Subway delivers happy ending for Australian fined $3000 by airport

Jessica Lee received a surprise gift from Subway Australia after her video about a $3000 fine went viral on TikTok. Photo / _jessicaleeee

An Australian woman, who was fined almost $3,000 for failing to declare a Subway sandwich at customs, was left shocked after the fast food chain reached out to her.

Jessica Lee bought a foot-long sandwich at Singapore Airport, ate half, and then saved the other half for later.

During the flight, she filled out her declaration form for arrival into Australia but did not think she needed to declare her sandwich.

"I thought the little declaration thing you do is for your carry-ons and your luggage, so I didn't tick chicken and I didn't tick lettuce. Chicken and lettuce!" she said in a TikTok video.

Jessica Lee was shocked after receiving a fine of almost $3000 for not declaring her Subway sandwich. Photo / @_jessicaleeee

Lee then received a fine of AU$2664 (NZ$2950) for not declaring her food.

Since being posted on July 2, the video has received more than 1.2 million views and 1,200 comments.

One comment was from Domino's TikTok account which read "help her" and tagged Subway Australia, who cryptically replied with the comment: "we're on it".

True to their word, Subway then sent Lee a gift box, which included a gift voucher for $2664 worth of food.

Lee filmed opening the box, and captioned the video "@subwayaustralia ARE YOU KIDDING? Basically free subs for a year."

In the box, Subway Australia included a card, which read: "We hope this covers all your chicken and lettuce needed. Love from your Subway fans."

"Shut up," Lee said, while showing off the merchandise also included in the box.

"Subway you have outdone yourself and this fine is worth every cent. You can best guess what I am getting for lunch and dinner today."

Some viewers were outraged at the fine for what was an honest mistake, while others said there have to be consequences for breaking the rules.

One person said international travellers can be let off with a warning but Lee replied and said staff told her this was only if there was a language barrier.

"But because I speak perfect English I can get the fine," she said.

Another user, who said their husband worked at the airport, said the fine was "an absolute lie".

"We dont' have fines for $2K+" they wrote.

Lee proved her fine was legitimate after one user questioned the amount. Photo / @_jessicaleeee

In a response video, Lee showed her infringement notice and said the person was correct but since she had 12 penalty units, the total was AU$2,664.

"They explained to me what I did wrong, I know what I did wrong," Lee said before explaining she had been running on two hours sleep after travelling for 24 hours, and the need to declare it 'didn't click'.

Fortunately, it wasn't a total loss, with Lee now able to afford more than enough Subway.