PUBLISHED ONAugust 25, 2026 3:52 AMBYKoh Xing YingA customer who mistakenly paid $650 for a $6.50 meal at a Telok Blangah hawker stall was refunded the overpayment back nearly a month later, after returning to the stall.
Sharing the incident in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Aug 19), the customer said they had accidentally keyed in the wrong amount and only realised the mistake about a month later, after returning from overseas.
"Turns out, Vincent (the stall owner) had even gone to the bank to report the overpayment. So grateful for his honesty and I was able to get back the excess," said the customer.
According to an image shared in the post, the incident occurred at a lor mee stall at a coffee shop at Block 109 Bukit Purmei Road.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the 48-year-old stall owner, Vincent See, said he recalled a customer visiting the stall one day in July to buy a takeaway bowl of braised noodles.
He added that the customer had scanned the payment code before leaving.
Later that day, while checking the stall's accounts, See noticed that $650 had been transferred to the stall's account. As a bowl of noodles cost $6.50, he realised that the customer had likely made a mistake.
However, with many customers visiting the stall that day, See said he was unable to identify who had made the payment and had no way of contacting the customer.
As the amount was substantial, See told the Chinese daily that he had also informed the bank about the overpayment, should the customer contact the bank to report the incorrect transaction.
After three to four weeks, the customer returned to the coffee shop and approached See, hoping that he could still recover the money he had overpaid.
See subsequently refunded the customer $643.50, after deducting the $6.50 cost of the noodles.
AsiaOne has reached out to the customer for more information.
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xingying.koh@asiaone.com
