"This Is A Case Of Personal Opinion" – ZUS Coffee Releases Statement Over 5 Sen Fiasco
The coffee chain retailer said they will remove all five sen denominations from their prices the next time they revamp the menu.
By May Vin Ang — 03 Oct 2022, 04:04 PM
Local coffee chain retailer ZUS Coffee has released a statement responding to a customer's viral account of receiving five sen short of change at one of their branches
On 28 September, a Facebook post by user Fdaus Ahmad went viral for discussing the practice of some businesses in Malaysia that round down customers' change by five sen when they do not have enough change.
He wrote the post after buying some coffee from a ZUS Coffee branch in Tanjung Malim, Perak.
Fdaus detailed that he bought a cup of coffee for RM11.75, and after paying RM12 for it, had only received 20 sen in change — five sen less than he should have received — because the cashier did not have any five sen coins.
However, after bringing it up, the cashier immediately gave him an additional 10 sen.
In a statement on 1 October, ZUS Coffee chief operations officer Venon Tian apologised for the incident and said the chain launched an immediate investigation into the issue
He described the incident in detail according to closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and emphasised that, based on their findings, their team member returned the change as soon as the customer asked for it.
Nonetheless, Tian said the customer had highlighted that "despite a mere five sen, a business should return the exact change, or more, and never shortchange".
He also concluded, "We do not see this as a case of shortchanging but highlighting personal opinion, which all businesses should adapt."
The COO also shared the team's action plans to resolve the issue, saying that the chain will remove all five sen denominations from their prices the next time they revamp the menu.
However, the statement did not sit well with social media users, as many netizens pointed out that the coffee retailer's apology had mocked and dismissed the customer's quandary
Prior to the statement, ZUS Coffee had already been criticised for their response to the issue, when on 30 September, they released a 75 sen off voucher, apologising for "all the five sen that they could not return" previously.
ZUS Coffee drew more flak when, along with the apology statement, they released CCTV footage of the incident itself on social media
According to their tweets, the coffee retailer had intended to show that their junior barista handled the situation well.
However, the video caused an uproar on Twitter as netizens pointed out that the company was exposing their customer's identity.
