Berry big mistake: Shopper's typo turns $7 blueberries into $700 fruit fiasco

When Jason Pinter placed an online grocery order after a family trip, he was expecting a routine delivery - not hundreds of dollars worth of blueberries. The New Jersey-based author was shocked when his Fresh Direct order from April arrived with dozens of cartons of the fruit, totaling around $700.

"We had no idea and were just shocked to have dozens and dozens of cartons of blueberries waiting for us," Pinter told Newsweek. "I believe we made a typo when placing the order, but have no idea how it ended up being $700 worth of blueberries as opposed to, say, the $6 we were expecting."

After reaching out to Fresh Direct, the grocery delivery company allowed Pinter's family to return most of the accidental blueberry bounty for a refund. However, that still left them with an unexpectedly large supply of the fruit.

Pinter posted videos of the online order mishap on his TikTok profile @jerseybookguy, receiving more than 170,000 views. Commenters shared ideas on what to do with the excess, such as freezing them for smoothies or incorporating them into muffins and pies.

"I wish I could afford to spend $700 on blueberries accidentally," one user told the platform. Others warned it would "bankrupt" them, while some joked Pinter should start giving out the fruit as "the blueberry man."

A few skeptics even accused Pinter of staging the delivery for views. However, he maintained it was a genuine mistake that simply went viral in an unexpected way.

"It's not too often you get $700 worth of blueberries delivered to your home unless you're a professional jam-maker," Pinter said. "I had no idea it would be controversial...Trust me, if I was going to stage anything for content—there are probably more sure-fire ways to go viral than ordering too many blueberries."

Bizarre online shopping mix-ups have garnered viral attention before. One Christmas, a woman mistakenly ordered 8-foot-tall nutcrackers, while another family had to share their oversized grocery order with neighbors after an error. But Pinter's case shows how a small typo can lead to an unexpectedly big - and healthy - delivery.