An Irish woman who had travelled to London to celebrate New Year’s has opened up about ordering a single cocktail that cost four figures by accident, thinking it cost just £18.90.
Belfast woman Lynsey Bennett was staying at a fancy five-star hotel in the UK capital and had been out around town with her husband enjoying dinner and a show with some drinks before they headed back to their hotel.
When they arrived, Lynsey, who normally drinks just champagne, thought for a change she would order a cocktail - opting for the whiskey-based drink called 1890, which she believed cost a modest £18.90, as all the other drinks were priced similarly, but when the bill arrived Lynsey was in for the shock of her life.
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The Irish woman revealed on TikTok: “So the young chap brought out a bottle of Cristal and popped open the Cristal, gold leaf, 30-year-old cognac.
“Gave me this huge book to sign, and there we were thinking we were the bee’s knees, and then they presented the bill for £2,000 and I was like 'uh-oh, I can’t afford to pay for that'.”
In a follow-up video on her page, the Belfast native continued to explain the aftermath of the situation, which she thought resulted in the young bartender being sacked.
She said: “When I discovered the cocktail I had ordered was £2,000 I showed my husband the receipt and he was furious at me so he left the bar, left me there on my own to deal with it. I said to the young guy behind the bar, I’m so sorry I had no idea this was £1,890, it was set out on the menu where it said 18 gap 90, so I presumed it was £18.90.”
“Looking back at the menu, the rest of the drinks were like 19.50 so it was definitely my mistake but it was a genuine mistake. I started to panic, he started to panic, and he called his manager over.
“This was a five-star hotel so the manager was so discreet and wonderful. He completely played it down so he was like ‘Look it’s fine don’t worry about it. Go up to your room and enjoy the rest of your stay and we will sort this out.’”
Lynsey continued explaining that this happened on the first night of their stay, revealing that she avoided the bar like the “plague” just in case she was hit with the bill for a cocktail that she admitted, “didn’t even enjoy because it was whisky based and I don’t like whisky.”
On New Year’s night, a tipsy Lynsey and her sister returned to the hotel after a night out for a drink in the bar, when she saw the manager she enquired what happened to the bartender, to which the manager explained he had been “sacked”.
However, in a good news twist, after offering to pay for the drink, the manager revealed to Lynsey that he was not fired and that he just received training as this has happened before.
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