For small food businesses, every order comes with a cost, not just in ingredients, but also in preparation time, manpower and effort.
So what happens when a customer places an order, pays for it, but simply forgets to come and collect it?
According to 新山蚝煎 JB Fried Oyster, recently shared the frustration that comes with exactly this situation, saying that running a small food business can sometimes leave them feeling helpless.
According to the hawker, a customer had ordered an oyster omelette, paid for it and had the food prepared.
However, the customer did not turn up to collect the order.
The food was eventually left unclaimed.
For the hawker, the situation was not as simple as keeping the food aside until the customer remembered to come back.
Freshly prepared food cannot simply be kept overnight and handed to a customer the next day. Neither can the hawker be expected to keep the order for several days and prepare another portion later as a replacement.
Yet, according to the hawker, things became even more frustrating when customers asked for a refund or returned to the stall expecting the food to be replaced.
“We Are Not Trying to Be Unreasonable”
The hawker explained that refusing a refund can sometimes lead to another problem.
Instead of understanding the situation, some customers may leave negative reviews, including one-star ratings on Google, or accuse the business of being dishonest.
For a small stall, such reviews can be particularly damaging.
A single negative review may appear insignificant to a customer, but for a small business that depends heavily on word-of-mouth and online ratings, it can have a much bigger impact.
The hawker stressed that the business was not trying to be unreasonable or unwilling to show compassion.
Rather, every order represents real costs.
The ingredients have already been purchased. The food has already been prepared. Staff have already spent time preparing the order, and the stall has already set aside resources for the customer.
Once the customer fails to collect the food, those costs cannot simply disappear.
A Small Business Has Its Limits
The situation highlights a common dilemma faced by food vendors.
Customers may see a forgotten RM10, RM20 or RM30 order as a relatively small matter. But for a small business, repeated cases of uncollected orders, last-minute cancellations and refund requests can quickly add up.
At the same time, customers may also have genuine reasons for missing their collection time.
The challenge is finding a balance between understanding customers and protecting a small business from unnecessary losses.
The hawker therefore appealed to customers to give them at least one hour's notice if they know they will not be able to collect their food.
According to the stall's policy, cancellations made at least one hour before collection will be eligible for a refund.
However, cancellations made less than an hour before the collection time will not be refunded.
Would You Refund the Customer?
The incident has raised a simple but interesting question: If a customer paid for food but forgot to collect it, should the business still be responsible for giving the money back?
Some may argue that customers deserve understanding, especially if they have a genuine reason for missing the collection.
Others believe that once an order has been prepared specifically for a customer, the cost has already been incurred and the business should not be expected to absorb the loss.
Ultimately, the hawker's message is less about refusing to help customers and more about asking for mutual understanding.
Small businesses may not have the same financial cushion as large chains. Behind every order is someone who has spent money on ingredients, time preparing the food and effort keeping the business running.
For customers, remembering to collect an order or cancelling it early when something comes up may seem like a small responsibility.
For a small hawker, however, that small act of consideration can make a big difference.
So, if you were the hawker, would you give the customer a refund or would you stand by the one hour cancellation policy?
Jovy Jing (ndreagoh@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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