Woman mistakenly tips $7,112.98 for a Subway sandwich after typing her phone number for reward points

A woman looking for a quick bite at a Subway in Georgia ended up paying thousands of dollars in tips. Vera Conner on her weekly trip to her local fast food restaurant accidentally tipped $7,112.98 for just a sandwich. While she tipped over 1,000 times more than what she intended, she missed out on paying for the sandwich and didn't notice the charge for nearly a week. In an interview with WSB-TV, Conner said that it took a month-long struggle to get a refund. 

An honest mistake 

In October last year, Conner visited a Subway outlet in College Park to order her regular #4 Supreme Meats sandwich. She paid the bill, which she expected to be $7.54 as usual, and left without looking at it. She was shocked to find out later that she was charged $7,112.98.

Conner told NBC News that she didn't notice the charge until Friday when she looked at the receipts for her Bank of America credit card. "When I looked at my receipt, I was like, oh, my God!" she told a news outlet. She also noticed that the amount looked familiar as the last six digits were the same as her phone number. She said that the payment screen at the restaurant must have switched while she was entering her phone number, and that is what led to the hefty tip.

Debit or Credit?

In a similar case, a woman in Ohio was accidentally charged over $1,000 for her Subway Sandwich. In this case, Letitia Bishop paid $1,010 for a single sandwich, and since she used her debit card, she had to struggle for over two months to get a refund, Fox Business reported. At the time, an expert suggested that using a credit card could protect consumers.

However, for Conner, who did use a credit card, the struggle was no different. “I thought it would be an easy fix ... then I got the denial from the bank,” Conner told NBC. She added that the letter from the bank didn't even specify why her charge dispute was rejected. Following the denial, Conner said she called the Subway location and even visited in person to fix the problem. 

However, the Subway manager refused to discuss the issue and told her that only her bank could help.  “This is unbelievable because I feel like everyone that sees it has to know that it’s a mistake," Conner told WSB-TV. 

When she reached out to Bank of America again, she was told that her chargeback was denied as she never paid the $7.54 for the sandwich she got. Thus, the claim had to be resubmitted mentioning only the tip under the dispute. Conner finally got a 'temporary credit' following a month-long struggle.

She said that she was now done with her credit card and the rewards program as it wasn't worth it anymore. "You hear all the time that you should use your credit card instead of your debit card so that these things don't happen," she told NBC. She added that anybody could see that a $7,000 payment at Subway was a mistake and at least suspicious.