You’re out for a nice meal and got the check, but in your rush to get out of the door, you left your credit card behind on the table or in the checkbook.
Forgetting your card at a restaurant is annoying but fixable. You expect to have to go out of your way to get it back. But what you’re not expecting is for someone at the restaurant to have used it in a way you never consented to.
Is This Server In The Wrong?
In a viral TikTok with more than 199,000 views, content creator Denise (@ugc.denise) describes a dining experience that ended in a way she absolutely did not see coming.
Denise explains that she put her credit card down to pay the bill, forgot to sign the receipt, and left—a normal enough mistake.
But when she returned to pick up her card, the employees informed her that they had already signed the bill on her behalf—and added a tip.
“I’m sorry you did what?” she says in the video’s text overlay.
In the caption, Denise is even more pointed: “Excuse me, you did what? I’m not sure who trained you.. but signing the bill on behalf of the customer is wrong. And also adding tip?!”
She doesn’t specify the amount added or name the restaurant in the video.
What Actually Happens With Restaurant Receipts
According to Business News Daily, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express actually eliminated the requirement for customer signatures on credit card transactions back in 2018, thanks to EMV chip technology. The one exception? Sit-down restaurants—since signatures are still how customers add tips when there’s no pay-at-the-table option.
So yes, the restaurant had reason to want a signed receipt. But that is very different from signing it themselves.
According to HuffPost, restaurant workers and fraud experts say that if a customer leaves behind a signed copy—even the wrong one—staffers typically just work with whatever tip is written down and toss the extra copy.
The standard practice when a customer forgets to sign entirely is decidedly not to sign it for them. One restaurant operator told HuffPost that if a customer walks off with the only signed copy, his staff would work off the indentation left on the paper below—not fill in the blank themselves.
What You Can Do If This Happens To You
If you find yourself in Denise’s position, you do have options. The first step is to dispute the charge with your credit card company. An unauthorized signature and a tip added without your consent are both grounds for a chargeback.
Amy Nofziger, director of victim support at the AARP Fraud Watch Network, recommends always keeping your customer copy of the receipt so you have proof of what you actually agreed to pay.
That paper trail makes a dispute significantly easier to win. If you notice a discrepancy, you can also try calling the restaurant directly first. But if they’re not cooperative, your credit card company is your next call.
@ugc.denise Excuse me, you did what? I’m not sure who trained you.. but signing the bill on behalf of the customer is wrong. And also adding tip?!
Commenters React
“I would be notifying my credit card that there was fraud on my account,” a top comment read.
“Well that’s forgery, fraud and illegal,” another wrote.
“Most restaurants and bars will put a 20% tip for any unclosed bills. I do it every night as a restaurant manager,” a commenter added.
BroBible reached out to Denise (@ugc.denise) for comment via email and TikTok direct message.