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Domino's charges pizza-lover £180,000 for a large margherita

Nathaniel Bolwell found himself overdrawn by £179,020.80 after buying the pizza

Jack Simpson
Wednesday 09 July 2014 12:00 BST
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Bolwell unintentionally spent nearly £180,000 on his large Margherita
Bolwell unintentionally spent nearly £180,000 on his large Margherita (Getty Images)

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A man from Newport was left counting the crust when a trip to his local Domino's pizza takeaway cost him nearly £180,000.

Nathaniel Bolwell paid what he thought was £17.99 for a large plain pizza at the Domino's takeaway on Chepstow Road, Newport.

However, it quickly turned out to be the most expensive margherita in history when he found out that he had in fact been charged £179,932.32 for the meal.

It was not until the next day when Bolwell went to do his weekly shop that he found out just quite how much the pizza chain had overcharged him.

Paying at the checkout, his card was declined.

Keen to find out just how far in the red he was, Bolwell checked his balance and found he was overdrawn by £179,020.80.

“I thought I was about £400 in credit, but it told me I was massively overdrawn. I took a print-out of the statement and rang the bank straight away.”

I knew it was wrong, but was terrified that I might have to pay it off or be put on a credit blacklist.”

After contacting his bank, the matter was investigated and it was discovered that the person who processed the order had added the authorisation code of 3232 to the amount due.

“This was immediately flagged by our merchant provider due to the amount and reversal of funds was put in place. Unfortunately the payment was authorised by the customer's bank,” said a spokesperson for Domino's.

Mr Bolwell was repaid two days later, with no credit black mark to his name.

The bank has offered Mr Bolwell £100 in compensation – about five and a half large plain Domino's pizzas.

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