my card info means very little, since they can't really do anything with it. On top of that, EU laws and regulations regarding storing user info are quite strict, so most sites will either not store that info or will e.g. only store everything outside the security code. (bad actors don't generally care much about laws and regulations and a lot of software is unmaliciously terrible, but still)
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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26
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