Debit withdrawal always over?

Why is it that each time I use my debit card at certain places like restaurants, they withdraw way over the amount and then credit it back to my card about a week later? I talked to a customer rep and she told me that it's normal that they test out the card to see if it has enough to pay but that doesn't make sense to me. Is this normal?

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Answer:
Yes, it's normal. Especially at restaurants. Your card is always run before you actually sign. When you sign you might add a tip. What restaurants have started doing is charging over the amount of the bill, say by 20% so that if you add a tip, they know it's available and the server doesn't get stiffed on their tip.

Some gas stations now even have started holding 50 or 75 dollars instead of the usual 1 dollar to make sure it's available. Which is funny, because if they hold that much, a good portion of the time the person just has enough for gas, and now it's all on hold. (Moral of the story, use debit at the pump instead of credit.)

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