PUBLISHED ONAugust 16, 2024 3:04 AMByBhavya RawatAn unassuming customer buying a packet of cai fan was taken aback when her bill came up to nearly $10.
In a post made on Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Wednesday (Aug 14), Diana Lim shared pictures of her meal as well as the receipt of her purchase.
"Is this [price] normal at all other cai fan stores, or is this stall just plain exorbitant? [Paid] $9.30 for this," she wrote.
Lim added that she had been charged $3.50 for a "pathetic" few slices of pork belly, which she described as "thin", and $3 for ribs.
According to Lim's receipt, the stall in question is located at the food court of LeQuest Mall in Bukit Batok, which is operated by Koufu.
Some netizens echoed Lim's sentiments, saying that the price was indeed exorbitant for the quantity of food she had been given.
One netizen commented: "If it's a few cents, it's acceptable but not when it's overcharged in dollars."
"We cannot deal with food prices that escalate every other day and week."
Another commentor wrote: "On top of being expensive, it doesn't look nice to eat at all."
"Daylight robbery. I would have walked [away]," commented another netizen.
Some other netizens suggested that the higher price could be a result of higher rent, as the food court is inside a shopping mall.
Responding to AsiaOne's enquiries, a customer service representative from Koufu confirmed that the incident occurred at the Koufu food court in LeQuest Mall.
The representative said that the stall owner had apologised to Lim for the unpleasant experience via a comment under her Facebook post, which is currently under review.
Investigations found that the stall's staff had used the wrong point of sales (POS) key during the payment, explained the representative.
"[This] is not acceptable. The stall owner will retrain the staff to use the correct POS key and ensure the staff informs customers on [any] special item pricing before ordering."
The representative added that management will conduct audit checks to ensure that pricing reflected on the POS is correct and and prevent such incidents in the future.
AsiaOne has reached out to Lim for more information.
Koufu is one of the nine private chain operators which started providing affordable food options for residents and progressively accepting CDC vouchers since end-July, said the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Enterprise Singapore in a statement earlier that month
Their inclusion marks an expansion of the budget meal initiative beyond rental coffee shops.
The initiative was first announced by the Ministry of National Development and HDB in March and aims to provide Singaporeans with more wallet-friendly food options.
Budget meals include lunch or dinner options that typically cost $3.50 and below, and drinks at $1.20 and below.
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
