Man surprised by ‘CNY surcharge’ at non-Chinese eatery

SINGAPORE: A man posted a photo of his lunch bill receipt on Reddit, showing that he and his wife had been asked to pay an additional charge because of the Chinese New Year holidays.

In a Jan 28 r/Singapore post, a user wrote that he was surprised to be informed by the cashier after he placed his lunch order. The cashier told him there would be a $1 Chinese New Year surcharge for his main dish, $0.30 for his sides and $0.20 for his drinks.

“Isn’t it still a working day for at least some people?” he asked, not unreasonably since the public holidays do not officially start until Wednesday (Jan 29).

The post author added, however, that he and his wife are both Chinese and that he is “totally fine” with paying for his bill. “I accepted it right away. Just found it not quite justified,” he wrote.

Commenters on the post wrote that surcharges at eateries at this time of year are not unusual, regardless of the cuisine served, except perhaps at fast food places. Surcharges can start at $0.30 and go up from there.

However, one Reddit user observed that a “true mamak store won’t upcharge.”

Another commenter said, “At least the cashier informed you when placing the order. So, you can still cancel if you disagree with the surcharge. Some places only tell you when the food is prepared and served. So you are expected to pay with no say.”

One user agreed, saying that they were only told about a CNY surcharge when they were already collecting their meal and paying, which almost made them feel that the eatery wanted to “trap” them.

Another commented that they find it “weird” that there is only a surcharge during the Chinese New Year period but not during Diwali or the Christmas holidays.

However, one wrote that what is even more noticeable for them is that CNY surcharges used to last only two days, whereas nowadays, they can start as early as a week before New Year’s Day.

One commenter on the thread wrote that weekend and public holiday surcharges are implemented in Australia but added that staff are paid more there, which at least justifies the surcharge.

Another commenter sounded more irate, writing that they find the CNY surcharge to be “a scam. There’s nothing to charge. Just because of the festive holiday, everywhere added in this to scam more money.” /TISG

Read also: “If you find it expensive, then don’t eat” — Singaporean calls out people complaining about CNY surcharges