S'pore teppanyaki stall owner apologises for staff's behaviour, explains he paid for staff's medical bills & urged for understanding

A food and beverage boss in Singapore has issued an apology on social media in response to negative reviews criticising one of his stall's staff for rendering less than ideal service.

Difficult experiences

On the evening of Dec. 9, hawker stall Teppan-Man's owner, Chef Chris, posted a picture of him bowing his head in front of his teppanyaki stall as a show of contrition.

Accompanying the picture was a message acknowledging that some customers have had "difficult experiences with one of our cashiers".

He also acknowledged the Google reviews that highlighted the customers' dissatisfaction, which had stated that they did not intend to return to give the stall more business.

Saying that he wished to address the issues "openly and with empathy", he revealed that the stall would be dismissing the cashier.

The post added that it was not always possible to ascertain an individual's abilities until working closely with them.

However, despite this, the staff would continue working at the stall for the immediate future, as their personal circumstances and health challenges meant that they required a steady income.

The stall owner said he felt "a moral obligation" to continue providing employment for the worker.

The staff had recently required surgery, which the stall owner had covered the cost for, he explained.

Frustration and disappointment

Chris added that the staff was in the end found to be incompatible with the work environment and the choice was made to part ways.

This decision apparently led to "frustration or disappointment", but stopped short of saying if the frustration was experienced by the staff member or customers, or both.

But he asked for understanding and patience as he had tried to balance "compassion with responsibility".

The post has garnered over a thousand reactions on Facebook, with many comments praising Chris as a good and compassionate boss.

4-ish stars

While the Facebook post does not directly address which incidents had required the apology, parsing the stalls' two Google review pages shed some light.

Currently, the business operates in Jalan Membina and Bukit Batok.

Both serve similar menus, selling Japanese style food, with meats cooked on a teppanyaki griddle.

The outlets average four stars, with the original Bukit Batok location slightly better at 4.1, while the newer Jalan Membina stall at a lower 3.8 star rating.

Very very bad attitude

The complaints appeared to stem from reviews for the Jalan Membina outlet.

One complained about a "bald head guy" who had a "very very bad attitude".

The review described a curt interaction, with the staff making the customer seemingly needlessly wait before serving him.

When the customer was collecting his food, the staff member only addressed him non-verbally, signalling him to "wait" using an open palm.

The customer wrote that the staff acted like "the whole world owe him money", vowing to never patronise the stall again.

The review was addressed by the stall, saying that it was hard to gauge ability until working together, and confirming that the staff member would be leaving soon.

The stall also apologised for the interaction.

A shorter one-star review a month earlier simply said that despite being the only customer, the staff had a "very bad attitude".

The business replied that workers were hard to find in the food and beverage industry, and asked for understanding after apologising.

Hidden gem

However, many recent reviews appear to be quite glowing, with one recent review calling the stall a "hidden gem".

This appears to have changed in the past 24 hours, notably since the apology post went up, with several poor ratings being given, but no explanation was provided for the dissatisfaction.

The last review dated the week before the apology went up was a glowing four-star review, praising both food quality and serving size.

Top image via Teppan-Man/Facebook