Members of the rowing club of HKUST (left) ordered 40 dishes and 154 bowls of rice but initially complained online they were overcharged. Photo: Facebook
A group of students who complained online they were overcharged at a dai pai dong in Sha Tin has admitted not having asked the prices of the super-sized dishes when ordering them.
Members of the rowing club at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who were charged HK$9,600 for a meal for about 40 of them issued a statement on Facebook Monday that they made a mistake in not asking the exact prices when the waiter proposed upsizing the dishes they ordered because of the party’s size.
The students said they felt it “hard to understand” why the waiter did not explain clearly the extra charges for the mega dishes.
They did not apologize to the restaurant but said they will not make further comments about the case.
The incident went viral online after members of the student group uploaded a copy of the bill and criticized the restaurant’s operator for overcharging.
While some netizens criticized the restaurant for cheating, others said the students were careless.
Some said the price the restaurant charged was reasonable, at about HK$213 per person, as the group consumed 40 dishes and 154 bowls of rice.
In the statement released Monday, the students said they were asked to pay a bill of HK$10,036 after having a meal of 10 different dishes at the restaurant. They said the prices of four of the dishes were tripled, and the prices of five were doubled.
They said they had complained about the unreasonable charges immediately after getting the bill and were offered only a HK$436 discount.
The statement was an attempt to give the public a more comprehensive picture of the incident and admit the misunderstanding.
A spokesman for the restaurant surnamed Cheung said it had no further comments, Headline Daily reported.
[HKUST Rowing Club's Facebook account]
What a dai pai dong meal might cost if you’re careless (July 8, 2015)
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