SINGAPORE: A man took to social media with this question: “Is this practice common here in SG?”
“This hawker stall won’t let me buy the ‘3 for $8’ grilled garlic butter tiger prawn but tells me that I could only buy the ‘4 for $10’ instead, as these are the last 4 tiger prawns remaining,” wrote a Facebook user who goes by Jz VF on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE page early on Monday morning (April 8).
He added that he felt forced to buy the shrimp because of the way the stall attendant spoke to him, “so I ended up not buying anything because it just doesn’t feel right.”
Mr Jz VF posted a photo of a hawker stall over which the signage advertising the food shows that the shrimp is available at 3 for S$8 or 4 for S$10.
The Independent Singapore has contacted Mr Jz VF for further comment.
A number of netizens responding to the post applauded him for walking away from the stall.
“Good. Its your choice,” wrote one.
“Yes. Right decision,” chimed in another.
One commenter said he felt the price was high since this type of shrimp is sold at S$2 per piece in other hawker stalls.
However, another netizen appeared to defend the stall’s decision to wait for a diner who wanted to buy the four remaining shrimp, arguing that this would minimise food wastage.
“Doesn’t sound like something very concerning eh. He want to clear his last 4 prawn so the 4th prawn he giving it at a discounted price. If You buy 3 prawn then the last 1 prawn like wasted because nobody comes to buy just one you see.
I think it’s bad if he display a lower price and charge a higher one but that’s not the case here,” he wrote.
It’s a fair point from the commenter, given that in other recent incidents, many have complained about high food prices for smaller portions, a phenomenon known as shrinkflation.
Others, however, have taken to social media to complain that their food is being served with missing key ingredients.
A woman was recently surprised to find that the chicken drumstick rice she ordered contained no drumstick but a very small portion of meat, some rice, and nothing else.
“Shock to c my $5.80 chicken drumsticks rice from Bedok 925 chicken rice,” wrote Ms Lina Yeo on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE page on March 26.
Last week, a customer was stunned when the Fish Soup Bee Hoon he ordered happened to contain no fish at all.
“Ordered Fish Soup Bee Hoon at Oasis Terrace, Punggol for my young daughter, but when I reached home – realized that there was no fish slices in the soup… just plain thick Bee Hoon!” the customer wrote. /TISG
Read also: Shrinkflation or scam? Customer pays $4.60 for large fries, claims it was only half full