Customer claims staff insulted her at Bugis teppanyaki stall, allegedly throws plate to get his attention
A customer who said she was treated rudely by staff at a teppanyaki restaurant in Bugis Junction was later seen in footage appearing to throw a plate in the direction of a staff member.
Speaking to Stomp, the customer, who wishes to be known as Ms A, said she visited Alley Wei Teppan-Yaki at Bugis Junction with a friend on April 10 at about 5.50pm.
Ms A, a Vietnamese national who travels to Singapore from Johor Bahru frequently to meet friends, said she felt confused upon entering the restaurant as she was not told where to wait. She also claimed a staff member had shouted at her to get her attention.
While she was still eating, she said another staff member had asked if she intended to continue her meal.
After finishing their meal, Ms A and her friend commented that the service was “bad”. Ms A alleged that she then heard a staff member insulting them in Vietnamese.
When she confronted him about what he had said and who it was directed at, the staff member allegedly walked away, prompting her to raise her voice and ask for the manager.
Customer allegedly throws plate
Later that evening, Ms A posted a clip of the staff member on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group, in which she is heard asking him to turn around.
“After that, I picked up a spoon from the table and threw it on the ground near where he was standing, telling him to come back and talk instead of staying silent,” she said.
Another staff member tried to appease her, but she maintained that she had not touched the staff member.
One staff member had also asked whether the two customers wanted a refund or an apology, which Ms A found “quite ridiculous”, adding that she was financially capable of paying for the meal.
“The real issue here is the disrespectful and dismissive attitude the staff showed towards me,” she said.
CCTV screenshots of incident seemingly surface in comments section
In a comment attributed to the “Alley Wei Team”, the restaurant accused Ms A of using vulgarities during the exchange and said a staff member had responded “in the heat of the moment”.
“The situation then escalated, and a plate was thrown at our staff. We take such behaviour seriously and will be pursuing legal action to protect our employees,” the comment read.
In addition, the comment acknowledged that the cashier’s tone may have come across as rude during peak hours and offered an apology.
Screenshots of CCTV footage were also shared, showing a woman picking up what appears to be a plate.
The next screenshot shows her arm outstretched, while the plate is seen heading toward the lower back of a staff member.
A final screenshot shows the plate seemingly falling to the ground.
Customer denies throwing plate at staff
When asked about the incident, Ms A maintained that she had thrown the plate on the ground, instead of at the staff member, to get his attention.
“The staff’s behaviour affected my mood and was insulting,” she added, calling it “unacceptable”.
“Especially after being in the wrong, he still showed a careless attitude and a lack of respect by refusing to come back and face the customer,” she said.
The post garnered a fair share of responses on Facebook, with some netizens sharing similar experiences and others questioning whether there were two sides to the story.
“I’ve experienced a lot of poor service in F&B, but I’d rather leave peacefully and simply not return. Shouting only shows a person’s character,” another netizen said.
Stomp has reached out to Alley Wei Teppan-Yaki for comments.
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