SINGAPORE: A tourist received a pretty big shock when she was charged S$21 for mixed rice, and wondered in a social media post if it was a “typical scam” in Singapore. Furthermore, when she asked for a receipt, she was not given one.
While commenters on her post said that meals are more expensive at food courts than at hawker stalls, many told her the price she was charged was too high.
Facebook user Yuu Chan, who is from Indonesia, posted about her expensive meal on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page on Thursday (June 20), including a photo of the stall, which she said is located in Lucky Plaza.
Ms Yuu wrote that she ordered a half portion of white rice, sweet and sour chicken, a slice of pork, an order of vegetables with an additional slice of sweet and sour pork, which she said counted as one order.
“To my surprise, the total bill for that order is 21 SGD. When I asked for a receipt, they are not able to present it to me, reasoning that the POS system is broken and what I can see is only the calculator.”
In a comment to her post, she added a picture of her meal and asked if this sort of pricing is “normal” for Singapore.
Her post has gotten a lot of attention, with many people saying that her bill for the meal had been too high. Commenters told her that they would have paid between S$10 and S$14 for what she ordered.
Ms Yuu also explained in a comment that she inquired about the price difference between what she was billed and what was posted at the stall. She added that they answered with: “They said not the same, what can we do then?”
She wrote that the price posted for 2 meat + 1 veggie was S$5.8, and additional meat cost S$1.8, which is why she was surprised that the total bill was so high. Moreover, as a tourist, she felt limited in how much she could argue with the stall staff.
When asked why she did not refuse the food when the stall could not issue a receipt, she said she did not want to make a scene at the food court.
“This is a very bad experience indeed for me as a tourist. I thought Singapore as such kind of advance country, still have those kind of people doing such business, especially in the city center!! Such a shame. This kind of stall should be banned and if anyone know where can i report it to, please advise,” she wrote in another comment.
“$21 might as well eat buffet,” another netizen chimed in. /TISG
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