Police tell people to watch for tip problems

Some restaurant customers have been charged more than they intended to pay for tips, and Kalispell Police want to be sure people keep track of their purchases.

“Be diligent about checking your account and ensuring the amount you paid is the same as the amount you were charged,” Kalispell Police Detective Chad Zimmerman said in a press release.

According to Kalispell Police Detective Wade Rademacher, diligent customers reported two cases last week. He said the department also is investigating five other instances over the past six months.

Last week’s incidents occurred at the same restaurant, he said, and the other cases over the past few months have been from multiple servers at multiple Kalispell restaurants.

One server in particular has done it several times, he said.

The names of the servers and restaurants aren’t being released yet because the investigation is ongoing.

Rademacher said one customer wrote down a $3.30 tip, but noticed on the statement that the three had been changed to an eight.

Zimmerman called the problem “fairly prevalent” and said even officers have noticed it happening to them.

Zimmerman said that unless customers keep track of their credit card charges, they never will be aware they were a victim of theft, because once a tip is written on a credit card slip, that slip goes with the server. The charged tip amount won’t be seen by a customer until it shows up on a credit card statement.

Zimmerman said discrepancies could be the result of an error or an intentional theft, but urged customers to pay attention.