A couple with a penchant for coffee found themselves facing an astonishing bill of nearly $4,500 at Starbucks, despite having opted for a ‘no-tip’ selection at the well-known coffee chain.
With the current economic challenges and rising costs of everyday goods, one would expect prices to increase.
However, a charge exceeding $4,000 for two cups of coffee is clearly an error.
Long-term patrons of Starbucks for 16 years, Jesse and Deedee O’Dell usually began their mornings with an iced americano and a cappuccino.
Nevertheless, their perception of the coffee giant took a turn in 2023 when their routine order ended up withdrawing a huge amount from their account.
A typical order costs the O’Dells around $10, but one order in February 2023 unexpectedly totaled $4,456.27.
Unbeknownst to them, a gratuity fee of $4,444.44 was added to their regular coffee purchase.
Adding to the confusion, Jesse recalled choosing the ‘No Tip’ option on the payment terminal.
Deedee only discovered the error days later while at the mall with her four kids when her card was declined.
Upon investigating the missing money, Jesse contacted the Starbucks district manager and was informed of a possible network error with the card machine.
The couple was promised two checks to cover the incorrect gratuity amount, but when they arrived, the checks were invalid, as reported by CBS.
Attempting to resolve the issue, Jesse mentioned they contacted customer service repeatedly, approximately 30 or 40 times, until they were reassured new checks would be sent. At the time of their interview, they had not yet received them.
The O’Dell family had been planning to visit Deedee’s sister in Thailand, a trip that was put on hold due to the transaction issue.
A Starbucks spokesperson later confirmed the resolution of Jesse and Deedee’s predicament.
“This was an unfortunate situation that has since been resolved,” they remarked. “The tip was entered by the customer in error.
“While the original refund checks had a typo and therefore did not go through, we issued new ones on January 31, which were received and cashed by the customer on Monday, February 6.”