For quite some time, Subway has been advertising their array of $5 footlong sandwiches. But Consumerist reader Josh stumbled across that rarest of fast food treats — Subway’s $2273.40 sub. Unfortunately for Josh, now he can’t seem to get his money back.

“I recently went into a Subway store on 3/3/2010 at 11:39am. I was charged $2105.00 for a $5.00 footlong chicken breast sandwich,” Josh tells Consumerist. With tax, Josh’s debit card was charged a total of $2273.40.

He went back to the Subway and pointed out the obvious error and had the purchase voided. However, after one week, the money still has not been returned to his account, even after showing the bank a note from the Subway branch manager confirming the mistake and the subsequent void.

Two years ago, we wrote about a similar situation, where a Burger King customer had to wait for five days before being credited for an erroneous $8648 charge.

Since Josh’s bank has taken so long to credit his account, we suggest he do the following:
• Contact the bank, not just the branch, with a formal complaint. You can do this in writing, or by email. Keep a copy of this complaint for your records.
• Figure out which agency regulates your bank by calling or using FDIC’s Bank Find.
• Write a formal complaint letter to the bank’s regulatory agency. Follow the FTC’s instructions for writing a complaint.

This document also has the correct contact information for the various regulatory agencies. Keep a copy of this complaint for your records.

According to the FDIC, “The regulatory agencies will be able to help resolve the complaint if the financial institution has violated a banking law or regulation. They may not be able to help where the consumer is not satisfied with an institution’s policy or practices, even though no law or regulation was violated. Additionally, the regulatory agencies do not resolve factual or most contractual disputes.”

By filing a complaint, the regulating agency will investigate whether the bank actually violated any banking regulations.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.