Battle btw Chris' Tea House & unhappy customer boils over
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lol, must be capital ED. otherwise bo pakay (not valid)
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autumnbronze:
Been meaning to try out the place. But but but dunno where to lark leh .... :?
Dang it, the iPad ...... :slapshead:
Should be park not lark :oops: -
Sounds to me like a atas neighbourhood tea house..with loads of house rules..
There are so many other glam places to sip your tea and relac...and enjoy at convienient locations
Looks like a cramped terrace with too many sofa sets around...
Juz my 0.02
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auntieM:
auntieM,Sounds to me like a atas neighbourhood tea house..with loads of house rules..
There are so many other glam places to sip your tea and relac...and enjoy at convienient locations
Looks like a cramped terrace with too many sofa sets around...
Juz my 0.02
You recee the place already issit
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autumnbronze:
No leh, but friend who did didn't like it.. .. :oops:
auntieM,auntieM:
Sounds to me like a atas neighbourhood tea house..with loads of house rules..
There are so many other glam places to sip your tea and relac...and enjoy at convienient locations
Looks like a cramped terrace with too many sofa sets around...
Juz my 0.02
You recee the place already issit
Try googling, there are quite a number of photos of this Tea House.. ..
Now lah-gee don't dare visit.. ...not high classED enough de... :razz: -
what a storm in a tea cup
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Waa dis place sounds so atas. I li....ike.
Who's d owner? Anybody from high society I may know?
I must go visit sometime with my horse-drawn carriage n wearing my top hat.
AB, u don't know where to park?
Ple...ase lah! u mountain tortoise. They hv hitching posts for horses only.
Do they also hv scoop n pan for my horseshit? :rotflmao: :rotflmao: -
Daughter of Chris' Tea House owner apologises for \"cheapskate\" remark .
SoShiok.com | Tue Nov 1 2011
The daughter of a tea house owner, who called a complaining customer a \"cheapskate\", has apologised to him online.
Sasha, a polytechnic student, had questioned customer Kenneth Lee's right to be so demanding when he had spent only a small amount at her mother's 'high-class' cafe.
The student realised she had been too quick in her reply to Mr Lee who posted feedback on his dining experience at Chris' Tea House.
The poor girl faced a torrent of online protests against her \"condescending attitude\" toward Mr Lee.
While many netizens called for a boycott of Chris' Tea House, the cafe also had its supporters, who blamed Mr Lee and his group of eight for making unreasonable requests for sitting in pairs at different tables and their carelessness for breaking an iced lemon tea glass when the table wasn't crowded with crockery.
Despite Sasha's apology, attacks against her continued to escalate. So her mum, Mrs Christina Lim (in photo above), decided to step into the limelight on Facebook to explain the whole situation and how she ran her tea house at Upper Paya Lebar Road.
She told SoShiok.com she was hoping for a closure of the issue as the online attacks posted on several sites had became nasty, traumatising her daughter as well as her son, both of whom are students.
She said Sasha had used the \"wrong words\" in the heat of the moment when replying to Mr Lee's online complaint about his unhappy experience at their cafe.
Sasha had called him a \"cheapskate\" because he ordered the cheapest drink on the menu and yet had the cheek to criticise the practices of the tea house, which Sasha had proclaimed as \"high-classed\" in her post.
Mrs Lim told SoShiok.com her daughter might have been overzealous as she had seen the tremendous amount of work and money Mrs Lim had poured into a personal project to create a distinctive tea house in Singapore and had also felt it unfair that her kindness in sharing her love of tea rituals in an English-style setting with other Singaporeans was not appreciated by some.
While Sasha was genuinely apologetic to Mr Lee, she didn't hide her disappointment with her attackers, who had made disparaging remarks even though they were not involved in the case or had the full facts.
Mrs Lim has appealed to their detractors to be compassionate and not force a business to close down.
Here are snippets culled from her post in Facebook on October 31 but most of the information on her cafe was removed subsequently:
*****
Sasha might have used wrong words which Kenneth Lee had taken too personally
Good day everyone, Firstly, I didn’t expect so much fuss over this issue as I do not have time to read such chitchat forums until people around me started to ask me what’s happening.
My sister was kind enough to help me set up this Facebook account and I wrote the descriptions after receiving complaints about not allowing kids to enter. That’s all I did on so-called internet chit-chat platform.
I didn't have any intention to explain myself as you can’t impose your thoughts on anyone. In this instance, it is the way Sasha has expressed herself and she might have used the wrong words.
She was trying to clarify matters with Kenneth but this K guy took it too personally. So, even if I had written in to clarify, there would still be some who disagree with me. As for those who wanted to boycott the place, it is fine with me as I prefer to have only a handful of appreciative customers.
In a way, I should thank this K guy for creating such a buzz for my cafe. I am lucky that this is not my “bread-and-butter” business as this K guy, and others who supported him, would have thought of giving the cafe a bad image. I always believe in ‘Karma’.
On whether her tea house was high class or otherwise
“High class” is for people to gauge and not for me to say it. I guess my dear daughter thinks very highly of her mum and I'm glad to know this. I was initially angry with Kenneth’s request and the damage the group has caused.
However, subsequently, I did not think about it as I take it as part and parcel of the F&B business. Setting up this cafe was a passion and also to appreciate tea and the Victorian art decorations.
It was more for my enjoyment and since the place was being set up, I thought why not open to public to enjoy the ambience as well. I know there are other places like MBS or the 5-6-stars hotels but there is a higher price to pay for.
Moreover, people may like to get out of the bustle in town and settle for the suburban area instead. Customers always think they are right because they are paying for the products/services. However, if one is gracious and considerate, one will be treated the same manner by others.
Even at FairPrice outlets, they have indicated that customers are important to them, and so are their staff. We can never please everyone and just like Mr Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP. They have done so much but not everyone is contented and happy with them.
(Mrs Lim told SoShiok.com: I bought this property initially for investment. I spent more than $800K putting in the concrete roman pillars on the facade, high quality wooden window and door frames, together with most of the imported furniture and furnishings. Most of the stuff are imported from London or USA. The crockery can range from more than $25 a piece to over $1,000 for a set)
I'd rather keep the business for own use than deal with inconsiderate customers
This business is not making money and since it is something that I supposed to enjoy doing, it doesn’t matter much. However, if having to deal with inconsiderate customers, I might want keep the cafe for my own use and spend more money on charities instead.
Come to think about this, I am being foolish wanting to share this beautiful set-up with anyone else. After reading today’s Straits Times on PM’s comments regarding Qantas: “When the management could not resolve the issue with unions, they took the “drastic step” of grounding flights”.
Is this a signal for me to just keep the cafe for my own use only!
(Mrs Lim told SoShiok.com: I would say business is acceptable though not making the kind of money that I could get from working in big organization. Busy days are irregular as we can be busy on weekdays too. Saturdays are always busy. I have customers from all over Singapore with locals and foreigners patronizing the cafe. Majority - about 75 per cent - are very well-behaved and some even come on a weekly or monthly basis.)
The Kenneth Lee incident
Here is the story behind this whole saga: The K guy’s group made reservations for 8 and I personally arranged the 8-seating as my “biggest” seating in the cafe is only for 6. There were 3 tables and 8 chairs (4 fabric armchairs + 4 cushioned chairs) arranged for them.
However, 2 guys came to the counter and asked for 2-by-2 seating. I have always wanted to reject big groups as the cafe is small and it is just not conducive to cater to them.
On top of that, I have only 7-table seating and this means they are asking to occupy more than half the cafe? I find the request ridiculous and they could see for themselves the size of the cafe and the seats available.
After that, the 8 people sort of “separate” off with some standing and talking to one another. This is really odd for a group to come together but not mingling together.
If they had wanted separate discussion groups, they should have gone to bigger restaurants/cafes which could cater to their needs.
Initially, they ordered the berry tea for most of them and cake set. However, I was out of the berry ice and so told the service staff to inform them. They were unhappy and changed their order to ice lemon tea and a pot of hot tea.
K’s group could see that I was the one cleaning the mess. I basically had to “sock” several blotched patches in bleach, scrubbed with Cif and do so again the next day.
(Mrs Lim told SoShiok.com that she put in extra effort in making the iced lemon tea. The brew used English Breakfast tea and Assam tea and ice pieces were made with Assam tea and lemon juices: I even used branded perfumed shower gel to clean the armchairs so that it will be clean and “pleasant” smelling.)
On her food
I am not an experienced chef nor do I employ one. So, I have always mentioned that I do not really offer special food but unique ambience. However, I do have comments from people that the food was “good”. I guess it is personal tastes that matters. Just like one “Jaime” who wrote that my food was “average”.
(SoShiok.com finds her pricing reasonable despite the cosy elegant decor, fine porcelain and furnishings. A pot of hot tea costs $7.90 per pot (enough for one), while a pot for two is priced at $10.90. A scone costs $3.80, which might seem expensive but this is served with jam and real Devonshire cream. Those who order savoury food items get a 5 percent off for tea orders. Her beef ball or shrimp potato gratin is only $4.90 while the baked rice with chicken or mushroom costs $6.50. The scones are popular, so reserve them when making a reservation.)
Final note to online attackers
I would think it is better for people not to jump onto the “bandwagon” and start criticising without finding the truth. This can kill, if not damage. However, I always like to take things in positive light and this has definitely helped me see how cruel words/thoughts could be.
There are so many catastrophic situations around us and we should be spending our time more meaningful than trying to “close” down someone’s business. Have a Heart and be compassionate!
With kind regards to all, Christina Lim Chris' Tea House
PS: Pardon me if there is any grammar or typo errors. NO one is PERFECT! -
high class-ed... another local-made lingo..
reminds me of done-ed, gone-ed, finished-ed, died-ed -
she used "this k guy" to refer to the customer, hm…
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