Metz ‘glitch’ drains students’ debit cards

Metz Culinary Management informs customers that debit and credit cards will not be accepted at this time.
Photo submitted by Raiyana Malone.

Many students who swiped their debit or credit cards at any one of Florida A&M’s on-campus dining facilities this week were stunned to learn that their bank accounts have been mysteriously drained before Thanksgiving break.

Students took to Twitter earlier this week to express their frustration and confusion, causing many to check their bank accounts to see if they were also affected.

It has been determined that students, faculty, and staff who swiped their cards at the President’s Dining Room and the Rattlers Nest have been charged multiple times by Metz Culinary Management, the company that operates FAMU’s on-campus dining facilities. Metz officials have characterized the issue as “system glitch,” according to food court assistant manager Jhimieka Barrington.

Dating back to May, transactions that were not initially processed have now started to appear in accounts by the numbers.

Barrington says that they are actively working on finding a solution. This “glitch” has inconvenienced many FAMU students and has turned many away from wanting to swipe their cards at the dining facilities.  

Jazzmyne Stephenson, a student and FAMU employee, said she was shocked to discover what had happened while she was preparing to purchase groceries for Thanksgiving. When she checked her bank account, her account was in the negative.

Stephenson became even more frustrated when she said her bank told her that they could not refund her because this was a merchant issue. After some time on the phone, Stephenson was eventually granted a refund through her bank.

Others have been charged what they said was an absurd amount because of this issue.

“My coworker was charged $430,” said Dyesha McCord, who was also charged 12 times and hard to get a temporary bank card.

McCord proceeded to contact Metz officials who assured her these charges have been happening to multiple people. While on the phone with Tripp Goodwin, the operations manager for Metz, she was assured that there was not much that they could do at the moment.

Despite this not being the answer she wanted to hear, McCord said Goodwin told her Metz is diligently working to fix the problem.

According to McCord, her plan is to use only cash when paying for food at Metz just in case this incident continues or happens again.

Metz released a statement earlier today apologizing for the inconvenience and encouraging anyone who has been impacted to reach out to Goodwin, Metz’s operations manager, so that refunds may be issued.

To file a claim, contact Tripp Goodwin of Metz Culinary Management at fgoodwin@metzcorp.com.