I've had cases in bars where wrong drinks are added to your tab. A pain, but easily fixed when settling. However, this was the first time that I've ever had a bar give my credit card to someone else when they left. That's what happened to me at Stich. And the best part is that I knew something was up when the bartenders didn't have much going on and they took 10 mins to show up with my tab. They kept huddling together at the other end of the bar. Then when the bartender finally told me that my card was given to someone else I asked to see the manager. Another great response - he wasn't at the bar. You've got to be kidding me. A bar in NYC on a Friday at 7:30 and the manager is AWOL! I had to wait 5 more minutes for him to show up. By the time he showed up I was already on the phone with the credit card company and found that 2 charges were already made with my card. They voided them immediately and cancelled the card. I'm sure he had fun when trying to pay for his next drink. By the way the bartender told my wife that the other guy was a regular - doesn't say much about the regulars does it. All the manager was concered with was me going into his office to resolve this. Not much else for them to do since they screwed up my Friday evening.\r
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I would not have been irate if there was a manager on premises when the bartender reported the event to me. I was told to wait until he could show up. I was NOT given a time estimate. So, I went outside to call AMEX immediately since I had no idea how long it would take for the manager to show up. When I called AMEX I was told that there were already 2 charges made. All the manager finally wanted to do after he showed up was take me into the back office with his 6-5 bouncer in tow. I was not going into a closed office with 2 people that I did not know since they had already violated my trust by giving my card away.\r
Don't have to worry about us coming back - plenty of other bars in the city that don't give away credit cards.
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