Imagine stopping by your favorite local bakery for a quick pastry, only to find out weeks later that the simple treat cost you a small fortune.
That is exactly what happened to a pensioner in Winterthur, near Zurich, Switzerland, who unwittingly paid 1,612 Swiss francs (approximately €1,700 or $1,800 USD) for a single hazelnut croissant.
What Happened
The incident occurred when the retired woman visited "Bakery Bakery" to buy her usual treat. She opted to pay with her bank card, completed the transaction, and left without noticing anything unusual.
It was only two weeks later, thanks to the sharp eye of a home care support worker reviewing her bank statements, that the massive charge was discovered.
The shocked customer immediately contacted her bank, which directed her to the bakery. However, when the bakery checked their point-of-sale records, there was no trace of the 1,612-franc transaction in their cash register system.
The Technical Glitch Behind the Bill
The mystery was finally solved after an investigation by the payment terminal provider, revealing a combination of user confusion and a software glitch.
According to Nina Vogel, head of internal sales support at Bakery Bakery, the mistake began with a prompt on the card reader. The machine had asked the customer if she wanted to add a tip. Believing she was being prompted for her four-digit PIN, the pensioner entered her code—which began with or was exactly "1612"—into the tip field.
Compounding the human error was a critical system bug. The payment terminal successfully debited the massive amount from the customer's bank account, but failed to register the transaction in the bakery's sales system or credit the bakery's bank account. Because the business had no record of receiving the money, they had no way of knowing a mistake had occurred.
The Growing Risk of Cashless Prompts
This incident highlights a broader, modern consumer frustration with cashless checkout terminals. Card readers increasingly feature multi-step prompts, asking shoppers to select tip percentages, donate to charities, or choose receipt formats before they can pay. For elderly consumers or those in a rush, these unexpected screens can easily lead to input errors.
Ultimately, the terminal provider corrected the error, and the pensioner received a full refund. While she refuses to give up her favorite hazelnut croissants, she has decided on a low-tech solution to prevent future digital headaches: she will now pay for her pastries strictly in cash.
