A Man Was Charged RM600 For 'Kepala Ikan' At A Popular Mamak Restaurant
The bill came to a total of almost RM1,000.
By Tang Ruxyn — 21 Nov 2017, 05:45 PM
The issue of restaurants overcharging customers may not be new but a man was shocked when he saw that he was billed RM600 for kepala ikan (fish head) recently
The story of a man being overcharged by a restaurant is being shared on social media after the customer took to Facebook to share about the incident yesterday, 20 November.
According to Faudzy Asrafudeen Sayed Mohamed, he was at the popular mamak restaurant located in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur with his family and future in-laws for dinner when he received a bill that totalled up to RM968.50. It was learned that he ordered four bowls of fish head curry and the prices came up to RM600, which means that each bowl costs about RM150.
"To my astonishment... when the bill came, while the rest of the food bill seems reasonable, what surprised me is the cost of the four fish heads which I ordered," he wrote on Facebook.
This is not the first time he had the dish at a mamak restaurant but Faudzy said he did not expect that the prices would be so exorbitant
When contacted by mStar Online, Faudzy said that restaurants usually charge customers between RM50 and RM80 for a bowl of fish head curry.
"I didn't look at the menu because I usually know the average price to pay. Even though I had budgeted for this meal, I was shocked to see the price of the fish head curry there."
The 56-year-old questioned the cashier on the prices, who explained that customers are charged depending on the size of the fish head.
"If the head is big, it will be priced between RM120 and RM150, while the smaller ones would be between RM60 and RM80," Faudzy was quoted as saying.
However, he opined that the excessive charges were because the restaurant is located within the city's Golden Triangle
It was reported that Faudzy, who works as a director of market development at a company, does not intend to lodge a complaint with the authorities about the incident.
"I decided to just pay the bill. I ate the meal, so there was no reason to not pay the bill. But I want to warn others so that they won't fall prey to this like we did," he told mStar Online.
Nevertheless, he said that restaurant operators and the workers play an important role in providing their services to patrons.
He suggested that workers tell customers the price range for dishes when taking orders so that when people won't be taken aback by the charges when they pay their bills.
In hindsight, he also agreed with some netizens who said that he should have enquired or checked the prices of the food first before ordering
"Should have done that, but having eaten kepala ikan several times and at several places, you would have a fair value for it, but alas you are right.
"Lesson learned here. Don't take things for granted. Thanks for the reminder," Faudzy said in reply to one of the comments on his Facebook post.