When it comes to travelling the world, I dedicate a large portion of my budget to food. But, unfortunately for this tourist, a single meal blew their budget by so much that she called the cops.
According to the New York Post, Japanese tourist Junko Shinba was left shooketh to the core after she was charged more than $1K for a crab dish in Singapore.
Speaking to a local media outlet, AsianOne, Shinba claimed she visited the Seafood Paradise restaurant with a sightseeing group. During their visit, she ordered the restaurant’s signature Alaskan King Chilli Crab Dish after it was recommended by a waiter.
She claimed that she was told the dish would set her back SGD $30 (AUD$34) but apparently, the price was $30 “per 100 grams”.
The group of tourists ended up ordering the dish, nabbing a crab that weighed 3500 grams. The dish ended up costing SGD$938, which is a little over $1k in Aussie dollars.
That’s like one Playstation 5 with extra dosh for a secondhand game.
“We all became speechless knowing that one dinner for four adults cost that much,” Shinba said, per the publication.
“None of us were informed that the whole crab would be cooked only for us, as some other restaurants serve crabs partially.”
Bamboozled by the crabby price, Shinba asked the waitress to call the police. She also complained that there were heaps of leftovers from the crab, at least three plates extra. When the authorities arrived on the scene, the employee reportedly showed Shinba another customer’s receipt who ordered the same thing as proof that they didn’t rip off her group.
Speaking to AsiaOne, a spokesperson from the company that owns Seafood Paradise claims the crab cost SGD $26.870 per 100 grams and that the employee had “clearly communicated” the price to the tourist.
“To prevent any miscommunication, the staff even brought the whole Alaskan King crab to the table before preparation,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also claimed the group requested for the crab to be cooked three different ways, hence why there were heaps of leftovers and a variety of dishes on the table.
Things were eventually settled when the restaurant’s manager offered the group an SGD $107.40 discount. Despite the discount, Shinba told AsianOne that she contacted the Singapore Tourism Board who reportedly brought the matter to the Consumer Association of Singapore.
Since the story broke the headlines, Paradise Group released a public statement on its official Facebook alongside CCTV footage of the customers.
“We are deeply upset by the inaccurate claims made by this group of customers, seemingly aimed at tarnishing the reputation of our restaurant and our dedicated staff on various platforms,” it said.
The company then retold their side of how everything unfolded and explained why it chose to speak out on the social media platform.
“At Seafood Paradise and all other Paradise Group of restaurants, we consistently uphold a commitment to transparent pricing with a focus on customer service and food quality,” it continued.
“As much as we value all our customers, we also find it important to uphold Paradise Group’s reputation and protect all our employees. Hence, we are left with no choice but to showcase photos extracted from our CCTV footages to substantiate our statement.”
There hasn’t been any update from the Consumer Association of Singapore, but it’ll be interesting to see how this pans out.
Image source: Facebook / Paradise Group
