5 Things Malaysian Restaurants Do That Make No Sense
Some things Malaysian restaurants do that are weird and unfair.
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Have you ever wondered about certain restaurant practices that make no sense? Well you aren’t alone.
Here are some examples that can be quite the head scratcher:
1. Charging Packaging Fee for Takeaway when You Brought Your Own Tupperware.
A charge for taking food home makes sense right? You are paying for the packaging so you can carry your food home. It seems only fair to cover that charge with a slight fee.
However, many Malaysians choose to bring their own containers, which means, logically, a packaging fee should be omitted from the charges.
But that’s not what happened to this Twitter user @guttapercha80.
The restaurant charges RM0.50 for packaging.
— GP size 80 (@guttapercha80) December 12, 2024
So I brought my own Tupperware and thermoflask for the soup.
They still charged me RM0.50. Reason being: You’re ordering takeaway.
How do I lodge a complaint and which gov department should I approach?
这种贪图小利的商家 🖕🏻
This man was charged 50 cents for packaging despite having brought his own container.
2. Charging a Service Tax on top off SST for Bare Minimum Service
There’s an understandable service tax in most high-end restaurants. Servers bring you your food, they take your orders, and generally make your eating experience as pleasurable as possible.
The waiters treat every request with a sense of grace and patience.
However, at a place where customers do most of the work, why would there be an additional service tax?
For example, many restaurants today use a QR code to order from their phones. after that, you either pick up your food at the counter or it is sent via a robot server. What additional service is there, one might wonder.
As more and more restaurants are using robot servers, the comfort of human interaction is taken away. Leaving the bare minimum of social interaction between customer and server. Which leads to the question “Does the bare minimum warrant an additional service tax?”
The misleading prices after the additional service taxes should be advertised in the menus instead of hiding the extra costs as stated by the Consumers’ Association of Penang.
3. Packaging Fee for Orders through Delivery but none for Takeaway
With delivery orders being at an all time high during the pandemic period, the trend has continued today.
Instead of having to drive out and go through the hassle of parking and getting food to go the traditional way, ordering delivery makes everything so much more convenient.
But what does not make sense is the extra charge for packaging in your delivery order when there is no extra charge when you go get takeaway from the restaurant directly.
Even though the packaging is the same, why is there an additional fee for it through delivery apps?
4. Only Providing One Form Of Payment
While technology is at the forefront of evolution, going digital seems to be the only logical step. While cashless payment may be convenient to the youth. Is it ethical for older generations?
With many restaurants only accepting digital payment through QR codes, Apple Pay, or Touch N Go Pay (TnG), the absence of a cash payment option may prove difficult for some patrons.
For example, older people that do not have a grasp on digital payment schemes would have trouble settling their dine-in bills.
Restaurants should offer all types of payment forms. Whether it’s through digital payment, credit or debit cards and cash payment. Not having any one of these payment forms creates a slight sense of inconvenience for customers.
5. Drowning Food in Sauces
The idea of having a Ramly burger that’s drowned in sauce or having pools of curry on your roti banjir is divine right? But why do we do it?
A weird culture of having more sauce than food has been cultivated.
And while it is exquisite, the health risks behind each plate may be a little questionable. Is it really worth it to have that much sauce on every dish? At some point, the food becomes a side dish to the sauce.
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