Aussie businessman is astonished to find bill for $45,000 on his American Express card – including for 1,400 tequila shots – after visiting two Vietnamese bars

An Australian businessman who was alarmed to discover $45,000 had been charged to his credit card after a few nights out at two bars in Vietnam has successfully challenged the huge bill.

The businessman, identified only as ‘Mr S’ in a ruling by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), had visited bars Bottoms Up and Double Shots with a customer in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr. S. admitted spending $3,300, but claimed the remaining $41,700 – including the cost of no fewer than 1,400 tequila shots and several more drinks – had been fabricated by the bars.

In his complaint to AFCA, Mr. S. said he had been given handwritten bills for much smaller amounts and had handed over his card to make the payment.

The staff told him that he did not have to enter his PIN or sign the amounts and that they could not provide him with receipts due to problems with their payment system.

Mr S only became aware of the staggering costs when he returned from the trip in September 2022 and discovered his American Express card was full, prompting him to review his statement.

According to AFCA, he initially disputed the charge directly with Amex, who contacted the bars and received signed and itemized documents for the full $45,000.

Amex wrote to Mr S informing him that they had reviewed the charges and ‘based on the information provided’ and their own investigation, were satisfied that the amounts were ‘valid and properly executed’.

But AFCA discovered that each of the four invoices that made up the $45,000 charge were simple Word files with the items listed in a table embedded in an email.

The businessman visited two bars Bottoms Up and Double Shots and the financial complaints authority found that Amex should cover the amount as it was likely that he had not paid the bill.

AFCA found that the files could have been created by “anyone with basic computer skills” and that the counters should have known what documents would be needed to prove purchases, as disputes over accounts are not uncommon.

The AFCA judge said: ‘All four could have been (and I submit they are) prior to the event, and then a matching statement of charges printed for the exact total on each ‘invoice’ after the bar staff had an unsuspecting card identified. hold ‘mark’.

‘A foreign tourist or businessman like Mr S. was the ideal target.’

The signatures on the documents were ‘scrawled’ and did not match each other or Mr S.’s actual signature, AFCA said.

AFCA found that American Express was liable under the ePayments Code for the $41,700 that Mr. S claimed not to have spent.

“The available information supports a finding on the balance of probabilities that the impugned allegations were made without the knowledge or consent of Mr S and were therefore unauthorized,” the jury said.