In the US we sign for most transactions that can have a tip.
Typical restaurant flow would be:
Server gives you an initial receipt with your subtotal on it so you know how much you owe
You give them your card, they charge it the initial amount and give you a second receipt
You write in a tip amount (and calculate the new total) on this second receipt and sign it
Our credit card companies don’t require signatures anymore so we don’t have to do this nonsense when we buy anywhere that doesn’t take tips (grocery store, department store, etc.); I assume restaurants just want some sort of “proof” in case you try and dispute the charge later.
I have an even more radical simplification: Just list the actual amount of money that the customer is expected to pay directly on the menu and then that same amount of money once again on the bill, just like the entire rest of the world does it!
Oh, I’m so sorry, did you really ask an actual question there? It seemed so obvious to me that making things simpler would make things simpler that the only possible reading in my mind was that you were making a suggestion, stated in the form of a rhetorical question. So I thought it a good idea to pile on, it wasn’t my intention to derail.
What the fuck is signing a reciept?
If the receipt is contested, your bank may investigate. If the bank investigates, they may bring you the receipt and ask you “is this your signature?”
In the US we sign for most transactions that can have a tip.
Typical restaurant flow would be:
Our credit card companies don’t require signatures anymore so we don’t have to do this nonsense when we buy anywhere that doesn’t take tips (grocery store, department store, etc.); I assume restaurants just want some sort of “proof” in case you try and dispute the charge later.
Wouldn’t it be simpler to just directly charge the amount with the tip after asking the customer how much they want to tip?
I have an even more radical simplification: Just list the actual amount of money that the customer is expected to pay directly on the menu and then that same amount of money once again on the bill, just like the entire rest of the world does it!
I agree, however I was not suggesting a better solution; i was asking why it is not done that way.
Do you know why and can explain or do you just enjoy derailing conversations?
Oh, I’m so sorry, did you really ask an actual question there? It seemed so obvious to me that making things simpler would make things simpler that the only possible reading in my mind was that you were making a suggestion, stated in the form of a rhetorical question. So I thought it a good idea to pile on, it wasn’t my intention to derail.