SINGAPORE: A diner claimed on social media that he was charged for a pricier chicken rice set meal even though he never requested it, and was later blamed by the stall staff for not being clear with his order.
In a post shared on the r/askSingapore subreddit on Saturday (May 24), the diner said the incident occurred at a chicken rice stall in a local kopitiam where he had been a regular for the past two years.
He wrote, “I simply said 白鸡饭 打包 (white skinned chicken rice takeaway). The menu says it’s $4.30. He then charged me $5.30, and I asked why.” In response, the staff told him, ‘You didn’t say normal or set, so I made the set.’”
When he pointed out that he never asked for the set, the staff insisted that the order was already made and couldn’t be changed. “I told him, ‘I want the normal one.’ But he kept repeating, ‘You didn’t say, I made already. Can’t change.’”
“I didn’t pay. I walked away. He started shouting and cursing till the whole kopitiam was staring at me.”
He added that this wasn’t how the stall usually operated. For the past two years, it has always been run by an elderly uncle.
“It was an elderly, equally unfriendly chap, but he would at least ask if I wanted to upgrade to the set. I think that is normal to ask for an upsell, which I usually say no to,” he said.
“But today, the elderly chap isn’t there. It’s a pair of guys [I’ve] never seen before. I think the franchisee might be rotating staff around, maybe to improve sales. I don’t think I’m in the wrong, am I?” the diner wrote, asking fellow netizens for their thoughts.
“We should not be encouraging this kind of behaviour from hawkers.”
In the comments section, a lot of people agreed that the diner did the right thing by standing his ground.
Some of them expressed that they were glad the diner didn’t just accept it quietly and walk away with the wrong order. They pointed out that a lot of people would have just paid the extra dollar to avoid any awkwardness, but the fact that he spoke up showed courage.
One individual said, “Kudos to you! The stall must have pulled this off multiple times since the majority will not confront when caught in this situation. It’s not about the $1 difference or being unable to pay the extra.”
Another commented, “You’re not in the wrong. We should not be encouraging this kind of behaviour from hawkers. Let him scream, it will only reflect poorly on him, as now the entire coffee shop knows what he did.”
A third added, “Yes, you never say set. He was trying to pull a fast one. He probably got away with many others, but not you. Good job.”
A few others also mentioned that this kind of situation seems to be happening more frequently. One shared, “It’s becoming pretty common now. My side here also has a chicken rice stall, and the same thing happened twice, once to me, once to my wife. I warned her, be specific when ordering from that stall.”
In other news, a local employee has shared on social media that a newly hired colleague is being relentlessly bullied in the company group chat based on her looks, and is now questioning whether she should speak up or remain silent to protect her own workplace relationships.
The employee, who works in an international company made up of both local and expatriate staff, said that the local team shares a casual group chat typically used for lighthearted banter.
“We usually engage in lighthearted small talk, and everyone is genuinely nice to each other; buying snacks for each other, and taking the initiative to celebrate birthdays, just a friendly environment overall,” the employee said.
However, she revealed in her Reddit post on Tuesday (May 20) that the tone of the chat shifted noticeably following the arrival of the new colleague, whom the employee described as “a little chubby and admittedly not very good looking.”
Read more: SG worker shares new colleague is being bullied, asks if she should step in
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