Is it legal for a pub to keep your card behind the bar?

scoot65

Is this a relatively new thing? I've never personally come across this. Admittedly it's been a year or two since I was out drinking (always paying in cash). Do you have to inform the bar staff that you want to run a tab and use your card at the end of the night?    

Sandtree

scoot65 said:

Is this a relatively new thing? I've never personally come across this. Admittedly it's been a year or two since I was out drinking (always paying in cash). Do you have to inform the bar staff that you want to run a tab and use your card at the end of the night?    

its been going for at least 30 years

In the simplest system you say you want to run a tab and give them your card, they put it in a book with little pockets and give you a tab number in the form of a card. End of the night you give the tab card back, you get your credit card back and pay the bill. Alternatively if you are at a table then it may use the table number instead.

Since at least 20 years ago you get the little card safes too which is similar to the book idea but the card goes into a small box locked with a plastic key and you get given the key which has the box/tab number. Obviously the idea is to stop the barman giving someone the wrong card back or a dishonest member of staff from being able to "borrow" the card for a few minutes from the book when people aren't watching.

I personally don't do tabs often but if you are at leaving drinks or such its a pain to have to go up to the bar with each and every person that wants a drink rather than setting a £300 limit (or whatever) on a tab and allow people to go up with the tab card.

greyteam1959

Well I have heard it all now.
My debit & credit cards never ever leave my sight & never will do for any reason.
The potential for fraud or card loss is a risk I would never take.

scoot65

Sandtree said:

scoot65 said:

Is this a relatively new thing? I've never personally come across this. Admittedly it's been a year or two since I was out drinking (always paying in cash). Do you have to inform the bar staff that you want to run a tab and use your card at the end of the night?    

its been going for at least 30 years

In the simplest system you say you want to run a tab and give them your card, they put it in a book with little pockets and give you a tab number in the form of a card. End of the night you give the tab card back, you get your credit card back and pay the bill. Alternatively if you are at a table then it may use the table number instead.

Since at least 20 years ago you get the little card safes too which is similar to the book idea but the card goes into a small box locked with a plastic key and you get given the key which has the box/tab number. Obviously the idea is to stop the barman giving someone the wrong card back or a dishonest member of staff from being able to "borrow" the card for a few minutes from the book when people aren't watching.

I personally don't do tabs often but if you are at leaving drinks or such its a pain to have to go up to the bar with each and every person that wants a drink rather than setting a £300 limit (or whatever) on a tab and allow people to go up with the tab card.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. Can't believe I've missed this system if it's been around for 30+ years.   

yksi

Carrot007 said:

I never unserstand why they ask for your credit/debit card as it does open the fraud path.

They are not allowed to use it if you just leave so it does nothing for them.

They could take your driving license of something else you want that is not open to fraud.

This is just a stupid copy the americans thing (where it is probably still legal for anyone holding the card to use it as seen in many films).

You really don't understand why a bar might want some kind of reassurance that they can cover a large bill if someone walks out without paying?

I worked at a large club (think bar & casual restaurant for people with a fair amount of money) and the reality is that it's incredibly busy and at times chaotic. Absolutely nobody behind the bar would have noticed if the Smith party had disappeared after their 25 drinks and walked straight out to the car park without paying. We would just notice an open tab an hour later. Having said that, people eating dinner had pre-booked and were mostly known regulars/ members (so we'd know who to contact if they forgot to pay their tab) and for those who weren't eating, most just bought their drinks each round rather than running a tab.

The establishment can probably argue that surrendering your credit card is an authorisation to pay the bill since you know what it would be used for if you walked out. I have never had to actually charge one in this way. I think it's more open to fraud the other way around, whereby a stranger hands over an inactive or stolen credit card then walks out and you discover you have no way to recover the bill.

QrizB

My take on the system (which, as othere have said, has been around since the 1980s at least) is that it's a way of ensuring that honest and mostly-honest people don't forget to pay. you get to the end of the night and remember that the bar has your card, or you wake up the next morning, wonder where your card is and then remember that you left it at the bar to pay your tab.

It removes the temptation for someone, having genuinely forgotten to pay, to then decide that they "got away with it".

Brie

Ebe_Scrooge said:

Of course they could charge it, it's classed as a "Card Not Present" transaction.  Exactly the same as if you buy something online or over the phone.

But the card is present and given the fact that there's contactless payment available a pub could just swipe the card after each round of drinks until eventually the pin is required.

Sandtree

Brie said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

Of course they could charge it, it's classed as a "Card Not Present" transaction.  Exactly the same as if you buy something online or over the phone.

But the card is present and given the fact that there's contactless payment available a pub could just swipe the card after each round of drinks until eventually the pin is required.

Potentially not if they are using the little card safes... though obviously the manager or such will have access to the master key to release a box if the customer has lost their key during the night

GeordieGeorge

greyteam1959 said:

Well I have heard it all now.
My debit & credit cards never ever leave my sight & never will do for any reason.
The potential for fraud or card loss is a risk I would never take.

I’ve no issue at all putting my card bed the bar when I’m covering the bill, it’s far better than having to go to the bar every time someone wants a drink.

Mnoee

The pub I worked in 15 odd years ago did the card safe thing - and stopped pretty quickly as too many people were leaving maxed out credit cards/debit cards with no available funds and 'forgetting' at the end of the night.