School teacher accidentally gives $5,000 tip instead of $5: ‘I don’t have that kind of money’
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (KGO) - A California woman has been haunted by extra zeroes.
Linda Mathiesen thought she was leaving a $5 tip at a store, but it ended up being a $5,000 charge.
Mathiesen struggles with a shoulder issue. She went to a Peninsula vape store to purchase CBD relief gel to ease her pain.
Receipts show the total for her items was $129.28.
Feeling generous, yet short at the tall checkout stand, Mathiesen left what she thought was a $5 tip.
“He says, Enter a tip.’ Well, when I did, there’s no decimal point, so I’m like this on my tiptoes and I push what I thought was only two zeros, ended up being three zeros,” Mathiesen described. “I said, ‘Wait, I want to delete this,’ and he says, ‘I don’t know how to delete it.’”
Instead of voiding the transaction, receipts show the clerk at San Bruno Exotic processed a tip for $5,000.
Mathiesen says she pleaded for him to reverse it. At first, he claimed he couldn’t, but then told her he never received the money.
That’s not what Mathiesen’s bank statements show.
Mathiesen has been in a state of panic. She is a special education teacher living on a fixed income.
“Who would ever?” Mathiesen asked. “Like $5,000? I don’t have that kind of money.”
Mathiesen says she has reached out to her bank Wells Fargo 22 times
“Each time is about two hours,” Mathiesen estimated.
Mathiesen tried to dispute the transaction since the day this all happened. After dozens of attempts to reach Wells Fargo, she says the bank did nothing. It wasn’t until records show eight months later, Wells Fargo tried to close the case, saying too much time had ed.
According to Wells Fargo, disputes are typically required to be filed within 60 days of the transaction date and the bank claims to offer zero liability protection to protect consumers from fraudulent transactions that are reported promptly.
“I literally called them within five minutes of being in the store,” Mathiesen said.
None of that initially happened for Mathiesen, a 30-year customer of Wells Fargo.
Instead, nearly a year later, the transaction continued to haunt her. She’s been living in a pile of paperwork and facing interest payments on the exorbitant tip.
“I busted out in tears. I’m a single mom. I have two grown kids and I explained to them, ‘I’m sorry,’” Mathiesen said. “My son is graduating college next week and I can’t even buy anything for him because I have $5,000 outstanding. Now, it’s $5,500 dollars.”
Well Fargo has since responded to Mathiesen, vowing to refund the $5,000 tip amount, plus interest.
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