Raleigh woman's birthday celebration turns sour as downtown bar charges double tip

A Raleigh woman says a popular Glenwood Avenue bar charged her double the tip without her permission or knowledge.

For months, Shakeya Howell fought to get her money back from Milk Bar until she called WRAL 5 On Your Side’s Keely Arthur.

Howell was celebrating her 29th birthday on Oct. 29.

“Everything has been super hard with just making it through paycheck to paycheck,” Howell said.

Howell said she set a spending limit through the Cash App service, which essentially acts as a debit card. Once she hit her $60 spending limit, she closed out at Milk Bar, left a $12 cash tip and crossed out the tip line on the receipt.

“I typically use cash tips because I was a server long ago and know cash is a lot better than leaving a credit tip,” she said.

The morning of Oct. 30, Howell woke up to an alert from Cash App telling her she had a negative balance because her transactions were updated multiple times to include a $15 tip.

“I proceed to call Milk Bar, nobody answers,” Howell said. “So, I reach out to them via social media, which is typically what people use nowadays, Facebook.

“After they reached out to me, there was no apology, nothing other than ‘I’ll send you a refund.’”

Howell said the refund never came. She waited months and finally reached out to WRAL 5 On Your Side, who reached out to Milk Bar.

Milk Bar offered Howell a cash refund.

Howell thanked WRAL 5 On Your Side.

It’s unclear exactly what happened the night of Oct. 29.

WRAL 5 On Your Side reached out to Milk Bar’s owner and manager for an explanation but did not hear back.

What to do if this happens to you

Any customer who has a similar experience to Howell should contact the business and file a report with the North Carolina Department of Justice.

“A restaurant, any retailer, they can’t just add something that you’ve given approval to,” Attorney General Josh Stein said. “So, if that has happened to you, let my office know, file a complaint with us so that we can look into it and get you some kind of relief.”

Howell said she doesn’t want others to undergo what happened to her.

“I don’t want people to be scammed out of their money because we all work hard for our money,” Howell said.

Howell had notifications sent to her phone, so anytime a transaction was made, she received an alert. It allowed her to act fast. It notified her anytime money shifted in her account.