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Email template to dispute a restaurant bill

You got home, looked at the receipt or your card statement, and something is off. A dish you never ordered, a drink charged twice, a tip that changed after you signed, or a "service charge" nobody mentioned. The moment to argue was at the table, but you're past that now, and calling means explaining it to whoever picks up during dinner service. An email lets you lay out the numbers once, attach a photo of the receipt, and reach the owner or manager, who is the only person who can actually refund a card. It also creates a dated record you'll need if you later ask your card company to reverse the charge, which is called a chargeback.

Before you send

  • Your receipt, or a photo of it, and the matching line on your card statement. Note the date, the time, the table or check number, and the server's name if printed.
  • The exact discrepancy in dollars. "Charged $84.50, should have been $62.00, difference $22.50" is what gets refunded; "it seemed high" is not.
  • What you ordered, from memory or from the itemized receipt. If the tip was altered, note the amount you wrote and the amount that posted.
  • How you paid. A card refund goes back to the same card; cash is usually refunded as a gift card or in person.
  • A calm tone. Most restaurant billing errors are honest mistakes by a busy server, and managers fix them quickly when you make it easy.
Subject Billing error on check #[check number], [date] 
Hi [manager or owner name],

I ate at [restaurant name] on [date] around [time], table [table number or server name], and I think there's a mistake on the bill.

The check total was [amount charged], but based on what we ordered it should have been [correct amount]. Specifically, [the receipt shows a second order of the salmon we didn't have / the tip posted as $30 though I wrote $18 / a 20% service charge was added that wasn't on the menu or mentioned]. I've attached a photo of the receipt and the line from my card statement.

Could you refund the difference of [difference amount] to the card I paid with, ending in [last four digits]? I'm happy to send anything else you need to look it up.

I'd appreciate a reply by [date, about a week out]. We enjoyed the meal otherwise and I'd like to sort this out simply.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Most managers reply within a day or two, apologize, and refund the difference. Card refunds take three to five business days to show on your statement.
  • A bad answer is "the system shows what you were charged" with no explanation of the item in question. Reply once and ask them to compare the kitchen ticket against your receipt.
  • If a tip was altered after you signed, say so plainly. Restaurants take that seriously because it's theft by an employee, not a billing slip.
  • If you get no reply in about ten days, or a refusal without a reason, call your card issuer and dispute the charge. Most issuers allow a dispute within 60 days of the statement date, and your email is the evidence that you tried the restaurant first.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get a restaurant to fix a wrong bill 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to contact a restaurant about a billing error and get the overcharge refunded.

The restaurant: [name, location, and contact email if I have it].
The visit: [date, time, table or check number].
What went wrong: [what was charged versus what it should have been, and the difference in dollars].
Proof: [I have a photo of the receipt and the card statement line].
How I paid: [card ending in last four digits, or cash].

Send them the details, follow up if they go quiet, and if they refuse, let me know so I can decide about a card dispute.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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