Customer Who Bought 2 Coffees at Starbucks Hit With an Erroneous $4K Tip, Forcing Family to Postpone Trip to Thailand

Jesse O'Dell, 36, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, waited about a month to get his money back after refund checks bounced. Police said the gratuity was added accidentally or was a "machine error"

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images FILE - An employee passes a drink order to a customer at the drive-thru of a Starbucks coffee shop in Rodeo, California.

Jesse O’Dell called it a “moment of weakness” when he scooped up two coffees at a Starbucks’ drive-thru last month.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma, resident paid using a credit card and said he selected the “no tip” option on the coffee chains’ computerized system and shelled out $11.83 on Jan. 7 for a venti Iced Americano and a venti Caramel Frappuccino with a single shot espresso for his wife.

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Unbeknownst to O’Dell, he was actually charged a whopping $4,444.44 gratuity, which he didn’t learn about until two days later when the credit card used at Starbucks was declined while his wife was shopping, he said.

“I entered no tip,” O’Dell, 36, said Friday. “But somehow there’s a massive tip on it.”

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That’s when a monthlong fight began for O’Dell to recoup the money. The ordeal even prompted the O’Dells to cancel a family trip to Thailand.

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