TikToker pays $4,801.50 for $1.50 bun after stall owner keys in wrong payWave amount: ‘What if they can only refund me in credits?’
A TikToker was unexpectedly charged $4,801.50 after tapping her phone at a payWave device to pay for a hot dog bun that cost $1.50.
The user, who goes by @heyyymsmelissa on TikTok, shared about the bizarre experience in a post on April 21.
In her video, the early childhood educator says she had picked up a hot dog bun priced at $1.50 at an undisclosed bakery, and brought it to the counter.
“The aunty keyed in on the machine, and naturally I brought out my phone to tap. But then she suddenly screamed and said, ‘Wrong amount!’ in Mandarin,” the TikToker recalls.
She initially thought the stall owner had added an extra “0” to the amount. “But guess what? She charged me $4801.50 for that bun,” she says.
The stall owner proceeded to go through what the TikToker describes as “five stages of meltdown”, leaning against the wall and holding her head in a dramatic reenactment of the incident.
“Aunty? Your money or my money?” she asks, adding that the stall owner blamed her for tapping quickly without checking the amount and having a high credit card limit.
Attempts to contact the credit card company proved futile, as the refund could only be processed by the merchant.
“Tell me this has happened to some of you and I’m not alone,” she adds in the caption.
‘Mistakes happen’: TikToker advises others to double-check
In a follow-up video posted on the same day, the TikToker said that the transaction would take about a day to show up in the system.
Describing herself as an “overthinker”, she asks: “What if they can only refund me in credits? Then is it I have to eat hot dog bun for the rest of my life?”
She ends the video by jokingly asking if she should do a “hot dog bun giveaway”.
“At the end of the day it’s a mistake and mistakes happen,” the TikToker told Stomp, advising others to double-check before paying.
She added that she had no intention of blaming the staff member involved: “I don’t want to put the blame on the aunty involved as she was also in shock when it happened.”
A similar incident occurred at a Westgate porridge stall, which charged a customer $540 for a $5.40 meal in June 2025.
‘Imagine if you need that money’: Netizens alarmed
The post garnered over 228,400 views and 13,500 likes, with one netizen even describing the incident as their “worst nightmare”.
Several netizens suggested setting lower limits for card payments, or checking the amount before tapping.
“The problem is also that even when the merchant voids the transaction, it will take several days before the money is deposited to your account. Imagine if you need to use that money,” one user pointed out.
Others found humour in the situation, saying that they would keep their account balance at $4,801.40, or that the transaction “wouldn’t go through”.
“Wow thank you for my daily dose of anxiety… hopefully you got it all sorted already and aunty so stressed also bless her heart,” another netizen commented.
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