Some students at Grinnell College were mistakenly charged for to-go box containers this past week. Students who received this email were affected by an error in Dining Services that led to charges being applied to their accounts for to-go meal containers that were already returned.
The charges were a result of a system mix-up after Dining Services ran a report for the incorrect semester — meaning they ran the report for the spring semester rather than the fall semester. This resulted in charges of $15 for a single container and $30 for two containers being billed to students’ accounts in the spring semester even when they returned their to-go boxes in the fall semester.
Once the error was identified, Dining Services worked quickly to correct the issue. Affected students were notified by email, and the charges were reversed. Students can now verify the corrections in their self-service accounts. Dining Services has notified students who were all affected by this error and have made corrections to their self-service accounts.
“To prevent this from happening again, billing will occur before the start of each semester, and an additional staff member will now review the report dates to ensure accuracy,” wrote Jeanette Moser, director of Dining Services, in an email to The S&B.
She added, “We sincerely apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.”
Several students expressed their frustration over the situation. “Like my friends, I got an email saying, ‘You’re being charged for a to-go box you didn’t return,’” said Rene Briones `26. “It was weird because I always return my to-go boxes. So, I emailed them [Dining Services] that I don’t have a to-go box. Don’t charge me for a box that I don’t have.”
“It’s really upsetting because, as a QuestBridge student, I don’t have money, not even $15 for the to-go box,” said Briones as he explained how the error would’ve affected him financially. “I only have $1.50 in my bank account and I was worried because 100 percent of my paycheck from working on campus goes directly to my student account. I was like, ‘What if they don’t take the charge off before I pay?’”
Brynna Schwab `28, another student wrongfully charged for an unreturned to-go box said she was shocked. “I wasn’t sure exactly how I’d prove my innocence if I had to dispute it,” she said.
“There’s no way I can just prove I didn’t take one,” she added. “I can’t find the missing box and bring it back because I never had one.”
She said that the situation caused her emotional stress and has led her to be more hesitant about getting a to-go box. “It made me definitely feel like a lot more things were a lot more unreliable, and I think I’m more hesitant to take a to-go box in the future because I don’t want to accidentally get false charges on my account,” said Schwab.
Both students expressed their frustration with the College and the way the error was handled. “It makes you lose trust in the institution when they make a mistake like this. If they can’t get something small, like the to-go box charges, how can we trust them with bigger issues like tuition?” Briones said. “And this is a smaller service of the College. What other things are they not being accurate in?”
While Dining Services did address the issue quickly for Briones, he believes there is room for improvement in their processes. “I appreciated that they got it sorted out, but it shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place,” he said.
Students who still notice discrepancies on their accounts are encouraged to reach out to the Office of Student Accounts at studentaccounts@grinnell.edu or call 641-269-4100 for assistance.
