Finally, students have not run out of Thunderbucks from buying too much ice cream during the first few weeks of school — because they didn’t have any in the first place.
Since meal plans were activated this semester, many sophomores, juniors or seniors were unable to use Thunderbucks at Sam’s and elsewhere because of a technical error.
However, as of 5:40 p.m. on Wednesday, all students should be able to access Thunderbucks.
According to Bon Appetit, the problem was due to the system’s failure to properly reset over the summer. With a few exceptions, any student who was enrolled with a meal plan last semester likely experienced difficulties accessing Thunderbucks. Andrew Boston, lead retail supervisor at Bon Appetit noted that most transfers and students without meal plans, such as freshmen or students who studied abroad, did not have any issues.
Sam’s barista Allie Olmstead, a sophomore, said some students were “mad” because they could not use Thunderbucks.
“And understandably so,” Olmstead’s coworker, junior Michael Lam, added. His Thunderbucks had not been working since classes began.
General Manager Raul Delgado reported that the Wheaton College IT Department and CBORD, Bon Appetit’s meal card system vendor, were working together to do a system reset. They aimed to have the problem resolved by the close of business on Thursday, Sept. 1.
Now, students will no longer be left digging for change in hopes of satisfying their midday caffeine cravings or late night sweet tooth.
Delgado said, “Other than the inconvenience, which we certainly apologize for, students will not lose any of the Thunderbucks they are entitled to.”