Starbucks Accidentally Charges Couple $4K For Coffee, Reimburses With Check That Bounces

It was a regular ol’ Saturday morning when Jesse O’Dell and wife Deedee went to their local Starbucks to grab two cups of coffee. Thinking nothing of it, the couple went about their usual routine, before finding a $4,444.44 charge some days later. The charge was added as a tip to their $10 Starbucks order.

“Typically we do almost every day for the last 16 years. We get 10 dollars worth of coffee,” said Jesse. “I ordered the Iced Americano and my wife, she always gets the Venti Caramel frappuccino with the extra shot and it’s usually around nine to 10 bucks. An extra shot might raise it up to like $10.75.”

According to Yahoo! Life, they discovered the charge while shopping at a different store, after their card was declined. They contacted the Starbucks district manager in hopes of fixing the situation. 

“For this to happen was just a real shock,” Deedee O’Dell told Fox 23 News. “I know for a fact I didn’t do that but sure enough, it was there in the charge. We do give good tips but nothing like that. And from there the real hell started.”

The district manager told them that they were experiencing network issues, and he was unsure whether it was a localized issue or national one. Soon after, Starbucks mailed the couple two separate checks that totaled the $4,444.44 tip, and O’Dell deposited them immediately. 

“But after a day we get a call from the bank and they said the checks bounced and we’re like how can Starbucks not have the money,” O’Dell told Fox 23 News. ”We contacted their customer service helpline probably 30 to 40 times that day and just blasted every new case that we could just until we could hear from somebody, and we did. We got a call from one of the representatives in Seattle. They assured us that they are sending new checks, but as of today, we still have not received checks.”

The worst part of the dilemma is that the couple was forced to cancel a family trip to Thailand due to the charge. “My wife is originally from Thailand and grew up in the States. We had planned to take a trip to the country as a family on January 27, but had to cancel, and these tickets are non-refundable,” he said.

Fox 23 News was able to get into contact with a Starbucks representative, who said the company didn’t have very many details on the incident, but are aware of the situation. The representative also said that Starbucks has been in contact with the O’Dells and they should be receiving new checks shortly. Hopefully ones that don’t bounce.