A man who bought vegetarian bee hoon from a food court stall in Singapore General Hospital (SGH) took to Facebook to complain that he paid S$8 for his plate of food, which he described as "so expensive".
A photo of the meal showed a plate of bee hoon topped with crispy vegetarian roast goose, long beans, and a slice of egg omelette.
Should be S$7
In response to the man's complaint, the stall assistant told Shin Min Daily News that the diner should have been charged S$7 only, having seen the Facebook post.
Hospital staff are entitled to a 20 per cent discount at the food court, while other customers are charged full price, it was also reported.
A S$7 meal would be S$5.60 after discount.
The 30-year-old stall assistant provided a breakdown of the costs of the food: S$2 for bee hoon, S$1.50 for fried egg, S$1 for long beans and S$2.50 for vegetarian roast goose.
The stall assistant explained: "Our dishes are clearly marked with prices and we will not charge randomly, so I don't know why the diner said it was S$8. I hope he can show the receipt."
"The cost of vegetarian roast goose is also relatively high. A bag of vegetarian goose costs S$10," the stall assistant added.
"The portions we give are not large, but if customers are dissatisfied, they can give feedback to the food court."
Possible language barrier
The Shin Min reporter observed that the stall also sells relatively cheap meals, where a bee hoon set with one egg and one vegetarian meat was priced at S$3.50.
The stall assistant also mentioned that his colleagues were foreigners, and there could have been a language barrier between them and the customer.
In response, Koufu said it has investigated this incident and the pricing of the food ordered by customer and determined that it should be S$7 instead of S$8.
It also added that it is speaking to the tenant to review the pricing.
Koufu said: "We apologise for the unpleasant experience and are reaching out to customer to arrange for refund."
Top photos via Shin Min Daily News & Complaint Singapore Facebook