Nottingham Till Glitch Prints £63 Quadrillion Balance on Quadrillion Gift Card Receipt
Sophie Downing stopped for a matcha latte with what she believed was a £10 gift card and left with a receipt that appeared to show a remaining balance of more than £63 quadrillion. The anomalous printout has drawn attention because the apparent balance—created by a till error—vastly overstated the card’s value.
Development details
Downing, a 29-year-old Nottingham business owner, used the card at a 200 Degrees branch. When the transaction printed, the receipt indicated a remaining balance in excess of £63 quadrillion despite the card being a modest £10 present. Staff at the counter were visibly puzzled when the figure appeared; one employee remarked they had "never seen that before. " After the purchase, the customer was given the erroneous receipt as a keepsake and was later handed a corrected receipt showing the true card value.
A spokesperson for 200 Degrees explained the cause: an administrative technical error placed the gift card number into the wrong field on the till instead of the gift card value. That entry produced a substitute figure on the receipt but did not alter the actual transaction. The spokesperson confirmed the customer was charged the correct amount and that, after the purchase, the gift card held its proper balance.
Quadrillion Gift Card: how the error unfolded and public reaction
The sequence was straightforward. Downing paid for one matcha latte, inspected the receipt, and then used the same card once more. The till error—the card’s identifying number being recorded where the monetary balance should have been—caused the register to display an astronomical figure. Downing described the moment as amusing and shared the receipt with her partner; she said she would not exploit the mistake and treated herself to a second drink before receiving the corrected paperwork.
Coverage of the incident has highlighted the headline-catching size of the printed number and framed it in hyperbolic terms elsewhere, but the reality confirmed by the coffee shop is that the discrepancy was a printing artifact produced by misentered data rather than an actual change to the card’s funds.
Immediate impact
The primary parties affected were the customer and the shop’s staff. Downing received two receipts—one displaying more than £63 quadrillion and a subsequent one showing the true balance—and was only charged the actual purchase price for her drinks. Staff had to clarify the mistake at the counter and provide an accurate receipt after the error was identified. The shop’s statement stressed that the error was administrative and technical in nature and that no improper charge or transfer of funds occurred.
On a human level, the incident left the customer amused rather than advantaged: she opted not to make further use of the card beyond the two purchases and has said she would not take advantage of the misprint. The establishment treated the printed receipt as an anomaly and corrected the record promptly.
Forward outlook
The only confirmed follow-up was corrective: the customer received a correct receipt showing the true gift card balance after the mistaken printout. The shop has acknowledged the administrative error and described the remedial action taken at the point of sale. No additional remediation, refunds, or policy changes have been announced.
What makes this notable is how a single data-entry mistake on a till can generate a headline-grabbing number while leaving the underlying financial transaction intact—underscoring how easily printed records can mislead without changes to actual account balances.
