Securing Restaurant Reservations and Use of Credit Cards

bluesky on 08/02/2017 - 18:26
Last edited 09/02/2017 - 09:46 by 1 other user

Hi Fellow OzBargainers,

Perhaps those of you with more experience can advise on this matter.

I was making a phone booking for a restaurant, and they wanted a credit card to secure the reservation. For no-show, they charge $x amt per person, if the reservation is not cancelled within a timeframe, which is fair enough.

After providing credit card number, they wanted the CVV. Although I am used to providing this when buying online, when a person asked me for it over the phone, I felt uncomfortable giving this info. So I haven't proceeded with booking.

I got to thinking maybe I can use the Coles Reloadable Prepaid mastercard. If that ever get compromised, no big deal. But currently it has no funds in it.

My question, especially to those who are familiar with restaurant practices.

  • Is the practice to :

    (a) charge the card only after no-show happens?
    In which case, it is not an issue that there is no funds in card.

    OR

    (b) immediately pre-authorise the amount, assuming a no-show. In which case, I will need to load the full amount, assuming a cancellation. I intend to use a gift card (bought at discount) to pay for the restaurant bill itself on the day. (The inconvenience with this is I will have to load the amount, then use it up elsewhere, since there is no easy way to withdraw cash from it.)

  • Will Reloadable Prepaid cards charge a fee, for rejected transaction? Let's say I take a risk and provide the card with no funds in it for the booking. (I know, card provider can't do it now since there is no funds, but they can put the card into a debit amount, and take it the next time I load the card?).

  • Any other suggestion, as to the best way (cards to use etc) to provide card details, with minimum risk?

Many thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Cheers,
bluesky

Financial

Comments

  • singingwolf on 08/02/2017 - 19:15
    +2

    I would not expect a restaurant to do a pre-auth on a dinner booking, but if they did, it would be for $1 only. Hope that helps.

    • bluesky on 08/02/2017 - 20:03

      Yes, this is helpful. Loading a small amount (like $10) is not an issue. Bigger amounts are more hassles, since afterwards, I will have to find ways to use it up; since it is not my main card. Thanks very much.

  • kerfuffle on 08/02/2017 - 19:59
    +3

    As someone who works in retail and gets card payments over the phone, the card number, expiry date and CVV is needed to process a payment (but CVV isn't needed when processing a refund).

    • bluesky on 08/02/2017 - 20:14

      Thanks for this. It is completely reasonable for the person to ask. But I cannot help feeling a bit insecure about it. Hence, thinking of means where if a card is compromised, the hassles are lessened (e.g. prepaid cards etc).

      • kerfuffle on 08/02/2017 - 20:56
        +2

        If the card's compromised, just contact your bank and they'll issue you a new card number. With so many machines and so many methods of getting credit card numbers these days, it's hard to keep track of where exactly your card number got compromised but as long as you report it to your bank in a timely manner, they'll have your back. (Was a credit card fraud victim in July; Ronald from Brisbane who somehow got my card details to Uber himself everywhere …)

        • bluesky on 08/02/2017 - 21:02
          +1

          Oh dear, sorry that happened to you.
          Thanks, some good advice. I will probably pick a less frequently used card, to minimise inconvenience.

  • hashtagbargain on 08/02/2017 - 20:49
    +1

    Will Reloadable Prepaid cards charge a fee, for rejected transaction? Let's say I take a risk and provide the card with no funds in it for the booking. (I know, card provider can't do it now since there is no funds, but they can put the card into a debit amount, and take it the next time I load the card?).

    No they dont.

    • bluesky on 08/02/2017 - 21:07

      Thanks, good to know :-)

  • apple2016 on 08/02/2017 - 21:17
    +2

    Unless you are booking for a large number of persons I haven't seen any restaurant ask for cc details. Is this a common practise in the restaurant industry?
    The problem with giving the cc number over phone is that it get written down sometimes and usually not kept in a secure place.

    • bluesky on 08/02/2017 - 21:27

      Yes, this is what I am concerned about; that it gets written down temporarily, the person gets interrupted, called away etc, so it is not very secure.

      I don't think it is a common practice for restaurants to do this (require full CC details). But a few do.

  • holdenmg on 08/02/2017 - 22:28
    +1

    Any other suggestion, as to the best way…

    Try using a service like https://www.dimmi.com.au/restaurants-melbourne
    to arrange your bookings or use the App.

    https://www.dimmi.com.au/links/discover-the-new-dimmi-app

    • bluesky on 08/02/2017 - 22:41

      Agree. Good idea in most cases.

      This restaurant can be booked via an online system too, but the t&c talks of surrendering details to a few parties, including possibly overseas. So, initially reading this, I thought phone booking could involve less parties getting my card details :-)

    • MeesusEff on 09/02/2017 - 13:52
      +1

      i booked a restaurant through dimmi recently and the restaurant booking Dimmi page made me put down a credit card as backup.

  • John Kimble on 09/02/2017 - 08:24
    +1

    They wouldn't do a pre auth. They are doing it just as a fall back for no shows/security. Just like when you leave your licence behind the bar for a bar tab.

    Any business that handles credit card info should be following PCI DSS. Your bigger/top tier restaurants (eg Merivale, Quay, etc) should be aware of this and you should be right (and these kind of places would be the main types of places that do this from memory).

    The smaller independent ones really would only do this for large bookings and they might not really follow PCI DSS (just because they are not aware), eg they might fill out a booking form on and paper or print out and forget to securely dispose of it after. Still super low risk or super unlucky for your details to then be stolen by someone and used fraudulently later.

    If it does happen, you would be covered by your bank, but of course it still would be a pain in the ass.

    EDIT: having said this, big internationals like Sony, Yahoo, Target (to name just a few) have and continue to be compromised, so your info is never really safe these days…

  • John Kimble on 09/02/2017 - 14:23
    +1

    Brings to mind this article: http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/fedup-restaurants-have…

    • bluesky on 09/02/2017 - 15:40
      +1

      Yes, quite tough on the restaurant owners. I think it is a good idea for high-demand restaurants to charge for no-show, so we don't get people multiple-book many high-demand restaurants, in multiple slots, do not bother to cancel, knowing full well they will only attend one. This practice will disadvantage those who genuinely want to go to the same restaurants. And it is unfair to the restaurant owners. I think the one I am going to is being very accommodating, even allowing a timeframe before to cancel.

      Re: credit card details, naturally, still want to minimise risks. In the end, I used an infrequently-used credit card. As a few including yourself have advised, credit card provider will cover fraud, and inconvenience should be minimal, if I am unlucky enough. The chap also said they do not do pre-auth.

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