Diner shocked by S$246.36 meal charge and complained about it, but she says the restaurant owner “chose to mock me online” instead

SINGAPORE: After a diner posted about her bad experience at a Vietnamese restaurant, the eatery owner then “publicly insulted” her on Facebook and threatened to print her photo and ban her from the restaurant.

Facebook user Hoàng Mỹ Tiên Lena first posted about her experience at Vietsea restaurant on Oct 27 (Sunday) on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page.

Ms Hoàng wrote she was shocked to have been charged S$246.36 for a meal, claiming the items at the restaurant were heavily overpriced, with some being “unreasonably expensive compared to typical spending expectations.”

Even more seriously, she wrote that while the restaurant had the customary 9 per cent GST charge, there was no GST number on the receipt.

According to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), receipts issued by a business must have their GST registration number printed on them. It should also include the words “Price payable includes GST.”

Commenters on Ms Hoàng’s post agreed the prices were relatively high, expressed concern over the absence of the GST number on the receipt she posted, and encouraged her to report the matter to IRAS.

On Tuesday morning, however, Ms Hoàng updated her post:

“Instead of addressing my concerns, the owner chose to post about me on her personal Facebook account, publicly insulting me. She even threatened to print my photo and ban me from her shop.”

Ms Hoàng also wrote what she claimed was a translation of the owner’s post; the owner claimed to have bought the food items she serves from Vietnam.

“Go ahead and report, kid… I’m going to print their face and hang it at the shops, banning entry,” the owner allegedly wrote.

“Instead of taking responsibility or clarifying the issues, she chose to mock me online. This post speaks for itself about the kind of ‘customer service’ this restaurant offers,” Ms Hoàng added.

The Independent Singapore has contacted the post author and Vietsea Food Connection for further comments or updates. /TISG

Read also: “It’s ridiculous for a restaurant to ROUND UP the bill” — Diner says, since she paid via credit card instead of cash