Last Updated on 2023-03-03 , 10:11 am
If there’s one thing most of us would’ve noticed when dining out these days, it’s that the price of almost everything has increased.
Most of us may consider the price hikes reasonable (or tolerable, at least).
However, that’s not the case for this man who ended up paying $4.50 for nine quail eggs when he bought mala hotpot from the Bagus food court at Northpoint City in Yishun.
Besides the high prices of quail eggs, he also accused the stall of charging him for ingredients he did not select.
Here’s what he says about the incident and the stall’s response.
Man Complained After Having to Pay $4.50 for 9 Quail Eggs
On 28 February, a Facebook user named Luqmanul Hakim Bin Othman uploaded a series of photos to the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook group. He wanted to share his painful experience as a patron of the Mala Hotpot stall at the Bagus food court.
According to the image of his receipts, he visited the stall on Monday (27 February) night at around 7.15 pm.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Hakim, 24, clarified that he was there with his wife for a meal. He had only selected tofu skin, fried beancurd skin, instant noodles, bok choy, instant noodles, fish, brown beech mushrooms and quail eggs for his bowl of mala hotpot.
However, he was taken aback when the stallholder told him the cost, which was $20.10. Upon inspecting the receipt, Hakim realised he was charged 50 cents per quail egg. This meant that his nine quail eggs cost $4.50 in total.
“Charging 0.50 for quail eggs is a horrendous cash grab/scam[,] and the pricing by weight is very[,] very questionable,” he wrote in his post.
“If you order the quail eggs, be prepared to set yourself paying for a jacked-up 340% SCAM.
“If BAGUS MALA HOTPOT is trying to pull a fast one due to a low foot traffic and also low purchasing power consensus, they have messed with the wrong person,” he warned in his Facebook post.
Even Comparing the Price of Quail Eggs to a Bag in a Supermarket
He also attached a photo of a bag of 15 quail eggs, which cost S$2.50, found at a supermarket in his post.
He knows the stallholders needed to make a profit but said the stall’s price was too ridiculous for him to accept.
Receipt Showed Charges for Items He Didn’t Order
Apart from that, Hakim noted that his receipt showed charges for three different types of meat or seafood.
However, he claimed the only seafood he ordered was “a piece of pangasius fish which was definitely not 147.6 grams”. He added that the other two “meat/seafood” charges were perhaps for the mushrooms and bok choy.
He also highlighted how a vegetable item was listed as poultry on the receipt.
Hakim then wrote that he was “completely perplexed by phantom/invisible sausages”, which were also on his receipt.
Stallholder’s Response: “Errors” Actually to Speed Up Process of Billing Customer
When reporters from Shin Min visited the stall yesterday (28 February), the stallholder explained that the stall’s prices are higher than hawker centres or coffee shops due to the higher overhead costs.
This includes rental, manpower and electricity.
The stallholder, who declined to be named, also addressed charging for items Hakim did not order.
According to the stallholder, the staff at the stall use a “standardised” method where they just click on one item if there are multiple items of the same price.
For example, sausages, fried beancurd skin and tofu skin all cost $1 per portion. The cashier will click on the sausage option multiple times to account for the other items that cost the same.
The stallholder also claimed that staff members manually key the ingredients’ weight once they weigh the ingredients to save time.
Wait, what?
If you’re lost, it’s okay because the stallholder did an on-the-spot demonstration.
The stallholder showed that for vegetables that cost $1.90, they would directly click on the meat/seafood option and then manually input the price (in this case, $1.90) for convenience’s sake.
Hence, Hakim’s receipt had three “meat/seafood” items.
In reality, two represented the vegetables and mushrooms he ordered.
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Customers Unhappy at How Stall Doesn’t List Prices of All Ingredients
And that’s not all.
There were several complaints about how the price list displayed at the stall did not include the prices of all ingredients sold.
Hakim also attached a photo of the stall’s price list in his Facebook post.
The only items listed on the price list are vegetables, mushrooms, meat, seafood and various mala bases.
The prices of other ingredients, such as meatballs and sausages, were not indicated on the price list.
Regarding this issue, the stallholder revealed that some customers have requested to remove certain ingredients after finding out the price as they felt that the ingredients were too expensive.
He added that the stall is always happy to comply if customers choose to do so.
The stallholder also said that the staff members will always explain the price breakdown of customers’ orders if they have any queries.
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