A McDonald’s fan was left mortified after discovering she had been accidentally billing her brother for more than £200 of takeaways on UberEats.
Nicole Clark, 25, ordered £207.37 of McDonald’s takeaways during lockdown, without realising her UberEats account was linked to her brother’s card details.
The error was only discovered when her brother Craig, 31, spotted Uber Eats transactions on his account and changed all his passwords thinking he was hacked.
The mother-of-one from Northampton, Northamptonshire, said she went into a ‘severe panic’ when she realised the mistake and immediately paid the full amount back to her brother – but luckily he found the mistake hilarious.
Nicole Clark, 25, hadn’t realised her UberEats account was linked to her brother’s card
The mother-of-one ordered £207.37 of McDonald’s takeaways during lockdown
The former carer explained that the siblings had been craving a McDonald’s meal back in March and created an account to order it, with her brother’s card details.
As the 25-year-old began ordering more meals, she didn’t realise her older brother’s account was getting charged.
Ms Clark, who is the youngest of four siblings, claims she became the laughing stock of her family after revealing the error on their group chat.
She said: ‘My brother, bless him, told me not to worry. He was really fantastic about it. I said, ‘no, that’s my fat habits, that needs to be sorted’.
‘He noticed the money had gone out first. I probably would have carried on ordering.
‘He was checking his bank statements and he saw the Uber Eats logo and said, ‘I don’t have an Uber Eats’. He originally thought he had been hacked.
‘He spoke to my mum and she said, ‘funny story, Nicole has ordered an Uber Eats and she hasn’t been charged’.
‘When we went onto my Uber Eats account and went through my receipts, we realised what had happened.
‘Uber Eats doesn’t tell you which card you’re using until it gives you your receipt and even then it still says ‘Apple Pay’. I presumed it was on my bank account.
‘It never asks for a confirmation, it just clicks and goes straight through.
She says she has become the laughing stock of her family after she shared the mistake in a group chat
‘Craig doesn’t have an Uber Eats account so when he went through his bank statements he wondered why he had ordered Uber Eats three times in November. It was me.
‘In March, because he didn’t have an Uber Eats and we were craving a Maccies when it was announced on Uber Eats. He said he would grab this one and I could grab the next one.
‘My brother was extremely relieved it was me, but also a little bit upset because he’d already changed his passwords.
‘He was in such a panic he changed all his passwords straight away. He was more relieved that it was me and it wasn’t an outsider who had his bank details.’
Nicole immediately checked all her shopping accounts to make sure she hadn’t accidentally spent more of her brother’s money, but luckily Craig had only paid for her takeaways.
Ms Clark, who worked as a dementia carer, said: ‘I actually can’t explain how I felt when I realised. It was initially severe panic. I searched my Amazon, my eBay accounts.
‘I was scared his card had linked to anything else by accident. Luckily it wasn’t and every Christmas and birthday present I had bought for my daughter had been paid by me.
‘It did bring a lot of panic because I had to check every other app to make sure I hadn’t spent any more of his money. I still don’t understand how his card saved to my account.
‘Initially it was a lot of panic and a lot of shock. We’re usually quite a jokey family so I got the absolute p**s taken out of me.
‘I’m the youngest sibling of four, so when I put it on the family WhatsApp [they laughed].
‘I don’t think I will link anyone else’s cards to my accounts again. My brother has downloaded the app for himself now too, so it can’t happen again.’
Uber Eats and McDonald’s have been contacted for comment.