A mother’s account of being asked to pay $4.90 after her child accidentally touched a piece of cheesecake displayed on the shelf in a bakery has sparked debate online.
The incident was shared on Threads by user @Dinahnahnah, or Dinah, on Monday (July 20), and it reportedly took place at Paparch's Arab Street outlet, a local brand known for its Basque burnt cheesecakes.
Her Threads post has garnered more than 41,000 views in the past 24 hours.
According to Dinah, a mother of two, she was asked to pay $4.90 after one of her children accidentally touched a display cheesecake, damaging it.
But when she offered to buy it instead, staff told her that she cannot do so, leaving her confused.
In her exchange on Instagram with Paparch, screenshots of which were shared in her Threads post, Dinah suggested several improvements, including placing display cakes out of children's reach or covering them.
The screenshots also showed that Paparch offered to refund the $4.90 as a gesture of goodwill, but Dinah declined the offer, saying she wanted to take responsibility for her child's actions.
"We're truly sorry to hear about your experience, especially as it happened on your birthday," Paparch wrote.
"We would like to refund the $4.90 as a gesture of goodwill."
In the caption accompanying her post, Dinah said: "The issue isn't about the $4.90. That amount isn't even enough to buy a full meal in Singapore."
She said the focus should be on prevention, as she believed other children might also touch the display cake in future.
Some netizens criticised Paparch's lack of preventive measures.
"Even McDonald's does that for their Happy Meal gifts," one comment read, referring to the covered display sets used by the fast-food chain.
Another commenter said Paparch appeared to have missed the point, adding that offering a refund as a gesture of goodwill suggested the company "doesn't quite get it".
However, another commenter, who claims to be a food and beverage owner, said that children had previously opened his covered tea leaves display and made a mess, pushing back on comments that squarely place the onus on businesses.
AsiaOne has reached out to Dinah and Paparch for more information.
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helmy.saat@asiaone.com
