Woman says $8 chicken shrank by one-third, Queenstown hawker denies shortchanging her and offers to review CCTV
A woman complained that a chicken rice stall in Queenstown gave her a portion of chicken that was about a third smaller than usual for $8.
The stall’s staff denied shortchanging her, saying they had always followed the same serving size standards and that CCTV footage could be reviewed to verify this.
Mdm Chen, a 56-year-old taxi driver, told Shin Min Daily News that she bought a quarter of a chicken from a chicken rice stall in a coffee shop located at Block 40 Margaret Drive on Oct 3.
Based on the Stomp’s checks, the address belongs to FoodHub @ 40 Margaret Drive.
Identifying herself as a regular customer who usually orders the same thing, Mdm Chen said the stall’s portions have always been generous. However, she noticed that their serving sizes had become noticeably smaller since last month.
“I felt embarrassed to bring it up before and thought they might improve the portion the next time I visited, but it was still the same,” she said.
Mdm Chen said the portions she received on two consecutive visits were about a third smaller than what she was used to, which she felt was unacceptable for the price.
When she raised the issue with a stall employee on her Oct 3 visit, she claimed she was told that the portion had always been the same and that she could stop patronising the stall if she was unhappy.
Dissatisfied by the response, she stated that she would not return.
Stall says it did not shortchange customer
When Shin Min Daily News visited the stall, a 32-year-old employee named Ah Bei said he remembered the customer. He recalled that she had been agitated and repeatedly accused the stall of cheating her.
“She kept saying the portion of chicken she bought was too small and did not match the price,” he said.
Ah Bei maintained that the stall had not cheated customers and had consistently served portions according to the same standard.
He pointed out that the stall has CCTV cameras and customers who believe they have been shortchanged can raise the matter with the owner, who is able to review the footage.
Customer exchanged chicken for two plates of rice
According to Ah Bei, the staff agreed to exchange Mdm Chen’s order for two plates of chicken rice to resolve the dispute.
Mdm Chen said she initially rejected the chicken — which had already been chopped up — because she was unhappy with the employee’s attitude. However, the employee told her the chicken could not be returned after it had been cut.
She eventually asked to exchange it for two plates of roasted chicken rice, which cost $4 each.
Ah Bei said this was against the stall’s usual policy, but staff agreed to the exchange because there was a long queue and they did not want the dispute to escalate.
He added that Mdm Chen was the first customer in his years working there to complain about the stall’s chicken portion.
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