UPDATE (March 3, 2017 at 11.14am CST): Shenzhen's Price Supervision and Inspection Bureau released an update on the evening of March 2 stating that the restaurant has been fined RMB5,000 for not clearly stating its prices. Until the end of the month, the bureau will be inspecting other restaurants located in tourist areas and shopping centers for similar violations.
On the night of February 16, a man by the last name of Li treated his friends to dinner at a nice restaurant in Shenzhen’s OCT Harbour. What could possibly go wrong? A lot, as it turned out.
The party abruptly came to an end when the bill, totaling more than RMB8,000, arrived at the table. Two 'East China sea wild yellow croaker' fish the group had ordered made up more than half of the cost, with each fish retailing for about RMB2,300.
There was also a service charge of 15 percent, which in this case came close to RMB1,093.
A look at the bill, and the fish:
Unprepared croaker from the restaurant's kitchen
The incident took place at a restaurant called 1949 Hua Jia Li, inside an OCT Harbour shopping mall. While staff members insist Li was notified about the bill before it was time to pay, Li claims otherwise. According to him, the restaurant had no menus and he was told to directly consult waiters to order, with no chance to check prices.
"While ordering there was a dish that ran out, the waiter recommended East China Sea wild yellow croaker, but didn’t tell us the price, only when paying the bill were we told one yellow croaker was more than two thousand [yuan]."
After receiving the bill, Li was able to negotiate for a 5 percent discount from the restaurant. But he remained unsatisfied. On February 28, he filed a complaint with the Shenzhen Consumer Council, which helped launch an investigation into the restaurant. By March 1, the case had been picked up by multiple Chinese news outlets.
Initial investigation confirmed that the restaurant didn't offer menus to its customers or list its prices publicly. That violates national regulations that say pricing must be clearly stated. However, the Shenzhen Consumer Council did note that the meal wasn't a complete ripoff: the restaurant produced proof that the 'East China Sea wild yellow croaker' goes for around RMB1280 a jin (500g) on the market. The eatery was selling cooked croaker for RMB2280 per jin.
Compared to your average yellow croaker, which costs around RMB20-30 a jin at Guangdong wet markets, those prices are still exorbitant.
The Shenzhen Consumer Council stated that on March 1, the OCT Harbour restaurant was issued a warning and would be expected to list its prices clearly from now on. On the same day, authorities sent law enforcement to the restaurant again in order to collect evidence and continue the investigation.
[Images via Southern Metropolis Daily, Shenzhen Consumer Council]
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