Ohio mom charged $1,000 for a Subway sandwich due to mistake: "Unless it's wrapped in gold..."

A woman who was overcharged for her Subway order had to make sacrifices to get a refund from the company. Social worker Letitia Bishop ordered three sandwiches from a Subway at a gas station in Columbia in January. She had to shell out a whopping $1,021 for them, according to the receipt reviewed by local news outlet WSYX. The mother of two had to fight for months to get her refund while battling a personal financial crisis. While she eventually got the refund, it took way more than it should have.

Sandwiches wrapped in gold

Bishop told WSYX that she stopped by the Thornton gas station on Winchester Pike to grab a quick bite for her and her family. However, as she walked into the fast food restaurant, she wasn't expecting to pay over a thousand dollars for just one sub. "There’s no way, unless it’s wrapped in gold or from some other place. I would never pay $1,010 for a Subway sandwich,” Bishop told WSYX. As she paid for the order with her debit card, she had no option but to request the company for a refund on the high charge. 

She told the news outlet that she made several attempts to reach out to Subway's corporate office and visited the store, but she could not speak with anyone who could help her with the issue. In an interview with Business Insider, Bishop shared that she was already in a financial crisis when the incident occurred and she was struggling to raise her children on a social worker's salary. 

For the next two months, she lived off credit cards. "It was very difficult. I have never had to feel like we're going to have just to get spaghetti, and that's going to be that," she said in the interview. She added that for the two months where she had no help, she had to make sacrifices to survive. Bishop's story eventually grabbed media attention attracting advice from experts and advice from experts. 

In the report from WSYX ABC 6's "On Your Side", Lee Anne Lanigan, the director of consumer relations and investigations of the Better Business Bureau, shared a blueprint of what Bishop should have done to get a refund. Lanigan advised her to file a complaint with the Cromwell Connecticut Business Bureau, where Subway is an accredited business. Lanigan added that what happened to Bishop could be considered as theft and Subway was bound to respond to her complaint with the Business Bureau.

Bishop seemed to have followed the advice as she eventually filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in Connecticut. After her complaint, Subway reached out to her, and the regional manager for Thornton, a company that owns the gas station and seemingly the Subway franchise, offered her a refund. She said they wanted her to give the cash in person and made her sign a receipt as well.

As an apology, Bishop was also offered free dinners once a week for eight weeks at a new restaurant in the Thorntons chain. However, troubles didn't end for Bishop as she faced trouble depositing her refund due to her outstanding bills, she told BI.