A bloke bought the world's "the most expensive beer in history" after a payment blunder saw him charged a whopping £55,000 for a single pint.
While staying at Manchester’s Malmaison Hotel, Peter Lalor ordered a Deuchars IPA – expecting to pay no more than a couple of quid.
The Aussie, who at the time worked as a cricket and beer writer for The Australian, wanted to enjoy a "very English" tipple.
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But he didn’t check the card reader properly when he was presented with the bill and handed over his Visa card.
The bar staff noticed the blunder before he did, and Peter only became aware when the worker couldn’t stop giggling.
Peter had been charged 99,983.64 Australian dollars for the bottle of beer, which at the time was roughly £55,000. He had also been slapped with a transaction fee of £1,382.
Peter spoke with the bar managers before contacting his bank but was unfortunately told it could take up to nine days to refund the larger amount,
Posting on Twitter, now X, at the time, he said: "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.
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"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."
Peter admits that he had forgotten his reading glasses so when he was presented with the beer and the bill he just inserted his card – a mistake he won’t make again any time soon.
He continued: "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.
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"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 nine working days for it to go through.
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"In the meantime, there's a massive hole in my finances. Lesson to be learned: Always find your glasses when presented with a bill."
A Malmaison spokesman said: "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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