[Sg] - Restaurant owner asks if he’s wrong for saying he’d call the police because customer cancelled meal order after it was ready

[UltimaOnline]

Restaurant owner asks if he’s wrong for saying he’d call the police because
customer cancelled meal order after it was ready© The Independent Singapore

SINGAPORE: A restaurant owner took to social media to ask for netizens’ opinions on an argument between him and a customer who cancelled an order after it had already been prepared.

u/Embarrassed_Row_280 wrote on r/AskSingapore late on Friday night (Apr 21) that a group of six diners entered his restaurant and ordered six separate dishes. Later, they ordered a side dish of fried potatoes, which would take 10 minutes to prepare.

“After 9 minutes, the customer wants to cancel the dish because ’it took too long to arrive at the table.’”

But shortly after that point, the potatoes were ready for serving, only to be rejected by the diners, who said they had cancelled it.

The manager then came to the table and told the diner, “Ma’am, we’ve already prepared the food; you’ve cancelled it too late.”

But the diner insists on rejecting the dish, at which point the servers put it into a takeaway container.

“During billing, she was forceful to not pay for the dish. I reasoned with her, saying it takes time to prepare a dish. She still insists to not pay for it,” the post author added. “At this moment, I said I’d call the police to settle the matter of payment.”

“You’re calling the police over $16?” the woman asked.

The restaurant owner replied, “I’m calling the police because you refuse to pay for a service that I provided.”

The woman ended up paying for the potatoes but told her family in French, “This is not how commercial businesses run” and “it doesn’t make commercial sense” and “this guy has no principles.”

The restaurant owner then asked if he was wrong in the situation.

Many commenters on his post told him he had been right and congratulated him for standing his ground.

Restaurant owner asks if he’s wrong for saying he’d call the police because customer cancelled meal order after it was ready© The Independent Singapore

Restaurant owner asks if he’s wrong for saying he’d call the police because customer cancelled meal order after it was ready© The Independent Singapore

Restaurant owner asks if he’s wrong for saying he’d call the police because customer cancelled meal order after it was ready© The Independent Singapore

One chimed in, “Personally, if I want to cancel a dish, I’ll ask if the food is already prepared & can be cancelled. If the restaurant is already preparing or cooking the dish, I’ll just wait & not cancel.”

Restaurant owner asks if he’s wrong for saying he’d call the police because customer cancelled meal order after it was ready© The Independent Singapore

“It makes perfect commercial (and legal) sense to me. You order something and did not cancel it in time before the order was being prepped, you pay for it,” added another.

Restaurant owner asks if he’s wrong for saying he’d call the police because customer cancelled meal order after it was ready© The Independent Singapore

 

[syed putra]

is that why restaursnts now need customers to scan and order dish on their phones!

 

[eatshitndie]

10 minutes to prepare a potato dish.
30 minutes for poodles to arrive.
69 days to recover from disputes with customer.
definitely not worth the time. should have informed customers a humble potato meal will require sextraordinary amount of time to prepare when they placed the order late. information and transparency is key to preventing emotional people making rash decisions. and if they went ahead with the order after being informed it’s their fault for canceling.

 

[borom]

How much profit can restaurant make from cancelled $16 fried potatoes compared to losing business of these 6 customers and their friends/relatives?
If I am the boss, I will pay for and eat the dish myself and retain the goodwill of customers-this is called good customer service, marketing and public relations.
if its a regular customer, I will give the customer the dish on the house and pack it for her to bring away-this is called fostering relationship and increasing customer loyalty

 

[laksaboy]

Restaurant owners should have a strict last order time and stick to it.

 

[jw5]

Restaurant owners should have a strict last order time and stick to it.

The issue in this incident is not about the last order time. It is about whether the customer has the right to cancel the order and avoid payment, even though the dish is already prepared.

Although I agree with the arguments that it would take more time to get the police involved and there would be a loss of goodwill, my honest opinion is that the customer is in the wrong here. If she cancelled the order but the restaurant informs her that the dish has already been prepared, she should pay for it.

 

[eatshitndie]

The issue in this incident is not about the last order time. It is about whether the customer has the right to cancel the order and avoid payment, even though the dish is already prepared.

Although I agree with the arguments that it would take more time to get the police involved and there would be a loss of goodwill, my honest opinion is that the customer is in the wrong here. If she cancelled the order but the restaurant informs her that the dish has already been prepared, she should pay for it.

once the much beloved tai pan dim sum in palo alto forgot my joke (congee). i waited 30 minutes while finishing other dim sum dishes for joke to arrive. joke didn’t cum. so i joked with ah sum waitress that joke was a joke. she hurriedly went to kitchen and checked for order. the order slip was tagged high above all other slips at the joke prep corner. the cook finally found it. came back and advised that the joke was being prepared. as it was getting late past lunch and i was occupying a table for two (and lines were still long), i decided to cancel the order. ah soh waitress informed the owner, and owner a gilf was very apologetic. she said so sorry would honor canceling of order and compensate with lai sat tong yuen to-go as a complimentary gift. but that would take another 10 mins. so i said mng sai lah, next time cum back for lai sar tong yuen. owner replied next time the joke would be on her. best restaurant owner i’ve ever known.

 

[winnipegjets]

Angmo customers bully local?

 

[eatshitndie]

Angmo customers bully local?

sinkies will call poodles for all kinds of shit from misplaced meals by grab to customers canceling orders. it’s as though poodles are sinkies’ mommy and pappy. wait! it’s pappy’s fault for conditioning sinkies to rely on authorities to settle disputes.