One woman’s weekly trip to her local Subway in College Park, Georgia, turned into a financial fiasco when she was charged $7,112.98 for a sandwich.
When Vera Conner ordered her usual — the No. 4 Italian Sub — on Oct. 23, she was expecting it to cost her a reasonable $7.54. But this time, her favorite salami, pepperoni, and ham sandwich came with a $7,105.44 tip.
“When I looked at my receipt, I was like oh my God!” Conner told NBC News. “I thought this number looks familiar — it was the last six numbers of my phone number. Who would leave a tip like that?”
Conner said that when she was inputting her phone number to ensure she got her Subway loyalty points, the screen must have switched and turned the amount into a tip.
But Conner didn’t notice the charge until Friday when she was checking her receipts. That began a month long process of trying to remove the hefty charge from her Bank of America credit card.
“I thought it would be an easy fix … then I got the denial from the bank,” said Conner, adding that the letter didn’t even specify why the charge dispute was denied. “That’s when I started worrying.”
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Conner had to call Subway, her bank, and even showed up at the Subway store in person to get help. The manager at Subway told her the bank would have to process the chargeback.
Bank of America later said the refund was denied because Conner still had to pay $7.54 for the sandwich, so the claim had to be resubmitted with only the tip under dispute.
After a monthlong struggle, Conner was finally issued a “temporary credit” for the charge on Monday.
“You hear all the time that you should use your credit card instead of your debit card so that these things don’t happen,” said Conner. “I’m even getting mad at the bank because I’m like how did they not think $7,000 was suspicious at Subway?”
Conner said that while she is relieved that the situation is resolved, she’s done with reward apps now. They just aren’t worth the trouble.
