Noodle stall wins praise for trying to track down customer who overpaid $400 for $4 dish

SINGAPORE: Local food stall franchise Ah Gong Noodle Shop has received an outpouring of praise online after the owners sought help from social media users to track down a customer who accidentally overpaid by $400 for a $4 dish.

In a Facebook post published on Friday (May 12), the shop owners reported that the finance team had noticed the overpayment made through PayLah or PayNow on May 12 between 12 pm and 2.30 pm, by a patron named Ong Mande.

The team, however, was unable to determine which outlet the customer had visited and put up a public notice asking the customer to contact them to arrange for the refund to be made by cash or PayNow.

The customer will need to provide verification for the transaction. If the customer fails to come forward by the end of December 31, the shop owners plan to donate the $396 to their corporate social responsibility programme.

Expressing their gratitude to the patron for choosing to dine at their restaurant, the owners said that they understand the value of hard-earned money and urged anyone who knows the patron to share the message with them. They said:

“Thank u for patronizing us today and we know money hard to earn and we will like to refund you as soon as possible.”

Netizens praised the shop owners for their honesty and integrity. Many also shared the post to help spread the word.

On Sunday, the shop owners thanked fellow Singaporeans for helping to track down the customer and revealed that they have finally located a potential lead that the transaction error might have occurred at the Ah Gong Fishball Noodle outlet at Bukit Canberra.

Calling those who helped “awesome,” the shop owners said: “If the verification is valid, Ah Gong will return the SGD396 to the rightfully owner.”