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Woman Goes To Chick-Fil-A Drive-Thru. Then She Checks Her Balance—And Notices An Additional Charge For $50

woman getting food at drive-thru (l) woman shares chick-fil-A experience (l) Chick-fil-A fast food (r)

A Chick-fil-A customer says she used a “Be Our Guest” coupon to get a free sandwich at one location. Instead of getting the meal for free, however, she says she ended up paying more than $50.

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TikTok user @jalyndeshae decided to share the incident with her audience, hoping it would prompt viewers to check their own charges after paying with a card. Her clip got over 223,500 views.

How Did Chick-Fil-A Allegedly Charge Her So Much?

“This is a PSA that if you go to Chick-fil-A, you need to check your account immediately if you do not pay cash,” the TikToker says.

According to @jalyndeshae, she used a Be Our Guest coupon for a free sandwich. Then she added a side of fries and a large drink, which should have brought her total to about $5 and some change.

A worker came up to her car, took her order, and asked for payment. The customer says she gave the worker her Apple Card.

“That is very important,” she says.

According to the TikToker, the worker ran the card, then asked to repeat it.

“She goes, ‘Hmm, weird, it didn’t work. Can I run it again?’” @jalyndeshae recalls.

She agreed, the worker ran the card again, and then told her she was good to go.

But because she used an Apple Card, she says she immediately got transaction notifications.

At first, she figured she had only been charged twice for the $5 meal and planned to ask for another coupon. But then she looked closer.

“The first charge was for $49,” she says. “Damn near $50. I ordered a five-dollar meal.”

So she called the worker back.

“Ma’am, I need you to come back here immediately,” she recalls saying. “The first time you charged me was $50. My meal was $5. So what are we gonna do about this?”

According to the customer, the worker said she did not know what happened and told her to ask for a refund at the front window.

She Says Chick-fil-A Couldn’t Explain The $49 Charge

When she got to the window, @jalyndeshae says she showed proof of the double charge.

“I got double-charged,” she says. “And not only did I just get double-charged, I got charged for a meal that I didn’t even order.”

According to her, the worker at the window said the charge was just pending and questioned how she knew she had paid for it.

“Ma’am, do you understand how credit cards work and bank accounts work?” she says she asked her.

At that point, she says the exchange went “tip for tat” in the drive-thru. She also claims the worker would not give her the receipt, the food, or the drink.

Then a manager got involved.

According to @jalyndeshae, the manager said he could not issue a refund receipt because the restaurant did not have any order in its system for that amount.

“We don’t know why our machines ran your card for $50,” she recalls him saying.

But the customer says the charge was clearly visible on her account.

“I don’t give a damn what your machine did,” she says. “You can see right here that there is a $50 charge on my account.”

She says she was worried about what might happen to someone who could not afford to have nearly $50 tied up.

“What if the next family wasn’t OK?” she asks. “I have time to dispute the charge. I have time to wait a couple days. I don’t need that $50 immediately. But that’s not everybody’s case.”

She Shared An Update

In a follow-up video, @jalyndeshae clarified that she really did use a Be Our Guest coupon and showed what she said was the double charge.

She says the $49 charge was no longer pending by Saturday.

“It’s no longer pending,” she says. “That’s the charge.”

However, she was eventually able to get her meal and her refund.

“You know what’s crazy? I go in and get my refund, no questions asked,” she says.

According to her, the store processed it as a miscellaneous transaction refund.

Her main message to viewers was that if a business tells you a mysterious charge will fall off, but the charge is sitting in your account, do not just walk away without asking questions.

“Go get your money,” she says.

Commenters Say Something Similar Happened To Them

In the comments, several viewers said they had dealt with similar Chick-fil-A payment issues.

“Similar thing happened to me at CFA,” one commenter wrote. “CFA manager also said because it was pending they couldn’t give me my money back. I had to wait 3 business days to dispute it with my bank and it was reversed immediately thereafter.”

Another viewer said the Chick-fil-A app once charged them twice.

“The CFA app was glitching and said my order didn’t go thru and then I was notified I was charged twice,” they wrote. “Manager refunded me ever immediately. Only one charge even went thru in the end. This is definitely an issue with the staff at that store.”

A third commenter said they also had to wait after a manager could not see the charge on the restaurant’s end.

“This happened to me, however the manager asked me to give it a couple of days to see if it auto refunds because in their end they could not see a transaction,” they wrote. “I went back as it did not refund and the manager refunded me.”

@jalyndeshae @Chick-fil-A EVERYONE CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT PLEASE.And yes the charge is still on my account. It didn’t “fall off” like the manger said it would ?#chickfila #money #food #greenscreen ♬ original sound – €

The Mary Sue has reached out to Chick-fil-A via email and the TikToker via direct messages for comment.

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Ljeonida is a reporter and writer with a degree in journalism and communications from the University of Tirana in her native Albania. She has a particular interest in all things digital marketing; she considers herself a copywriter, content producer, SEO specialist, and passionate marketer. Ljeonida is based in Tbilisi, Georgia, and her work can also be found at the Daily Dot.