[UPDATE on Apr. 1 at 11:25am: This article has been updated with a statement from Fave.]

A customer in Singapore hoping to redeem a dining deal purchased via Fave faced an abrupt rejection when trying to make a reservation at the restaurant.

The woman, who gave her surname as Huang in an interview with 8world, purchased a coupon for a "8-Course Chinese Set Meal for 4 People" on Fave.

She then called the restaurant, San Guo Kao Yu in Geylang, to make a booking for her group of four diners and two children, only to be told that she could only reserve a table for four.

Asked to pay S$10 for each additional diner

According to Huang, the restaurant staff informed her over the phone that the restaurant's conditions were that the four-person set meal could not be redeemed by more than four diners.

However, she did not see such a condition when she purchased the voucher online.

Huang said that the staff member said that the restriction was in place to prevent the restaurant's business from being affected.

It was not possible to accept large groups which only redeemed a four-person set meal, as this would fill up the restaurant's limited seats, he explained.

The staff member then offered an alternative: the reservation for six could be made if the two additional diners paid S$10 each.

This, to Huang, was unacceptable, as she had planned to order more dishes at the restaurant if the set meal was not enough to feed her group of six.

The two children she wanted to bring along were aged five and 11.

"Don't eat if you can't afford it"

Subsequently, Huang called the restaurant again, and spoke to the manager this time.

However, after the manager was apprised of the situation, he allegedly told Huang: "Don't eat if you can't afford it".

Huang told 8world: "This is not a matter of money, but a problem with his attitude. I just wanted to make a reservation to have a meal, and I had to face this infuriating situation."

"It's not a big deal, nor is it a large sum of money," said Huang. "It's just that I was angry at what he said at the time."

The voucher was eventually used by a friend of Huang's, who dined in a group of four without issue.

Restaurant says extra diners could have ordered more dishes

8world contacted the restaurant and confirmed that there was indeed a limit of four diners when redeeming the four-person set meal.

However, the restaurant said that larger groups could either opt to pay S$10, or simply order any dish on the menu, for each additional diner.

Huang said that she was not told of the latter option in her previous communication with the restaurant.

The restaurant manager, when contacted by 8world, confirmed that he had indeed spoken to Huang over the phone, but said that Huang was offered the option of ordering additional dishes in both her phone calls to the restaurant.

He stressed that in the past year of offering this promotion via Fave, there had not been any customers who paid the S$10 fee for having additional diners.

He explained that the restaurant's ideal situation for larger groups would be for them to order and spend more, as allowing the set meal redemption for a larger group would mean that the restaurant incurred even greater cost.

As for the line, "Don't eat if you can't afford it", the manager admitted that he had in fact said it, but only in response to Huang accusing the restaurant of forcing her to spend more.

The manager said that Huang's payment would only be released to the restaurant when the voucher was redeemed, and questioned how she could say that they were forcing her to spend when she had only called to ask about making a reservation.

He also said that the restaurant had previously indicated to Fave regarding the restriction on larger groups wanting to redeem the four-person set meal, and that they would contact Fave to prevent future misunderstandings.

Response from Fave

A spokesperson from Fave told Mothership that it clarified matters with the merchant, and would be adding the requirement for either a S$10 surcharge or ordering extra dishes for each additional diner, in the voucher's terms and conditions.

Here's the statement in full:

"On behalf of Fave, we are committed to delighting our community of users and merchants. The incident that took place about a week ago between a restaurant listed on the Fave platform and one of our consumers is unfortunate.

We have since reached out to both parties to understand the situation better and ensure that matter has been resolved amicably, and improve the experience for all going forward. For the merchant, we have clarified the conditions of the deal mechanics. We are glad to share the merchant has since agreed to update the terms and conditions in the voucher listing to note the $10 surcharge per additional diner or the ordering of extra dishes per extra diner. For the consumer, we have understood that she has since redeemed her voucher by gifting it away via the Fave app. We have also provided her with some Fave credits as a small token of support.

We will continue to do our best to ensure that all our merchant partners are transparent in their terms and conditions around respective deals and deliver a great experience for one and all."

Top image via Fave