Bali restaurant fire traps Australian family
A Perth woman thought that she had secured the perfect $1650 VIP daybed for New Year’s Eve in Bali.
Instead, the night cost her $10,650 — and in an extraordinary twist, she even tried to leave another $7000 of the unused tab as a tip.
It took three days for Hayley Davis to realise just how badly her Bali blowout had gone.
Hayley was holidaying in Bali with her best friend and her family when several male friends flew over to join them for New Year’s Eve.
With most events already booked out and no firm plans, Hayley took charge and secured a luxury daybed at Atlas Super Club in Kuta, where American rapper Swae Lee was performing.
The prime spot was next to the stage, came with its own private pool and, at what Hayley believed was $1650, seemed like the perfect way to ring in the New Year.
So the group settled in and started living the VIP life.
Vodka, drinks, shishas, burgers, chips and oysters began flowing as they partied into the New Year.
“We are literally living like the rich,” Hayley said in a video detailing the blunder that has since racked up almost 300,000 views.
But there had been warning signs.
Hayley initially tried to pay through a link on the club’s website using her credit card but the transaction failed.
She then transferred the money to a friend, only for that payment attempt to come back with an “insufficient funds” message.
Still believing the problem was with her bank, Hayley eventually called the club and paid over the phone.
She even shared a screenshot of the receipt in the group chat.
Nobody spotted the mistake.
By New Year’s Eve, the payment drama had been forgotten.
The group settled into their prime position next to the stage, surrounded by guests Hayley described as looking “filthy rich”, and made the most of their VIP experience.
When they eventually decided to leave, their waitress tried to explain that there was still a significant amount of money left on their tab.
But a language barrier meant Hayley didn’t understand what she was being told.
Instead, she casually told the waitress to keep the remainder as a tip.
That remainder was about $7000.
The waitress began handing the group bottles of alcohol to take away.
Still nobody realised what was happening.
The friends even started giving some of the bottles away to people on the street because they couldn’t drink them all.
One woman spotted a bottle of tequila and told Hayley it was worth about $600.
“I was like, ‘What? What do you mean?’” Hayley said. “No, it’s not. It can’t be. There’s no f***ing way.”
But it took another three days for the full horror to sink in.
Hayley was trying to buy about $20 worth of McDonald’s when her card was declined.
Convinced that she had been hacked, she checked her bank account — and found a $10,650 charge from Atlas Super Club.
The daybed that she thought had cost $1650 had actually cost almost seven times that amount.
And Hayley had spent the entire night oblivious to it — even trying to give away another $7000.
“Before I air this, I know it was stupid,” she said. “I know it could have been easily avoided. I don’t need to hear it.”
Hayley said that she was usually the organiser among her friends and had been desperate to find somewhere to celebrate after most events sold out.
Despite admitting the group knew little about Swae Lee, the daybed’s location and VIP treatment proved too tempting.
Fortunately, Hayley said that her friends eventually paid their shares of the enormous bill.
But another $700 in interest had accumulated by the time the money came through several weeks later.
“Thank God I have some of the best friends,” she said.
The spectacular blunder has since gone viral, with almost 300,000 people watching Hayley recount the story online.
Viewers were left stunned by the bill, with some questioning how nobody had checked the currency conversion.
One asked: “So did you get the ‘tip’ money back or you actually had to pay the full 10k?”
Another asked whether Hayley had converted the currency incorrectly, prompting the Perth woman to admit: “I converted it wrong.”
Another viewer summed up the reaction to the extraordinary story: “No matter how many times we explain it it’s always just as bad.”
Even Hayley appeared to be getting more horrified each time she recounted the night.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAH IT GETS WORSE THE MORE I TALK AB IT,” she responded.
One viewer suggested Hayley might eventually look back and laugh at the experience.
For now, however, she is still feeling the pain.
“I’m literally traumatised,” she said.
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