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This grad student was mistakenly sent a $120,000 bill for booking a world-famous orchestra

Tom Williams has never heard the Boston Pops perform, but Friday morning, he woke up to a bill for $119,000 from the world-famous orchestra.

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He had been mistakenly billed for a concert booking for May 20 he had no hand in orchestrating and was not planning to attend. 

We first spotted the humorous mistake after Williams tweeted about it. Take a look below:

And here's the email Willaims received:

Tom Williams Boston Pops Screenshot
Screenshot Courtesy of Tom Williams

"I love classical music, but as a grad student [I] have never had the time to get down into the city to see them," Williams, who is studying computer and cognitive science at Tufts University, told Tech Insider. "Closest I've come is hearing them across the river watching the Fourth of July fireworks."

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According to the email, Williams needed to send a cool $25,000 "immediately," to secure his purchase. Concerned, he quickly emailed back to rectify the situation. 

"I replied [to say] I was just a poor grad student and they immediately corrected the error," Williams told us. The Pops representative seemed to have a good sense of humor about the mix-up:

tom williams screenshot
Photo Courtesy of Tom Williams

And while you may be wondering why Williams was accidentally sent someone else's bill, he told Tech Insider he's no stranger to misdirected email — though it usually doesn't come with such a hefty price tag. 

"Tom Williams is a common name, and so I get an email misdirected at me from someone at Tufts every few months," he explained.

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Meanwhile on Facebook, Williams' friends have been having a good laugh about the gaff. 

"I hope they contacted you instead of John Williams," one friend wrote. John Williams is, of course, the legendary composer of the iconic "Star Wars" scores and was also the principal conductor of the Boston Pops between 1980 and 1983. 

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We still don't know where the Boston Pops will be playing on May 20 — we've reached out to the orchestra representatives and will update if we hear back — but one thing is for sure: Tom Williams won't be footing the bill.

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