An Australian journalist staying in Manchester for the Ashes cricket test ended up around £55,000 (A$99,983.64) out of pocket after a mistake when paying for just one beer.
Peter Lalor, who writes about cricket and beer for The Australian, ended up ordering 'the most expensive beer in history' in Manchester's Malmaison Hotel.
He opted for a Deuchars IPA, wanting to enjoy a 'very English' tipple, but unfortunately he didn't have his reading glasses to hand when he was presented with the bill.
He paid the bill without really noticing what was on it - after all, how expensive can a pint be? - with his Visa card.
However, he soon noticed that the bartender had spotted an error and was giggling. Then came the stomach-churning phone call informing him that he'd been charged A$99,983.64 for the bottle of beer. And as if that wasn't enough, he'd also been slapped with a transaction fee of A$2,499.59 (£1,382).
Despite the manager taking things a bit more seriously than the 'giggling' bar staff, Peter claims he's still waiting on a refund for the larger amount to process with his bank, which he's been told could take up to nine days.
Peter shared his ordeal with his followers on Twitter, saying: "See this beer? That is the most expensive beer in history.
"I paid $99,983.64 for it in the Malmaison Hotel, Manchester the other night. Seriously.
"It's a good beer. The original version of it won a heap of awards, including the Supreme Champion Beer of Britain, but if you are thinking that no beer is worth the best part of $100,000, then I am inclined to agree with you."
"It was a quiet Sunday night when I made the fateful purchase. I asked a young barman if he had anything that was not an American craft beer or Eurolager.
"I wanted something a little British. He had no idea. Said he'd only worked six shifts at the establishment.
"He said he would get the senior bar attendant. She suggested Heineken, so I knew she had no idea what she was talking about.
"Just quietly, it annoys me a bit when people show no interest in their job, but I persisted politely and opted for the very English IPA pictured above."
He continued: "Anyway, I didn't have my reading glasses when she presented me with a bill for the beer and when she had some problems with the machine I didn't think much of it, but it was eventually resolved, I said I didn't want a receipt and she went to leave.
"Something, however, made me ask, 'How much did I just pay for that beer'.
"She checked, covered her mouth, started to giggle and refused to tell me, saying only there had been a mistake and she would fix it. I insisted.
"She kept giggling, I told her it needed to be fixed and fixed right now.
"She ran to get her manager who took the situation far more seriously and went about attempting to arrange a refund.
"She told me somebody would be in contact. Three days later I'm still waiting.
"Then came the call from home. The sum of $99,983.64 had been removed from our account.
"And, there'd been a transaction fee of $2,499.59 to add to the pain. The fee has been refunded but not the larger amount.
"It really is baffling that both Visa and our bank would allow such an amount to go through unquestioned.
"And, guess what? They agree that there is a refund in the system but it will take 9 working days for it to go through.
"In the meantime there's a massive hole in my finances.
"Lesson to be learned: Always find your glasses when presented with a bill."
Yep, that sounds like a decent lesson.
Anyway, it looks like it'll all be fine in the end. Peter later tweeted: "Just had a call from the Malmaison, they are being very helpful now."
A Malmaison spokesperson told LADbible: "We always benchmark our bar prices, and acknowledge this was a tad on the steep side. We have been in touch with Peter to apologise and ensure this is fully resolved. We hope we can invite Peter back for another drink soon. The next one is definitely on the house!"
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