Shabu shop hits back with defamation threat against complaining customer

[webfact]

Daily News Thai Caption: Case in the offing

 

Daily News reported on the latest drama unfolding online concerning a case at a Shabu restaurant.

 

The customer and his party were fined 1,000 baht because they didn't eat up all their food.

 

They complained the meat was gristly.

 

The shop weighed it and found there was enough weight of meat to warrant the fine.

 

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A social media firestorm erupted with both sides getting support.

 

But now the owner of the shop said on Daw Thunyawan (Facebook) that the staff were well within their rights to do what they did.

 

The customer had repeatedly ordered food and was fined 50 baht for every 100 grams of meat they did not consume. 

 

She said that the store would be exploring legal avenues against the customer for posting allegedly defamatory comments online causing a loss of reputation. 

 

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[DezLez]

Not a "Shabu" restaurant but more like a "Shabby" restaurant!

[JoePai]

Sorry I do not understand - did they not pay for the food ?

[Denim]

Having seen greedy people in these places , piling their plates with ridiculous amounts of food then walking away with a lot of it uneaten , I actually sympathize  with the restaurant. 

[keith101]

How the hell can a restaurant get away with fining customers for not eating food they did not like . They would be told where to go if anyone tried to fine me .

[tonray]

When will they start with these fines at "alll you can eat" buffets ?

[Will B Good]

2 minutes ago, JoePai said:

Sorry I do not understand - did they not pay for the food ?

Wife just explained......it was an all you can eat buffet.

 

The morons pile all the food up on their plates, but don't or can't eat it all.....so it goes to waste....hence the fine.

 

Seems fair to me.

[Dmaxdan]

If this is one of those places where you help yourself to the raw ingredients and then you overload your plate and don't eat what you have taken, the restaurant has every right to fine you,

And those terms are probably in the small print,

Edited March 29, 2022 by Dmaxdan

[Ohyesuare]

2 minutes ago, tonray said:

When will they start with these fines at "alll you can eat" buffets ?

There pretty much has been for awhile now at most of them. Some you also have a time limit and if you order a ton and leave a bunch uneaten, they charge you.

[John Drake]

3 minutes ago, tonray said:

When will they start with these fines at "alll you can eat" buffets ?

They already do. But can't mention the name, because don't want to get sued for defamation.

[chuang]

6 minutes ago, tonray said:

When will they start with these fines at "alll you can eat" buffets ?

Most have already done it and with poster within the premises...

[Mr Meeseeks]

The policy of charging for wasted food is clear at all the shabu, moo ka ta and all you can eat BBQ places I have been to. 

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

The policy of charging for wasted food is clear at all the shabu, moo ka ta and all you can eat BBQ places I have been to. 

I wonder if they knew......but still tried to get out of the fine by claiming the meat was sub-standard......who would own restaurant?......nothing worse than having to interact with the general public.

[seajae]

all the ones I have been to are supposed to fine you if you leave a heap of un eaten food but none have as yet, while some shops do have below par food we usually just take small amounts first to check out the quality, you see many thais piling up plates of food then just leaving it when they realize it isnt that good. A lot of the problem is many of them dont want to have to keep walking back to get more, its the same reason they double park in front of shops etc, they do not like walking any further than they have to. The other reason is that often when something is nice it dissapears very quickly and you have to wait for a long time for it to be re supplied if at all, while we enjoy some of these shops you have to be picky with them, you quite often see them closed down when they do not have reasonable quality food too, it can be very cut throat depending on costs and budgets when they try to use low quality to make more profit while keeping prices as low as possible

Edited March 29, 2022 by seajae

[mtls2005]

24 minutes ago, webfact said:

The customer and his party were fined 1,000 baht

 

24 minutes ago, webfact said:

fined 50 baht for every 100 grams of meat they did not consume

 

Fully understand the policy, but a 1,000 baht surcharge indicates a 2 kg unconsumed amount. That seems like a lot.

 

Went to Mo-Mo Paradise last evening - first time. Thought that it was quite good.

 

Am always careful at buffet-style places, to consume all food ordered.

 

 

 

 

[kcpattaya]

Restaurant owner is in his full right here.
Once your order food or to take the from the conveyor-belt and it hits your table: 
You have to consume it, as spill gets wasted.
If you find the meats in the restaurant gristly, you should file a complaint. 
 

[ThailandRyan]

4 hours ago, JoePai said:

Sorry I do not understand - did they not pay for the food ?

It was probably a one price buffet style Shabu, like another famous Japanese shop that charges just 599 baht per person and you can order all you want.  The defamation laws in this country are just ridiculous.  If a person is found guilty of a charge in court I am surprised they do not file defamation charges against the DA who brought the charges and then the judge for the words used when they are convicted. 

[theoldgit]

3 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

......nothing worse than having to interact with the general public.

 

I don't think many restaurant staff appreciate being told that the food served is not up to a good standard, so their response would not be in their script.

 

We went to a restaurant in Phuket a couple of weeks ago, an international franchise which boasts American food along with rock music.

 

I ordered a steak, which cost a tad over 1,750 Baht, when the server came and asked if everything was ok, my response that it was probably the worst steak I'd ever been served, and held up the steak which was just fat and grissle, she looked like a rabbit stuck in a cars headlights, to lighten things I added that "the broccli was nice though", there was a big smile on her face and a "thank you", and off she went.

 

I do have some sympathy for restaurant when diners who overfill their plates at these sort or outlets, especially when they don't eat all they've taken, but I'm sure it's costed into the price they charge.

 

I don't believe that threatening to sue disgruntled diners for defamation is a particularly good business model.

[tingtong]

The restaurant may be right to do this,

 

But pointing out for the public that at the shop's  judgement alone you may be hit with a hefty fine?!...I don't see how this will get customers flocking in.

[ThailandRyan]

Just now, tingtong said:

The restaurant may be right to do this,

 

But pointing out for the public that at the shop's  judgement alone you may be hit with a hefty fine?!...I don't see how this will get customers flocking in.

They will flock...away from this particular shop unfortunately which is why they have made the threat to sue, just like the hotel down south that had the posters arrested....

[Will B Good]

2 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

 

I don't think many restaurant staff appreciate being told that the food served is not up to a good standard, so their response would not be in their script.

 

We went to a restaurant in Phuket a couple of weeks ago, an international franchise which boasts American food along with rock music.

 

I ordered a steak, which cost a tad over 1,750 Baht, when the server came and asked if everything was ok, my response that it was probably the worst steak I'd ever been served, and held up the steak which was just fat and grissle, she looked like a rabbit stuck in a cars headlights, to lighten things I added that "the broccli was nice though", there was a big smile on her face and a "thank you", and off she went.

 

I do have some sympathy for restaurant when diners who overfill their plates at these sort or outlets, especially when they don't eat all they've taken, but I'm sure it's costed into the price they charge.

 

I don't believe that threatening to sue disgruntled diners for defamation is a particularly good business model.

Last sentence .....agree...it publicizes the whole issue to the nation.....but defamation seems to be the 'go to' here.

[JoePai]

50 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Wife just explained......it was an all you can eat buffet.

 

The morons pile all the food up on their plates, but don't or can't eat it all.....so it goes to waste....hence the fine.

 

Seems fair to me.

Now understand thank you - and I agree, fine them

[mania]

58 minutes ago, webfact said:

The customer and his party were fined 1,000 baht because they didn't eat up all their food.

The thing I do not understand is,  If they had eaten it all no fine?

So if that is the case who cares that they didn't eat if after piling it on it tasted bad?

 

Either way should end the same,

In the customers stomach or in the trash what is the difference if the price was set at all you can eat

Otherwise they need to weigh every uneaten portion & fine every customer that didn't eat all

[mtls2005]

1 minute ago, mania said:

The thing I do not understand is,  If they had eaten it all no fine?

Correct, assuming they also finished within the published time limit. I think you understand.

 

2 minutes ago, mania said:

So if that is the case who cares that they didn't eat if after piling it on it tasted bad?

The policy is meant to minimize over-ordering and waste.

 

IMO, staff need to keep customers informed on policies, at entry, first order, subsequent orders. ANd even exercise some 'portion' control on big orders close to the end of the time period. It's all about communications and understanding.

 

4 minutes ago, mania said:

In the customers stomach or in the trash what is the difference if the price was set at all you can eat

Yeah, you kind of answered your own question.

[NanLaew]

52 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

The policy of charging for wasted food is clear at all the shabu, moo ka ta and all you can eat BBQ places I have been to. 

And that folks, is why we bring the portly sister-in-law along to 'clean up'. She has absolutely no shame in asking, "You gonna eat all that?" while you're still picking away at it.

[RafPinto]

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

They already do. But can't mention the name, because don't want to get sued for defamation.

What's the name again?

I just don't want to take the risk, going there.

[NanLaew]

28 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

They will flock...away from this particular shop unfortunately which is why they have made the threat to sue, just like the hotel down south that had the posters arrested....

That "hotel down south" had a valid case IMHO. The complainant was totally disingenuous and went way off-topic on his TripAdvisor 'review' and deserved the spanking.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, keith101 said:

How the hell can a restaurant get away with fining customers for not eating food they did not like . They would be told where to go if anyone tried to fine me .

Maybe you don't understand the concept of these kinds of restaurants.

Sometimes you have a fixed price and you can order and eat as much as you want.

If you order 10 plates and eat 10 plates that is fine.

If you order 5 plates and eat 4.5 of them that is also fine.

But if you order 10 and then you eat only 5 then that is not fine.

 

And I think that makes a lot of sense. If you are not sure how much you want to eat then order 1 or 2 plates. And if you like it then order more, and if you still want to eat more than order more and eat more.

But if you order 10 plates and then don't eat most of it then you, the customer, are wrong. Why should all the other customers pay more for the few customers who are just a$#$holes?

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, tonray said:

When will they start with these fines at "alll you can eat" buffets ?

As far as I know at least some of them have conditions in their fine print.

And/or they don't allow some guest to return.

I.e. I know about a manager who banned a guest because she was one of those people who eat a lot, then vomit and eat a lot again. No, you are not welcome anymore! 

[ThailandRyan]

15 minutes ago, mania said:

The thing I do not understand is,  If they had eaten it all no fine?

So if that is the case who cares that they didn't eat if after piling it on it tasted bad?

 

Either way should end the same,

In the customers stomach or in the trash what is the difference if the price was set at all you can eat

Otherwise they need to weigh every uneaten portion & fine every customer that didn't eat all

No if they did not eat it, it was a waste of food that another customer or customers could have consumed had they not tried to be gluttons, and ordered to much, hence you pay for it.  Wastefulness is how I see it.