Starbucks Charged This Man a $4,444 Tip By Accident — And the First Refund Check Bounced Jesse O'Dell completed what he thought was a normal Starbucks run and later saw that it had cost him much more than originally planned.
By Gabrielle Bienasz •
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A coffee run in Oklahoma turned out way more expensive than one family had planned, according to The Sacramento Bee.
An Oklahoma man was charged nearly $4,500 for a coffee order with the vast majority of it a tip, and then, per reports, he and his wife had to go through a minor odyssey involving bounced checks and calls to customer service to get it back.
In early January, Jesse O'Dell went to a Starbucks drive-thru in Tulsa and ordered coffee. Later, when his wife was shopping with their kids, one of her credit cards was declined. That's when the family found out a Starbucks charge for $4,456.27. The Bee confirmed the receipt.
"I felt disbelief... I don't have that kind of money sitting around to just play with," he told the outlet.
Related: 'Tip Culture Is Getting Insane': Starbucks Customers Furious Over Company's New Tipping System
Starbucks added a tipping system to its stores last year, much to the chagrin of some customers who expressed themselves online. It offers customers the opportunity to add $1, $2, $5, or a custom amount.
"I know how to press buttons. I didn't press that button," he told the Bee.
O'Dell first went to the store to try and get a refund, where he was told he put in that tip. Then, he claims he had to reach out multiple times to the local district manager. Finally, he said Starbucks refunded him via paper checks.
They bounced.
"We've had to ask for help, we've had to cancel trips," O'Dell told the Bee. O'Dell told local outlet KOKI that they called the company's customer service lines some 30 to 40 times that day in a panic.
A Starbucks spokesperson told the Bee that the checks had a typo, and they had sent the money again. It also told the outlet that O'Dell accidentally entered the $4,444.44 tip, which O'Dell disputes.
O'Dell told the Bee that he is currently waiting on the deposits to clear.
Starbucks did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur's request for comment.
