When the inflation bug bites, the first to feel its effects would be the food and beverage (F&B) industry as restaurant owners are forced to raise prices as a result.
A customer recently took to Facebook to express his shock and outrage over being charged a hefty price for a plate of chap fan (economy rice) at a restaurant in Sungai Petani, Kedah – an incident which has triggered much controversy.
Shocked by RM18 chap fan
In the post shared to the Facebook group SP人 on Saturday (Dec 9), the customer ranted about how he was charged RM18 for his economy rice meal.
Based on the photo attached with the post, he had white rice, acar, and a chicken drumstick.
A few days ago, I went to buy a chicken drumstick and acar, where I was charged RM18 by the lady boss. It really shocked me!
“When it came to my turn (to pay), I told the lady boss that it was expensive but she didn’t respond. KL (dishes) isn’t this expensive and doing business like this will cause (customers) not to come back again,” he wrote.
‘It was a misunderstanding’
Shortly after the matter went viral online, the owner of the restaurant stepped forward to shed light on it and present his side of the story.
Speaking to China Press, the owner surnamed Liang (transliteration) said that it was all a misunderstanding and urged the customer to drop by the restaurant and clarify, adding that he would gladly refund him the extra charges if he indeed had overpaid for the meal.
“I reviewed the CCTV footage (dated Dec 6) and saw a customer who took the same dishes during lunchtime. However, based on the photos uploaded by the customer and the CCTV footage, there are discrepancies so I’m not sure if the customer came on the day itself.
“The CCTV footage clearly showed that the customer took three spoonfuls of acar, with the first being a full portion and the second and third calculated as one portion,” he explained, adding that the highest possible price was RM12.
Liang also said that the lady boss was busy collecting payment and talking to customers during the lunch rush hour and never heard the customer telling her how expensive his meal was.
“I’ve been running the economy rice business for over 10 years and only started operating at the current location in June 2020.
“In recent years, the prices of pork and chicken have increased, causing the cost to rise. We’ve always adjusted our prices based on market fluctuations but we do provide free soup at the same time,” he said.
What’s your take on this incident? Share with us in the comments!
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