'Just embarrassing': Kampong Glam bazaar food vendor under fire for 'passive-aggressive' responses to food review

This stall owner is cooking up more than just fries and hotdogs, and their comments have left some netizens quite outraged.

The stall owner of Kampong Glam bazaar store Frank On Wheels has come under fire after posting a couple of passive-aggressive comments on a customer's food review post, uploaded to TikTok last Monday (March 11).

The "brutally honest" post by customer and TikTok user Gunbuttock rated their food a one on a scale of 10, describing their Smokey Fries as "basic fries with cheese sauce".

"For $11.80, please don't bother wasting your money," Gunbuttock commented.

Additionally, he pointed out that the "smoke" that makes the fries "Smokey" is "just dry ice", with no actual smoking of food as part of the cooking process.

The video has since garnered over 599,000 views and more than 25,000 likes.

@gunbuttock Kampung Glam Ramadan Bazaar 2024! 🕌 🌙 ✨ #ramadan #sgfyp #sg #pasarmalam #sgfood #foodtiktok ♬ ♡ ᶫᵒᵛᵉᵧₒᵤ ♡ - SoBerBoi

Under the TikTok handle of AbayaByKhalishaSg, the purported stall owner complained about the rating, also finding fault in Gunbuttock calling their fries "basic".

"What do you mean by basic fries? So the fries you eat from hawkers are different?" The user questioned.

They added: "I can't [comprehend] you saying that the fries are basic - so all this while fries that you bought are imported and premium? I think you should reply my DM (direct message)."

Although they agreed that customers can be entitled to their own opinion, the user also griped that Gunbuttock never approached them first before making their review public

"We as sellers would appreciate if you could just come to us and tell us your opinion before posting on social media," they said, also suggesting that it would take more effort to make the post compared to just telling them about his experience.

'They're not obligated to keep it hush'

The vendor's complaints weren't kindly received, however - many users argued against the stall owner, accusing them of being "passive aggressive".

"[Gunbuttock] is doing a favour for the community, he doesn't have to let you know," said a user.

Gunbuttock himself also expressed disapproval at Frank On Wheels' response to his negative review, stating: "Criticism is a chance to reflect and be better. This, though, this is just embarrassing."

Another user stated: "Unprofessionalism at its finest, everyone is entitled to their own criticisms, they're not obligated to keep it hush when they're paying."

There were netizens who took a more balanced approach, however, saying that they "don't think the seller is wrong".

"I get why both sides are upset but I just feel like the seller has the right to be upset [as well] as he just wants the buyer to tell him what was wrong instead of posting first," said one.

'It can destroy businesses': Frank On Wheels

The owner of Frank On Wheels explained that they welcome customer feedback to improve the business where necessary, Today reported on Wednesday (March 20).

"Real, honest reviews are within the opinion of the reviewer. I have no issues with this," the owner stated.

"But as operators, we run a business. We invest in the business. We put in effort to serve our customers. People may not realise the impact of the hatred they created online behind faceless reviews. It can destroy businesses."

AsiaOne has reached out to Gunbuttock and Frank On Wheels for comment.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com