A family’s dining experience turned sour when they were unknowingly charged for a dessert they assumed was complimentary.
After enjoying their meal at a seafood restaurant in Gelang Patah, a woman was surprised to find the cost of a tofu pudding dessert, which had been served to her son by a restaurant staff member, included in her bill.
In a post on Facebook yesterday, the woman said she originally thought the dessert was a free after-meal treat provided by the restaurant.
“It was only upon paying the bill that I was informed that the dessert had been ‘delivered to the wrong table’ by the staff member,” she added.
When she queried why she was being charged for the dessert, she was told that since her family had consumed the dessert, they needed to pay for it.
Alleges staff refuses to apologise
The woman expressed her discontent, noting that the staff member allegedly did not apologize for the mistake. She explained that customers typically inform the restaurant if they receive an incorrect order, but this mistake was not questioned because it was just a dessert.
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She alleged that the restaurant was deceiving consumers by claiming to have “delivered to the wrong table”, forcing customers to pay after consuming the food.
She pointed out that the cost of the dessert was RM4.50 and speculated that if the restaurant “delivered wrongly” to 10 tables, they would earn an additional RM40.
She also added that despite being able to afford the dessert, she felt unwilling to pay because of the restaurant’s tactics.
The woman further said that she learned a lesson from this experience and in the future, she would clarify whether any additional dishes brought to her table are complimentary or not.
She also mentioned that the restaurant, which usually has a long queue of customers, was noticeably less crowded, particularly on a Saturday. She concluded that she would not revisit the restaurant.
Restaurant’s manager replies
In response to this, the restaurant’s manager clarified to China Press that the situation arose due to a staff member delivering the wrong dish to the customer’s table, and acknowledged the restaurant’s oversight.
The manager also sincerely apologized to the customer and requested not to blame the staff involved.
The manager further explained that the woman, her husband, and two boys were seated at table 16, while a family of five, including a father, mother, two boys, and a girl, were seated at table 21 behind them.
One of the boys approached the staff member asking for a tofu pudding dessert. When the staff member asked where he was seated, he pointed toward tables 16 and 21.
Order mistakenly delivered
The manager believed that the boy was from table 21 but the staff member mistakenly delivered the dessert to table 16.
She mentioned that the woman at table 16 questioned the additional charge for the dessert after paying the bill. The manager attempted to clarify the situation and asked the staff member to explain the misunderstanding to the customer, but the customer had already left.
Responding to allegations of deceiving customers, the manager stated that the restaurant has been operating locally for many years and doesn’t need to deceive customers to stay in business.
“If the allegations were true, the restaurant couldn’t have maintained operations for over a decade,” the restaurant manager said.
