Customer ordered popiah from Tampines stall in advance, made to queue for 40 mins, then told she won't be served

Despite ordering popiah at a Tampines stall days in advance for a birthday party on Nov. 17, a customer was aggrieved that she was still made to wait for 40 minutes to pick it up on the day of collection as the food was not ready.

When it was apparently her turn to be served, the stall assistant then refused to entertain the customer and even refunded her the money instead.

Feeling like she had been played, the woman tipped Shin Min Daily News off.

In response, the stall vendor said the woman had been "shouting" for a refund whilst in the queue, which made her feel that the customer would not have enjoyed the food.

The incident

The customer, surnamed Tan, told Shin Min that she had placed an order for popiah worth S$33 at the stall located at the Block 823A Tampines Street 81 coffee shop.

As her family was celebrating her aunt's birthday on Nov. 17, Tan made payment a few days in advance to secure the food.

"When I came at 10:40am to collect it, the vendor told me to join the queue instead. As there were more than 10 people in the queue, I tried asking her for a refund, but she insisted that I queue up," Tan said.

Tan complied, but when it was her turn in the queue, the person serving her said she would not be going though with the order, and returned the customer the money.

This upset Tan.

"I waited in line for 40 minutes. if she really didn't want to serve me, she should have given me a refund at the start, instead of wasting my time," Tan said.

Tan's family resorted to ordering food from elsewhere for the party.

Tan said she did not have such an experience with food sellers previously.

Tan also felt the vendor was "not respecting" her customers and felt she had been "made fun of".

Popiah vendor's response

In response to Tan's claims, the stall owner explained to Shin Min that it was an assistant who was operating the stall that day.

The stall owner, who declined to be named, added that when Tan placed the order with a stall assistant, she would have been reminded that she would need to queue up for collection.

"Since she says she has bought popiah before, she should know," the owner rebutted.

Regarding the Nov. 17 incident, the stall owner claimed it was a busy day with many customers lining up to collect their orders.

She added that the ingredients were already prepared, and just needed to be packed and the orders labelled before collection.

The stall owner claimed that when Tan was told she had to queue up, she became "unhappy", saying she had already paid and wanted to take the food "immediately".

Tan also kept "shouting loudly" for a refund while in the queue, the owner claimed.

"I believed that she would have been unhappy eating the food, so when she got to the front, it was decided she won't be served and the money would be returned to her," the stall owner said.

The stall owner admitted that she too had been angry, and that the ingredients prepared for Tan's order had to be thrown away.

According to her, Tan also called up the stall a few days after the incident, but remained angry even after an explanation was provided.

"I man the stall by myself, and if at times I get overwhelmed with orders, I hope that customers can understand," the stall owner concluded.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News