No one likes a rip off, and this was taken to the extreme for one guy who was charged a whopping £55,000 for one pint at a hotel in Manchester.
Images VIA
Now, before you start questioning how a beer could cost this much, you should know that the whole thing was an unfortunate mistake.
It all started when Australian cricket writer, Peter Lalor, stayed at the Malmaison in Manchester ahead of the fourth Ashes Test match.
Ordering a bottle of Deuchars IPA at the hotel bar, he went to pay what he thought was the regular charge of £5.50.
However, after typing his pin number, he felt that something wasn’t quite right – and that’s when he discovered the royal fuck up.
Taking to Twitter, Peter wrote:
I didn’t have my reading glasses when she [the bartender] 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.
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.
Then came the call from home. The sum of $99,983.64 (£55,300) had been removed from our account.
And, there’d been a transaction fee of $2,499.59 (£1,380) 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 mean time there’s a massive hole in my finances.
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
Goddamn that’s irritating – and all for a pint of beer. Speaking of which, Peter did see the funny side (kinda) and, despite the mix-up, was quick to add that the drink itself was decent.
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.
No pint is worth that much money. In fact, it’s not even worth over a tenner – although some London pubs would beg to differ.
