If there’s one thing most of us would’ve noticed when dining out these days, it’s that the price of almost anything has increased.
But most of us would probably consider most of 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.
He also accused the stall of charging him for ingredients that he did not select.
Here’s what he has to say about the incident and what the stall has to say in response.
Man Complained After Having to Pay $4.50 for 9 Quail Eggs
Just yesterday (28 February), a Facebook user named Luqmanul Hakim Bin Othman uploaded a series of photos to the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook group to share his 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.
When speaking to Shin Min Daily News, he added that he was there with his wife and that he only selected tofu skin, fried beancurd skin, instant noodles, bok choy, instant noodles, fish, brown beech mushrooms and quail eggs to be in his bowl of mala hotpot.
However, he was taken aback when the stallholder told him that his order would be $20.10.
“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.
Upon taking a closer look at the receipt, Hakim, 24, found out that he had been charged 50 cents per quail egg.
Which meant that his nine quail eggs cost $4.50 in total.
“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 Compared the Price of Quail Eggs to a Bag in a Supermarket
In his post, he also attached a photo of a bag of 15 quail eggs that he found at a supermarket.
The bag cost $2.50, proving his claim that the price of quail eggs was indeed jacked-up at the stall.
He added that he understands that the stallholders also need to make a profit but said that 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 said that the only seafood he ordered was “a piece of pangasius fish which was definitely not 147.6 grams”.
He then said that the other two “meat/seafood” charges were perhaps for the mushrooms and bok choy that he ordered.
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 on his receipt as well.
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 costs in areas such as rental, manpower and electricity.
The stallholder, who declined to be named, also addressed the issue regarding Hakim being charged for items that he 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, so the cashier will just click on the sausage option multiple times to account for the other items that cost the same.
Apart from that, the stallholder claimed that staff members key the weight of the ingredients in manually once they weigh the ingredients in order 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 in the case of 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 on it.
In reality, two of them represented the vegetables and mushrooms that he ordered.
And that’s not all.
In the past, several customers have apparently complained about how the price list displayed at the stall does not include the prices of all ingredients sold at the stall.
Hakim also attached a photo of the stall’s price list in his Facebook post.
The only items listed on the price list are items like vegetables, mushrooms, meat, seafood and the 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 to them if they have any queries.