An Australian cricket journalist was inadvertently charged £55,500 for a single beer at a hotel in Manchester this week.
Peter Lalor, who is also beer editor for The Australian news website, took to Twitter to explain how a staff member at the bar mistakenly put through a transaction of £55,565 ($99,983.64 Australian dollars) on the card machine.
That’s instead of £5.50 – how much the bottle of Deuchers IPA was meant to cost.
Lalor was staying in the city at the Malmaison hotel while covering the Ashes tournament, and said the beer was “the most expensive in history”.
A spokesperson for the hotel apologised and said an investigation has been launched.
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
Lalor said: “I didn’t have my reading glasses when she presented me with a bill,” he wrote on Twitter. “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.
“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.”
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.”
