Australian drinker claims he was wrongly charged fifty THOUSAND pounds for ONE bottle of beer in an upmarket British hotel - and is still waiting for a refund four days later
- Australian writer Peter Lalor says he visited Manchester's Malmaison hotel
- Mr Lalor claims he was charged more than £50,000 for one bottle of beer
- He said the Deuchars IPA was possibly 'the most expensive beer in history'
- Mr Lalor claimed he did not have his reading glasses and paid for the IPA without checking the price, and has not been refunded for the drink four days later
- Malmaison spokesperson said they are investigating and are resolving the issue
Peter Lalor inadvertently drank 'the most expensive beer in history' while visiting the Malmaison hotel in Manchester on Sunday evening, it was claimed
An Australian beer fan claims he was charged more than £50,000 for one drink in a UK hotel - and is still waiting for a refund four days later.
Peter Lalor inadvertently drank 'the most expensive beer in history' while visiting the Malmaison hotel in Manchester on Sunday evening, it was claimed.
Beer connoisseur Peter, who is also cricket writer for The Australian, bought the Deuchars IPA, which usually retails at £1.80 a bottle in supermarkets.
Mr Lalor says he was without his reading glasses when he was presented with the bill, and paid with his Visa card.
It was only after he paid that he claims the bartender realised the error and 'giggled' in mute horror - after seeing that 99,983.64 Australian dollars (£55,000) had been taken from his account.
Mr Lalor claims that despite the manager taking the situation seriously, he's still out of pocket to the tune of $100,000, having also been stung with a $2,499.59 transaction fee, and is still waiting for a refund.
Mr Lalor tweeted: '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.
Mr Lalor tweeted this image saying: 'See this beer? That is the most expensive beer in history'
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Mr Lalor, who is cricket writer for The Australian, claimed that he did not have his reading glasses when he was presented with the bill for the beer
'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.'
After drinking the award-winning drink Mr Lalor requested the bill.
He wrote: '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.
A Malmaison spokesperson said: 'We are currently carrying out an investigation into what took place. We have been in contact with Peter to apologise and ensure this has been resolved as quickly as possible'
Mr Lalor said that there was a lesson to be learned from his encounter, which was to always find your glasses when presented with a bill
'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.'
Mr Lalor finally tweeted: 'Just had a call from the Malmaison, they are being very helpful now.'
A Malmaison spokesperson said they were investigating the incident and have contacted Mr Lalor to apologise and ensure the issue was revolved as quickly as possible.
They added: '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!'
Visa have been approached for comment.
