'Discrimination' for speaking English: Customer claims Somerset Chicha San Chen staff 'shamed & blamed' her for order mix-up

A ChiCha San Chen customer alleged that she was "shamed and blamed" by a staff member following an order mix-up at the bubble tea chain’s outlet at 313@somerset.

The mix-up allegedly happened because she spoke to the staff member in English.

In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson from Chicha San Chen said there had been a "communication breakdown".

Staff member was "visibly" annoyed

Speaking to Mothership, the customer said she visited the outlet on Jul. 22.

After waiting for about five minutes, an older staff member approached her to take her order.

According to the customer, the staff member, who was Chinese, appeared "visibly" annoyed when she spoke to her in English.

She did not appear proficient nor confident in English, the customer said.

Miscommunication

Speaking in English, the customer said she did not want milk in her drink, and told the staff member that she wanted the "Sakura Tea drink with green tea".

She pointed to a picture on the menu, and made payment.

But while watching the drink being prepared, the customer said she noticed a younger staff member adding milk to it.

She realised they had misunderstood her order as Sakura Milk Tea instead, and tried to get the staff members’ attention, but was unsuccessful.

When the younger staff member placed the next customer's drink on the counter, she pointed out that the drink was wrong.

In response, the older staff member allegedly rolled her eyes and told her that the drink was what she had ordered.

She claimed the staff member then led her to the front counter and told her to "look at the menu", before saying that it was her fault for ordering the wrong drink.

Switched to speaking Mandarin

At this point, the customer had switched to speaking Mandarin, which the staff member appeared more fluent in.

But the staff member remained unhappy, and "fluently [told her] off" in Mandarin.

When the customer asked for a refund, the staff member allegedly told her: "No, we can’t do that as it was your fault."

According to the customer, she also ended up paying more for her unwanted drink: the Sakura Milk Tea cost S$6.30, while the drink which she originally wanted, the Hachimitsu Sakura tea, cost S$5.80.

Before she left the outlet, the customer told them that she would be writing in about the incident, to which they allegedly shrugged.

She said she contacted Chicha San Chen’s customer service on the same day.

Alleged discrimination

In her messages to the Chicha San Chen team, the customer brought up the alleged "discrimination" based on her language of choice.

She alleged that the staff member did not show any signs of annoyance or unhappiness with the customer behind her, who spoke in Mandarin.

But the customer service personnel did not respond to this allegation.

The customer said she felt as though speaking English in Singapore, which has long been used as the common medium to communicate, may now attract "hostile behaviour" from some people.

In their reply, the customer service team apologised for the incident and said the staff member had been "simply educating [her] on the menu".

According to a screenshot of the chat between the customer and Chicha San Chen's customer service, they said:

"After reviewing the matter with the 313 Somerset outlet team, we found that there was some miscommunication during the ordering process, which led to a misunderstanding regarding the drink ordered.

While we understand there may have been differing recollections of the interaction, we believe the situation could have been handled much better by our staff."

She ended up receiving a S$0.50 refund for the price difference between the two drinks.

"May have been a communication breakdown": Chicha San Chen

In response to Mothership’s queries, ChiCha San Chen confirmed that it was aware of the incidents and that its headquarters had investigated the matter.

The company said that based on investigations, the customer had pointed to the Sakura Oat Milk Tea on the menu when placing her order.

However, as the outlet’s CCTV footage does not capture audio, the company was unable to verify the verbal exchange between the customer and staff.

"Based on our investigation, it appears that there may have been a communication breakdown during the ordering process," ChiCha San Chen said.

The company added that the customer had contacted its customer service team and that a S$0.50 refund was issued.