A customer is being called out by a popular seafood restaurant in Kuala Lumpur for allegedly refusing to pay a RM660 bill and making slanderous comments about them online
Fatt Kee Roast Fish is a local restaurant located on Jalan Pasar in Pudu. The restaurant is famous for their ‘Luxury Dinner’, which is essentially a large seafood platter consisting of flower crabs, scallops, green mussels, slipper lobsters, freshwater prawns, and a fish head.
The price starts from RM388 per platter, and it can go up to RM799.
In a Facebook post published last Friday, 11 December, Fatt Kee Roast Fish wrote that a customer refused to pay his bill after ordering the Luxury Dinner platter worth RM388, insisting that he had not ordered it in the first place.
The incident took place at around 8pm last Wednesday, 9 December.
However, the restaurant has always been prepared to avoid such a situation from happening because a blunder in taking an order can set back their daily revenue due to the platter’s hefty cost of ingredients.
One of the measures is having a whopping 60 closed-circuit television (CCTVs) cameras to record order-taking processes at every table in the premise.
Another procedure is confirming the facts with the waiters who take the orders before confronting the customers who made the complaint.
Image via @randy_oh (Instagram)
“After verifying the situation, the waiter confirmed that the customer ordered a small Luxury Dinner,” wrote Fatt Kee Roast Fish
Referring to CCTV footage as evidence, the restaurant showed a 30-second clip and a screenshot of the customer holding the restaurant’s menu while pointing at the RM388 platter, suggesting that the customer had indeed made the order.
“Following that, the customer began to agitatedly deny making the order. He also claimed the customer service was bad,” the post read.
“The lady boss came forward, called the waiter to stand aside, and waited for the boss to deal with it. Basically, the waiter was scolded despite making no blunder.”
According to the restaurant, the customer fled the scene after the fracas. The restaurant’s boss tried to stop him from leaving, insisting that he had to pay the bill.
“Most businesses will respond similarly (asking the customer to pay). After all, the cost of the seafood platter is not small. It has nine different kinds of seafood,” they said.
Seeing that there was nothing they could do to a fleeing customer, the restaurant owner decided to let the matter slip.
Image via Fatt Kee Roast Fish發記招牌特色烤鱼 (Facebook)
But the customer later took to Facebook to smear the restaurant’s reputation by making false remarks
In a now-deleted public post, the customer described the restaurant as a dishonest business, while adding, “I haven’t started eating and I was told to pay RM210 per person.”
According to the customer’s comments, as sighted by Fatt Kee Roast Fish, he was found making slanderous remarks about them. Many of his claims are filled with discrepancies.
In one instance, he allegedly told his followers not to visit the restaurant because they “acted like gangsters”. Other times, he said the restaurant “is run by gangsters”.
One comment shows the customer saying that he visited the restaurant in a group of 12, but based on CCTV footage, Fatt Kee Roast Fish said the customer was merely dining in a group of six.
The customer also claimed that he was ordered to pay RM210 per pax — or RM1,260 in total if it is calculated based on a group of six — even though the bill only added up to RM659.42.
He said the restaurant served up a “big lobster” and that it caused them to “jump up and [reject] them”.
Several comments also show his followers calling him “Datuk”, while in others, the customer says he already lodged a police report over the matter.
To protect their business from the attack, Fatt Kee Roast Fish’s owner lodged a counter police report to serve as official documentation
In an update published yesterday, 14 December, the restaurant thanked netizens for the support as their business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic — and now, they have to deal with a lawsuit.
“After negotiating over a phone call, a consensus could not be reached. The Datuk did not admit any wrongdoing and said the matter will be dealt with through legal channels,” Fatt Kee Roast Fish said.
“I will have to continue fighting to sustain the livelihood of my family and pay for legal fees. Your patronage is our best support.”
On Fatt Kee Roast Fish’s Facebook page, the business received an outpouring of support from netizens
The first Facebook post highlighting the incident went viral with over 4,100 shares.
Among the 1,700 comments, a few netizens shared photos showing the customer dressed in a shirt bearing a political party’s logo.
Some joked that the customer looks like China President Xi Jinping.
“Fatt Kee Roast Fish, go! Don’t easily let this scum get off the hook. If you win the lawsuit, remember to give your patrons a 20% discount for supporting you,” said a person.
Another comment added, “If you can’t afford it, don’t eat it. You want to protect your reputation, so you say the restaurant is dishonest. You’re a scammer. There is CCTV evidence showing you ordering (the item). Furthermore, you are a ‘Datuk’. Boo!”
SAYS reached out to the restaurant for a comment, but they refused to divulge further, explaining that the case is currently being handled by their lawyers.
The customer who lodged a police report over the restaurant did not immediately respond to SAYS’ request for comment as well.
Read Fatt Kee Roast Fish’s full post here.