Disclaimer

This blog is made of independent bloggers who made the review at their own will. This blog is intended as a community service to promote food business in Brunei. Reviews are done at own will of the blogger and intended to create a forum for consumers to give their feedback. If any restaurant is sub standard to the the public expectation, it is up to respective restaurant owners to rectify the situation and not the responsibility of the blogger. The intention is to ensure consumers get value for money and restaurant owners have feedback for improvement.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Absolutely Shocking!

So I assume most of you have been trying out various places for your Sungkai during this Ramadhan month. I would assume too that some places are really disappointing, maybe the food wasn't nice, the place is over-crowded or maybe service was slow.

But have you ever been kicked out and then told the food that you've eaten "inda di halalkan" by the owners of the establishment which is proving the Sungkai buffet? Sounds a lil bit too much right? But sad to say its a true story.

Maybe its best that stories like this don't go out to the public, in the interest of not jeopardizing the business of the restaurant. But then again, it is even a bigger injustice if behaviors like this is not exposed to the public. We as the consumers have the right to be treated fairly, instead of being bullied. No matter how exclusive the restaurant is, it should always respect its customers at all time. So here

Originally posted here but since we also receive an email from the group of people who actually experienced this appalling ordeal, we will also repost it again here. So read on...

Disappointed!!!

We felt so disappointed and unsatisfied with one of the restaurants at Gadong. The story began like this; we booked the sungkai’s buffet for 14 persons ($9 / person),but there were only 10 of us that could attend the buffet. The tables that was accommodating the remaining four people were given off to other customers.

After we had our sungkai, we asked for the bill from the waiter but then we were so shocked to see that the total amount for our buffet was $126 when in fact we were actually supposed to pay only $90.

One of us went to the waiter asking for the explanation. The waiter said that we booked for 14 persons sowe had to pay the $126 but it wasn’t fair. The waiter again said that it was their policy to do such thing and it is their system to be like that!! Come on… isn’t that called RIBA?? Who knows Brunei had such a restaurant!! We just had to pay for what we had eaten, no more and no less!! It was also not fair that we had to pay for other customers.

The only reason why those customers who took our table did not stay and eat was because there was not enough food. Is that justice on our part? We gave up our table to other customers and yet we had to pay for the seatings because the restaurant did not have enough food for them. We just cannot find the logic in this whole situation.

The very disappointing thing was the owners of that restaurant. We already tried talking to them in a nice, POLITE and sensible manner “Minta maafkami ah….” and that was replied with; “Apa lagi masalah kamu ani…??? Besedakah bah bulan puasa ani, tu pun kamu inda mau bayar untuk 14 orang”.

We did not mind paying for the place IF we did not give the tables up but we did. They asked us why we wanted to pick a fight during this holy month but we weren’t the ones who raised our voices and started throwing tantrums first.

Then the other owner came to us and said to one of us who actually gave a complaint on our behalf, saying “Kanyang dah parut atu..ahh?? Haram tu yang kamu makan ahh.. kuar kamu dari sini!! Haram kamu masuk kadaiku lagi!!” That was it?? Is that how our Bruneian people are?? There was no sense of politeness at all. They did not even let us explain! They just came and started yelling at us! Mana budi bahasa atu..??

All that we wanted is the ‘why?’ but they threw us out of the place as if we were ANIMALS!! Moreover, the male owner of the restaurant is very sexist. He did not even bother about what our female friends were saying. His exact words were “Kamu perempuan nda tau papa..” How are we supposed to talk to these sorts of people? This is the fasting month and we just wanted to come to some sort of agreement and yet we were treated this way.

We assure you that your business would not be going far IF you do such thing to your own customers. Without customers, your business will go down. Don’t you think that they will spread these things about your attitude being that restaurant’s owner?? Think twice!! We would like to thank the securities that were there to help us get our point across to those hard-headed owners!

Banyak lagi restoran di Brunei ani yang nyaman-nyaman dan membayar untuk orang yang hadir saja, sebab makanannya untuk semua orang dan lebih mencukupi. Sekali kami kena haramkan masuk, seratus kali lagi kami haram kan datang ke restoran atu. Orang Brunei terkenal dengan budi bahasa dan sopan santunnya tapi kenapa orang Brunei yang punya restoran ani nada langsungkan besopan bahasa?


So I bet you're wondering which restaurant is this? Well originally posted here where some readers has correctly identify the name of the place, so we see no reason why we shouldn't mention the name of the establishment here. Besides, on this blog, we tell you the truth, be it a good or bad experience.

The place is Wecan Elite Restaurant, located at Unit 3 & 4, Ground Floor, Wisma Siti Hamidah, Abdul Razak Complex (behind Pizza Hut). It certainly doesn't live up to its name huh?

You can also go here & here to read some reactions to this incident.

/edit 04/10/07
Of course there is two sides of the story, so we would like to request that the management/owners of Wecan to tell us their version of the incident. Please simply email us at whatiate2day@gmail.com.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

They paid for what they eat for God sake! Apa lagi kena haramkan? I'm gonna link to this post as well.

Anonymous said...

actually u can sue that person & his restaurant

Shenun said...

atu baru ya kurg ajar. knapa nda dbaliki or balasi.."this is bulan pausa, bsedakah la! ani customer plg suruh bsedakah. n yet.. u pay 4 ten. n yet d owner can halalkn d other 4 yg YET nda bmakan. so fair n square.. ia sedakah 4 not wat been eaten, u pay 4 wat u ate.. eeii antah eii sekalur talur tuuu kadai ah..

Anonymous said...

ehem... thats how bruneians are. start from here to "have your say".

"membuka pekung didada"
"meludah kelangit kana mua sendiri"

typical... you must be polite to be respected. learn how to respect to be respected.

melayu ani ah.. suka banar kontreversi... especially with another malay... agatah.. macam tah nada benda lain yang boleh di inform.. yang ada membari pengtahuan. lau hal cam ani... nah aku di london pun tau ah. hhehe.. malu malu.. sama saja ah semua.

The Reluctant Chauvinist said...

That is very unreasonable on the part of the restaurant owners. Things like this cannot be tolerated not only in Brunei, but at any part of the world. It's just unfair. And we don't even expect charity - it's just legal business ethics. Kalau di Singapura ya, perkara sebegini akan terus dihadapkan ke mahkamah tuntutan... Sedih and geram ya?

Anonymous said...

wat about the other side of the story?um..i have ever eaten there before but so far never encounter such rude behaviors whatsoever?

Anonymous said...

Posted this link on my facebook :P
Thanks for the info..of all things, aku PALING banci SEXIST...RUDE people..especially kalau org atu org BRUNEI. Haram buat catu wang!! HARAM!!! :O

Anonymous said...

The staff/cooks at Wecan Restaurant feed/jaga aggressive dogs outside their restaurant. Dogs menace passersby as well as residents near that restaurant. Asked them why. They said not their dogs, but they give the dogs food every night-have proof. They do not tell truth but lie about not feeding them. Make neighborhood worse and turunkan nama restaurant dan sendiri. And keeping dogs halal-kah? eh?

Anonymous said...

What is wrong with feeding the poor dogs? Where is the charity in yourself? I am muslim myself and cannot stand the thought of those hungry dogs without food. I always feed the strays around my house area too. Just don't touch them. Do not be so narrow minded Anonymous.

Anonymous said...

Eat & pay.


The WYWY saga concludes - Public Poll

wywy2 wywy1

The respective press statements

More here.



Comments added via the 'Add my own option' by visitors to this blog;
- I only went to WyWy once and I think they are unreasonably over priced for a normal restaurant. Service sucked like hell. A little smile would have been better.
-I think they hv been victimised by someone who has some grudge against them!
-To close the matter for once and for all, we need another independent lab test to reconfirm.