Many businesses have resorted to finding new ways in order to compensate for rising operating costs across the board, in the wake of a weakened economy post-Covid 19 as well as predictions that the world may potentially inch closer to a recession. Where this is concerned, a number of kopitiam coffee shops in Penang have taken it upon themselves to implement a surcharge on customers who refuse to order any beverages when occupying a table, as indicated by a report by local newspaper The Star back in 2022.
Penang kopitiam allegedly shames elderly customers online
With that said, that is still not due cause for businesses to to name and shame their customers online if they choose to have their meal without a drink. Only, this rhetoric appears to have eluded Seng Thor kopitiam in Penang, who has recently caught the ire of netizens across social media after calling out some of their elderly patrons online who did not place a drink order when visiting their premises.
Taking to their own Facebook business page to call the patrons out, the kopitiam even went so far as to photograph them with little concern for the apparent invasion of privacy.
“You want to be famous? We’ll make you famous.
He already saw that our shop has a notice which states that despite our high sales, we only make small profits so customers are expected to at least order one drink. But he refused to order any, and said that he doesn’t mind what we plan to do to him. So we’ll help him get famous online, so that his family and friends can see his face.
To all other understanding customers who visit our kopitiam, we thank you for your business.”
“Due to small profit margins and limited seats in our kopitiam, we have stated on the walls that every customer must order a drink at the very minimum if they wish to occupy a seat. But this auntie refused to order a drink, and refused to pay the minimum RM0.50 surcharge, rubbish customer.
If she wants to get famous, we’ll make her famous.”
The images quicky led to an outpouring of criticism online against the business from netizens, many of whom felt that it was not only unnecessary, but incredibly disrespectful of them to resort to such a move over a disagreement with drink orders.
Met with fierce backlash online
According to local newspaper China Press, this led to the business operator removing the offending posts and apologised. But that wasn’t enough for most social media users, who continued to lambast their page, leading to the proprietor to temporarily disable it. In which case, netizens decided to then turn their attention to their Google Reviews by bombarding it with negative feedback, bringing the kopitam‘s ratings down to a measly 1.3 stars.
However, it appears that Google has since removed a bulk of the negative reviews that were uploaded over the course of the past day or so, and has brought the kopitiam’s rating back to 4.3 stars.
But public opinion of the kopitiam continues to remain negative, if the comments are anything to go by.
“We already apologised, what else do you want? If someone went to your store and insulted you, then apologised casually (I already apologised, what else do you want?), how would you feel? You shame the elderly man online like this and proceed to insult him. How would you feel if an elderly relative in your family was spoken to in this manner? Do you think the elderly have a lot of money? A lot can’t even read. It’s understandable that they may not understand your notice.”
“You coffee shop owners don’t talk nonsense. What do you mean small profits, high turnover? When a bag of sugar goes up by 20 cents, you charge an extra 20 cents per drink. Do you use an entire bag of sugar in every glass of drink? You people sell a glass of Chinese herbal tea for almost RM2, and all you need is to sell 5 glasses to compensate for your cost. Talk about small profits and high turnover!”
Subsequent reports by China Press and Sin Chew Daily, who both sent reporters to the kopitiam, indicate that business remains brisk in spite of public outcry. What’s more, the proprietor claims that he has already apologised to the elderly man who was implicated in their previous Facebook post, and adds that they will not be winding down their business over the matter.
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