Overcharged Starbucks customers forced to cancel their holiday after mistake

A gratuity-based mishap at a Starbucks in the US left a couple unable to go on holiday back in January 2023.

It’s bad enough that a chain coffee will set you back by the best part of a fiver these days, but nobody expects to walk out of a Starbucks having spent the best part of five grand.

That was Jesse and Deedee O’Dell’s experience at a Starbucks outlet in Oklahoma where they usually spend around $10 (£7.60) a day on drinks at the store, but their iced americano and a caramel frappuccino came to considerably more than they anticipated on that fateful day.

"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," Jesse told Fox23 at the time.

The order was placed on January 7th 2023 (WSLS 10)

Having picked up their drinks via the drive-thru, neither Jesse nor Deedee noticed that their order had come to $4456.27 (£3,357.50) until Deedee went shopping a few hours later.

Someone had mistakenly added $4444.44 (£3,348.95) to the bill as gratuity, and Starbucks was quick to send out a pair of cheques to cover the charge when Jesse got in touch about the error.

Sadly, both cheques bounced, leaving the O’Dell’s out of pocket for longer than they’d hoped.

"We contacted their customer service helpline probably 30 to 40 times that day and just blasted every new case that we could until we could hear from somebody, and we did," said Jesse.

With such a massive hole blown in the family finances and a less-than-expeditious remedy from the coffee chain, the family had to cancel their trip to Thailand.

"We had planned to take a trip but had to cancel, and the tickets are non-refundable," Jesse explained.

Having been loyal Starbucks customers for several years, Jesse and Deedee were stunned by the affair and said they may never go back.

The situation was eventually remedied when Starbucks finally provided them with cashable cheques.

$4444.44 was considerably higher than the average tip (WSLS 10)

"This was an unfortunate situation that took place nearly two years ago and has long been resolved,” a Starbucks spokesperson told LADBible in 2024.

"There was an error made regarding a customer tip at a Starbucks drive thru, and we worked to address the situation as quickly as possible.

"Cheques were issued and cashed by the customer on Monday February 6, 2023."

Considering the mistake was made on January 7th, per the receipt, that means it took a full month for Starbucks to rectify the error.

Hopefully Jesse and Deedee were able to get to Thailand in the end, if only to recover from the stress of their coffee ordeal.