A MAN who bought a veggie burger and cheesy chips from a kebab van in York was stunned when he later discovered he had been accidentally charged £666.50.
The takeaway from Efe’s Kebab Kitchen in St Sampson’s Square should have cost Toby Wilson only £6.50 but two extra sixes were keyed in, and he didn’t spot the error when he paid by Apple on his phone.
"I woke up the next day to find my account had much less money in it than it should have had," said Toby, 35, who was brought up in York but now lives in Manchester.
"I checked and discovered I had been charged £660 more than I should have been."
Ahmed Abdullah, the manager of Efe’s Kebab Kitchen, has acknowledged and apologised for the error.
Toby said he contacted Ahmed after discovering the mistake to see if the matter could be sorted amicably but said he was still waiting for a refund, more than a month later.
He said Ahmed had said he needed to go to his bank to get the matter sorted.
"I am currently going through this process via the bank but it has taken six weeks so far," he said.
Toby said the problems arose at the end of an evening out in York with friends just before Christmas, but he wasn't drunk at the time because he was a non-drinker.
"We always aim to meet up at Christmas and had our usual get together on December 23," he said.
"On my way home, I decided to buy a veggie burger from Efes kebab van. I’m a non-drinker so I know this wasn't my error, but I didn't check how much I was paying.
"Me and my friends have a WhatsApp group and there were some funny headlines we came up with when I first reached out to you, such as: 'Local man spends £666.50 on burger and chips and he’s having ‘naan’ of it'.
"But while I can see the funny side this is leaving my account balance seriously lower than it should be and I've got bills to pay, and need the money refunding as soon as possible."
Ahmed Abdullah, the manager of Efe’s Kebab Kitchen, said the £666.50 had been charged in error, after two additional sixes had accidentally been keyed in, and he would like to apologise for the mistake.
He said he wanted to refund the money but it had to be done by the customer approaching his bank and asking it to deal directly with Efe's bank, and he could not simply make a payment directly into the customer's bank account.
"I would like them to deal with the bank - it's safer for them and me, and this is the legal way," he said.
Toby said on Tuesday: "I spoke to the bank this morning and they need Ahmed to confirm that he received this money and the correct amount should have been £6.50 for the bank to be able to do anything, which seems ridiculous, as they can see the amount move from my account to his clearly."
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