Tip fraud?

[BlazinSunsets]

Agree with most people in this thread. Double check summary at the end of cruise and never leave tip as blank. It was more than likely an error, someone hit 5 one to many times. It could have been fraud as well but it's less likely. This stuff happens in regular restaurants back home as well, sometimes someone messes up.

[cdamion]

I think it is more likely that they just accidentally double hit a key when they entered it quickly. Don't we all do that from time to time when typing on our gadgets?

[insidethepocket]

I had the same thing happen to me on my recent Conquest cruise. Maybe it was an accident, I don't know. I noticed it the day after it happened- as I stalk my account activity like a hawk. I went to guest services and it was fixed, but no apology for the headache of getting it fixed, not great customer service in my opinion.

[cruiser fanatic]

It might have just been a keystroking error. I have never heard of people not receiving a statement on debarkation morning.

[MCFTJCH2V]

Sailed on the Magic on May 14th. Great ship, good cruise.

We spent some time in the Red Frog pub and actually had a good rapport going with a couple of the servers. On the last night, I left one of them a $5 tip, added to the bottom of my $7.19 beer order. Since the Magic doesn't hand out a summary at the end of the cruise, I requested one a few days after I got home. The charge for that one beer showed up as $62.19 instead of $12.19. I called Carnival and they said it was entered as a $55 tip. They said they'd credit me the $50 with no real explanation, as if I'd somehow mistakenly entered it.

Bottom line, check your sail and sign account daily. I'd always drawn a line through the extra tip line, but not this one time. I'll never add a written tip again. I wonder how much gets scammed from people who don't look as closely at their account.

 

If you feel generous to tip extra, it should always be in cash to the person you intend it. This way they get 100% of it.

 

If you add it to your bill, it gets split amount people that not only don't serve you, but people you probably never meet.

[luv2trvlnow]

It might have just been a keystroking error. I have never heard of people not receiving a statement on debarkation morning.

Well now you have heard about not receiving a statement. It is true they are not providing statements on all the ships. We did not receive one on our Magic cruise in March. So if you are on one the ships mentioned in a previous post you will not be receiving a statement on the debarkation morning. It is good to now before you go, so you can get one before you find out there is none on that last morning.

[SeaGoingDAD]

Well now you have heard about not receiving a statement. It is true they are not providing statements on all the ships. We did not receive one on our Magic cruise in March. So if you are on one the ships mentioned in a previous post you will not be receiving a statement on the debarkation morning. It is good to now before you go, so you can get one before you find out there is none on that last morning.

 

Is the itemized listing still available on the stateroom TV?

[luv2trvlnow]

Is the itemized listing still available on the stateroom TV?

 

Yes it is. At least it was on the Magic. I checked it every day to make sure everything was correct.

Edited May 31, 2016 by luv2trvlnow

[Nic6318]

Hi everyone

 

Why would anyone assume a mistake like this would be anything but a mistake. It's not like all of that tip money would go to the server.

 

As has been stated you always get your money back. Maybe there is no apology, but how would you like being the person who has to deal with upset customers when someone else has screwed up. Just give them their money and say goodbye.

 

In stores you see mispriced items all the time. Nobody is trying to cheat you, they are just mistakes. If you have never made a mistake at work, maybe then you can complain. You are the consumer, it is your job to check. Of course there is always someone out there that might have found a good way to take advantage of a situation, but that shouldn't always be your first thought.

 

have a great cruise

[MsMot]

Actually, I had planned to give cash but had forgotten to bring any with me to the pub (and was too lazy to walk back to the cabin). Anyway, you guys are right- it might have been an honest mistake. I was obviously a bit riled up about it. I'll still avoid the extra tip line on the check, though.

 

Unfortunately I don't think it was an honest mistake. The same exact thing happened to me and a couple of other people that were in our group on the Freedom. We always keep cash on us while on the ship for tipping the servers. We did get a folio at the end of the cruise and a $40 tip was added to the tab for two long island iced teas. I'd like to believe that by far the majority of ship's crew are decent, honest people trying to make a living, but as in any environment, there will always be some shady characters. I think ship bars are prime place to do something like this because they may think that after a few drinks, some people would not be able to keep up with their bar tab. NOTTTT!

[KatieCharlotte]

Hi everyone

 

Why would anyone assume a mistake like this would be anything but a mistake. It's not like all of that tip money would go to the server.

 

As has been stated you always get your money back. Maybe there is no apology, but how would you like being the person who has to deal with upset customers when someone else has screwed up. Just give them their money and say goodbye.

 

In stores you see mispriced items all the time. Nobody is trying to cheat you, they are just mistakes. If you have never made a mistake at work, maybe then you can complain. You are the consumer, it is your job to check. Of course there is always someone out there that might have found a good way to take advantage of a situation, but that shouldn't always be your first thought.

 

have a great cruise

 

Because of the repeated number, I would also guess that this was just an error. However, I do consider it part of the job of a customer service employee to apologize on behalf of the company for the mistakes of any of its employees.

 

I appreciate the reminders on this thread about not leaving a tip line blank. Recently when picking up a pizza I was surprised that the receipt included a tip line and ignored it because I felt uncomfortable writing in zero and the total (and who tips for carryout pizza?). But I can definitely see the risk if the tips go to the person taking my credit card.

[figdu]

This thread to me is why I want the hub app on all ships. You can look immediately at the charges.

[Harrier1961]

This is not the first time I have heard of this happening. We get the Cheers plan and frequently add $1 for an additional tip. Last trip we started to draw a line before and after the tip like this: -1.00-

Now that I'm seeing this again, we will probably just give singles most of the time.

Thanks for the head's up!

 

What I do to all my bills like this (on land too), I will either draw a line through the tip line, or if I add a tip will add it like this "$X.XX" - making sure I add the dollar sign so nobody can add a digit.

Then, for the total, I do the same thing with the total amount.

 

Andy

[brooklynfc]

I work a side job for a retailer on the weekend and just the other day I typed in the wrong change amount for someone and didn't realize it and shorted her $10. She came back and showed the receipt and lucky she was the only cash transaction I had that morning, so it was easy to see what I did. It was an honest mistake, I just tapped the wrong number on the screen and then just read what the screen said to give in change.

[13cheermom]

We sailed on 3 different ships last year and not one of them provided the final summary sheet to our cabin. We had to go to the kiosk to get our final copy, usually wait till that morning of departure to make sure no extra charges have been added. The ships were Glory, Sunshine & Breeze, I just assumed it was fleet wide. Thanks for the heads up!

[willyt25]

This may apply here.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor

 

Basically the jist is "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

 

I am a POS programmer and can tell you that there are two main ways to enter the tip, one is just to put the tip amount in, which is ripe for fat finger mistakes and double punches like this, the other is to put the total with the tip and allow the system to do the math and check the tip amount. Bartenders will tend to hold their slips until the end of their shift and then enter them all in at once quickly and are ripe for fat fingering. I am shocked that Carnival doesn't have some high tip threshold percentage in there system which requires either an affirmative response when a large tip is given (normally set at either 50% or 100% of the check amount) or require a manager authorization to approve the tip.

[sfaaa]

Yeah this can happen especially if they think you are a dumb tourist.