The cost of a cup of coffee is not getting any cheaper, but paying $700 for a latte is enough to jolt any bean counter wide awake.
A customer at Wellington's Newtown festival accidentally left a decimal point out of a bank transfer when she paid for a $7 latte at a mobile coffee cart over the weekend.
The money has since been repaid, but Bean Here coffee cart owner Sam Somers went into full detective mode when he spotted the error.
He told RNZ he scoured his security camera footage to try to find the coffee lover.
"I thought it was a stallholder because it was right at the start of the festival, and usually at the start of market events and that sort of thing, the first people are your vendors, they're not Joe Bloggs public yet."
Somers had the name of the woman and knew where she banked, but all else he had to go on was that she had a British accent, he had a good conversation with her – and she had cows milk, which was an unusual order because non-dairy milk is a "Newtown niche".
He said many people paid with bank transfers, but this was the first time something like this had happened to him, and he never considered holding on to the money.
"I know what its like living on the breadline and to me it was money I hadn't earned, and someone else's bills might not have gone out and I know what it's like when money doesn't land properly. I know what it's like when money you should have is magically not there, so it belongs to the customer, not me."
He went to the bank for the appropriate response to reverse the payment.
"I wanted to make sure we actually got hold of the customer, I don't want the customer to put in a fraud alert and have the money potentially yanked away while I've sent the money back."
He said they had to go through the proper channels and it had to be dealt with by the fraud team.
"They're not allowed to just ring them up and say it's a mistake because of privacy issues."
The funds were then sent back - less the $7 for the weekend coffee
Somers said it was a bit of a mission, but it was done the right way and with the right records.
"Now I have to write out the notes for my accountant who will need answers If I get audited by the IRD tomorrow - that would be a story to tell."
Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden said as a general rule, banks can reverse a payment made in error with the consent of the person who received it.
Sladden said anyone who made or received a mistaken transfer should contact their bank as soon as possible.
BNZ said its original advice for Summers to report the mistake to the fraud team was based on his initial information.
A spokesperson said once the bank investigated, it proactively contacted both customers to reverse the payment.
SHARE ME