Customer complained stall charging $15 for 3 pcs ngoh hiang & 4 pcs beancurd, but stall owner said, if price unreasonable, don’t buy

In a recent article, a man and his friends complained after being charged what they felt was a too-expensive price for a mixed platter of fried ngoh hiang and beancurd at a food stall at a coffee shop.

The platter, which cost $15, contained three pieces of ngoh hiang and four pieces of beancurd.

However, according to a July 11 report in Shin Min Daily News, after the men complained, the vendor said that they usually inform customers about the prices of the food they sell, and if the customers feel these are unreasonable, they can choose not to buy.

Food prices, after all, have gone up due to inflation.

The customer who complained of the vendor’s high price at a coffee shop at Blk 167 Woodlands Street 13 is Mr Xu, a driver who had visited the coffee shop on July 6 along with five of his friends.

And while the prices for individual dishes were shown on the stall’s menu, the prices for platters were not.

But Xu and his friends were informed about the $15 cost for the mixed platter of fried ngoh hiang and fried beancurd by the stall owner, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Many netizens commenting on the issue acknowledged that food prices have really gone up and that there is no point in complaining.

One commenter said that it looks as though many in Singapore will follow the example of western countries, where people rarely eat out and mostly cook at home.

A woman rather controversially wrote that it “seems that there is ongoing trend that some hawker stalls are putting very high price on the food to pass on all the increased rental and other fees to customers” and suggested “to support those hawker stalls that price their food reasonably instead.”

“Always find out the price of the food before we order,” advised another.

Some felt that the men who complained were being unfair to the stall.

Others felt that the vendor was charging too much.

/TISG

Inflation or robbery? S$11 Cai png (economy rice) with fish from AMK hawker centre