Starbucks Finally Responds After Couple Was Charged $4,000 For Two Coffees
The couple is finally receiving answers regarding the mystery charge.
Starbucks is speaking out after charging one couple $4,000 for two cups of coffee at a store in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Jesse O'Dell and his wife Deedee hit up Starbucks on a typical Saturday morning for a couple cups of joe back in January. The couple went about their day–or days–before noticing what should have been around a $10 charge turned into a $4,444.44 charge after a tip was added to the check.
O'Dell told Fox 23 News that they were made aware of the charge after their card was declined at a different store a few days after the Starbucks purchase.
"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."
According to the news outlet, O'Dell had contacted the Starbucks district manager to get the situation sorted out. “He told me there was an issue they were having with their network. I’m not sure if it’s a localized issue or if it’s a national issue, but that’s just what I heard—it was a sticky button issue," O'Dell said.
The coffee chain sent the couple two separate checks that equaled the total amount of the gratuity that was added to their receipt, and O'Dell immediately deposited them into their bank accounts.
Related: Starbucks Offers Update After Couple Accidentally Charged Thousands for Two Cups of Coffee
“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 stated. ”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," he said during an interview that took place on Feb. 6, 2023.
The charge on the couple's card left them having to cancel a "once-in-a-lifetime" family trip to Thailand. “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.
FOX23 spoke to a Starbucks representative, who said that they had very few details on the incident and why the charge occurred. They did confirm that Starbucks is aware of the situation, which was apparently attributed to human error. The representative stated that the coffee company had been in contact with the O'Dells and that they should be receiving the new checks in the mail any day now.
