By Taylor Bishop – COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo (FOX 21). — Have you ever paid your bill at a restaurant and then realized later you were charged more than you signed for?
That's what happened to one Colorado Springs man – not once, not twice, but he says three times all at the same place.
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The first time Doug Woodward and his wife were overcharged at Texas Roadhouse on Powers, they didn't think much of it.
The second time, he was furious, so he talked to a manager and soon found out it was the server who changed the tip amount. Needless to say he steered clear of that particular Texas Roadhouse location.
After about a year he thought he'd give it another try and he says that's when it happened again.
"I think the odds of being struck by lightning are probably better than this happening to the same person three times at Texas Roadhouse," said Woodward.
Woodward and his wife were treating another couple to dinner. When they got the bill it was $105.01. Woodward's wife was the one who paid with her card and left a $10 tip, bringing their grand total to $115.01.
But when she looked at her bank statement, that's not what she was charged.
Woodward said, "She tipped herself instead of the $10, she tipped herself $18."
They were actually charged $123.01. Thankfully Woodward's wife kept her copy of the receipt to prove it.
When they went to speak to a manager, they were given a copy of the merchant receipt, which they say looked a lot different than when they signed it.
"Clearly there was a small zero added to the zero here and a straight line drawn through the 5 to try to make that appear to be an 8" said Woodward.
You can see clearly the zero in the 10 was changed to an 8 and the one was extended further up to match the 8.
"For her to show us the actual receipt that had been changed, that's the smoking gun." Woodward said, "You can't deny that it was changed."
Woodward is a disabled veteran living on a fixed income. When a fixed income is your bread and butter, $8 can sometimes make or break you. But Woodward says the biggest blow was she already knew he and another one of his guests are veterans.
"We are on a budget like no one's business," said Woodward. "For us to do this, that was huge and for her to take advantage of us like that and we even told her that we were vets. We asked about the military discount and so she knew that we were vets."
Woodward also says for it to have happened to him three different times, it's no coincidence.
"There's no way on earth I was the only victim. I think a lot of people need to check their receipts and I think there's going to be a lot of angry people."
After Woodward came to us with his story, FOX21 reached out to the general manager of Texas Roadhouse on Powers. The issue hadn't yet been brought to his attention, immediately sparking an investigation.
Texas Roadhouse's corporate office sent FOX21 this statement today:
"After our investigation, we confirmed that Mr. Woodward's receipt was tampered with by one of our employees. The employee has been terminated and we are refunding the full amount of his bill to Mr. Woodward."
Woodward says he appreciates the follow up, but he won't be returning for a fourth try.