After a customer overpaid a whopping 100 times more for his dinner, one righteous hawker took to social media in an attempt to track down the person to return the money.
In a Facebook post shared last Saturday (Jan 28), Khine Zar Lin of Xiao Mei Ban Mian said that a customer had paid $450 for his bowl of mee hoon kueh soup using PayLah.
The bowl of noodles at the stall along Woodlands Drive 50 was priced at $4.50, according to the 34-year-old stall owner.
Describing how the customer was an elderly man who does not frequent the stall, Khine said: “We don’t know how to reach him and are worried he may not even know he made that mistake.
“Please spread the news and hope he realises and get back the money.”
Speaking to AsiaOne on Tuesday (Jan 31), Khine said that she has transferred $445 to Nets, who will then contact DBS to refund that amount to the customer.
The process to do so has not been easy, she shared, while noting the paperwork that she had submitted to Nets.
PHOTO: Khine Car Lin
In the comments of the Facebook post, several netizens praised Khine for her integrity.
“Blessings for doing the right thing,” a netizen said.
PHOTO: Screengrab/Facebook/Xiao Mei Ban Mian
On the love she’s getting on social media, Khine told AsiaOne that she felt compelled to return the money since the customer was about the same age as her dad.
The hawker said: “He only just learnt to use PayLah, but he doesn’t know how to check his transactions on whether he paid the correct amount.
“If the customer is not tech savvy, he might not even know how his money was missing. So, I’ll just do my part and refund the money.”
In a Facebook post shared on Tuesday (Jan 31), Khin said that she had successfully settled the refund.
Posing with the customer for a photo, the hawker said: “Finally, it’s a wrap. Now uncle has received the balance of $445.50.”
Other kind-hearted hawkers
In other incidents of kind-hearted hawkers recently, a Malay stall owner in Circuit Road recently gave out free coffee and tea to their customers on the second day of Chinese New Year (Jan 23).
They had previously done the same last year, AsiaOne reported then.
“This is true kampung spirit in this old neighbourhood,” a netizen wrote in a Facebook post.
And in November last year, a laksa stall owner arranged for 100 elderly folks to come down to his stall for a free meal on two separate occasions.
Taking to Facebook then, Charlie Soh shared that a customer had paid for the food on his birthday.
“Looking forward to more of this events with your continued support,” he said.
