We all know how overpriced minibars can be. And in major cities you have to take out a second mortgage to afford a cocktail in the bar, too. In one case that turns out to be literally true.

Australian journalist Peter Lalor ordered a beer in the bar at the Malmaison Hotel in Manchester, U.K. They accidentally charged him just shy of AU$100,000 or about $68,000 U.S. dollars for it.

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 reports the beer was quite good. He had requested something local. The ‘senior bar attendant’ has recommended Heineken.

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 Lalor (@plalor) September 5, 2019

He didn’t have his reading glasses with him, so didn’t look at the bill when it came time to sign. The bar had “problems with the machine” so he didn’t get a receipt. He did choose to ask, though, how much he’d paid.

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.

— 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

Insult to injury? The foreign transaction fees.

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

There are many strange things about the transaction not least of which that it appears he paid with a Visa debit card, because the man explains he doesn’t just have a charge on his credit card but he’s actually currently out the money and it’s going to take 10 days for the bank to return it to him. Moreover his bank didn’t enforce a daily transaction limit on the card.

Several lessons here.

1. When traveling abroad use a card with no foreign transaction fees. (Sidenote: when asked if you want to pay in local currency or your home currency, always pay in local currency – the merchant won’t give you as good a rate to convert as your bank will, and if your card charges foreign transaction fees it will still charge those fees on the local currency charge made in a foreign country.)

2. Use a credit card not a debit card, mistaken or fraudulent transactions actually take money out of your bank account when you use a debit card. Sure you should eventually get the money back but consumer protections on U.S. credit cards are greater and it’s better not to be without the funds while either the bank investigates or a return processes.

3. Look at receipts before signing them. If something is wrong, you’d rather the transaction get voided than charged and refunded.

4. Stay away from the bar at the Malmaison in Manchester.

Me, I’ll take my beer in the lounge.