An Australian journalist was in for a shock when an amount of $99,983.64 (Approx. 71 lakhs) was deducted from his account for a bottle of beer he drank in Manchester. Ahead of the fourth Ashes Test match, Peter Lalor, a cricket writer with The Australian, ordered a bottle of Deuchars IPA at a Malmaison hotel. However, the drink, which was supposed to cost around $6.75 ended up being the “most expensive beer in history”. According to a BBC report, a spokesman for the hotel apologised for the incident and said they investigating the billing error. Taking to Twitter, Lalor shared a picture of the drink and wrote, "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." 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. Contd. pic.twitter.com/Q54SoBB7wu — Peter Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019 In his following tweets, he went on to explain the incident. "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." 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. — Peter Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019 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 6 shifts at the establishment. — Peter Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019 However, sensing that something was not right, he requested the bar attendant to read out his bill. "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." On being told the amount, Lalor insisted the bar attendant to fix the mistake right away. "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." 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. — Peter Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019 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. — Peter Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019 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. — Peter Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019 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 mean time there’s a massive hole in my finances — Peter Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019 In addition to being wrongly charged, Lalor also paid a transaction fee. "To add insult to injury they charged a $2,499 transaction fee. Until the money comes back I won't rest easy," he told the news website.
