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Tourists charged $300 for 2 crabs at Clarke Quay

AsiaOne | Thu, Oct 1 2009

Restaurant disputes claims of Filipino customer that he was overcharged for crabs and other dishes.

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crab

clarke quay

seafood

[top photo: Bobby describing the size of the crabs he ate at a restaurant in Clarke Quay. He paid a total of $300 for two such crabs.]

A Filipino tourist claims he has been ripped off after he was charged $300 for two crabs at a seafood restaurant in Singapore, the Shin Min Daily News reported on Wednesday.

The incident took place at a Clarke Quay restaurant last Sunday night, where 38-year-old Bobby, his wife and four other friends had supper after catching the Formula One (F1) race.

The café owner from Manila says the group ordered ten sticks of beef satay, two bowls of white rice, garlic prawns, two chilli crabs and six glasses of soft drinks.

The total bill came out to $702.43, inclusive of taxes and surcharges, and with the two crabs amounting to about $300.

Bobby claims he was charged $20 for appetisers, which he understood to be a bowl of mixed nuts placed on their table. No other appetisers were ordered, he said.

No prices were also indicated on the restaurant's menus, he added.

As he did not have enough local currency with him at that time, Bobby resorted to paying US$500 (about $707 Singapore dollars) which resulted in the restaurant being unable to return him the change.

Seafood restaurant disputes claim

The restaurant person-in-charge said in an interview that crabs are priced at 100 grams for $6. The Filipino tourist had ordered two crabs each weighing two kilograms, so the charges came up to a total of some $300.

The item listed as "Meat" on the receipt, amounting to $120 (2 x $60) was not as Bobby pointed out, to be the 10 sticks of satay, but two roasted ducks instead.

The item listed as "Appetisers" on the receipt, which cost $20, was actually the beef satay, and the bowl of mixed nuts was given with compliments.

It is a case of misunderstanding, the restaurant said, and should customers be dissatisfied with the prices, they would try their utmost to resolve the issue.

With regards to the customer paying in US dollars, the restaurant used an exchange rate of US$1 to S$1.40, the person-in-charge said. Hence when the customer paid US$500, this was equivalent to $700 and the restaurant did not make an extra $2.43.

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Readers' Comments

what a ripoff, they try to slip two roasted ducks to the bill , i bet those two crabs we no Alaskan King Crabs either , I had the same thing happened to me awhile back at Newton Cir. wont find me going back to that stall soon. These people are in business for the short haul. They want to steal your hard earned money . Screw me once shame on you. Screw me twice shame on me.

by arporn4617, posted on 05 02 2010, 22:50

What a rubbish manager and restaurent in Singapore. Such killing price and he claimed $60 for 2x Roasted Ducks, it will probably cost $ 50 each, and who will order 2x ducks at the same time? Sure they are not there for their popular roasted ducks..
2 Garlic Prawns cost $ 100 ?? 2x Crabs cost $300, is this golden crabs? All the crabs story and explaination.. Stupid manager.

I urged the authority to take immediate action, before we start to have tourism vol. drop over such Black Shop in Singapore. Seem like having fine is not good enough, the owner shall go to jail, cos the manager is only a employee, where they listen to boss instruction.

by Alamaksingapo, posted on 04 10 2009, 12:08

If authorities are not going to do something, the forums are here to serve as a warning to others (local and tourist). If you get whacked up and police says they cant do anything as it is a civil case, do you let it pass?If you do let me know, someone is always willing to whack you...

by dopodbert, posted on 04 10 2009, 00:44

I would disagree with you...Since Tourism is an important sector of our economy, we can expect some action, even if wayang only, to show that they really care about the Singapore image as a Tourist Hub...Afterall, it was a foreigner that complained...However, I think that you will be right had it been a Singaporean who complained...The govt does have the knack of looking after foreigners better than their own citizens...;)

by kooldog59, posted on 03 10 2009, 22:40

So some of you want something to be done to the culprit restaurant.You can kiss that goodbye. The relevant authorities will tell you- is an open market policy-willing buyers willing sellers.They'll even say-find out the prices before you buy and that's it.
And it's true.Just bcos you're a tourists you won't be fleeced?That's idiotic thinking.
Well,when I'm travelling,I'd often been fleeced-it's the name of the game,just accept it or do not even bothered to travel at all.
When you have the money to travel,always have a budget for this or choose the country you going to visit wisely.
It happen in every country,nonetheless Singapore.That's do not mean Singapore is bad country.

by mollimolli, posted on 03 10 2009, 17:50

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