KUALA LUMPUR – Police will be opening investigations into a McDonald’s Malaysia customer who allegedly intimidated a 19-year-old female staff member when requesting additional chilli sauce packets in Ayer Keroh, Melaka.
Melaka Tengah police chief Christopher Patit said the customer is being investigated under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation, following a police report lodged by the employee who claimed that she feared for her safety when the man recorded the incident.
“Initial investigations showed that there are several versions of the story. The first is the man’s version where he claimed he was charged for extra packets of chilli sauce when he had already purchased food at the restaurant.
“The staff, however, claimed that she was forced by the man to sell him 10 packets of chilli sauce, even though she had explained that the sale of the sauce was not allowed since it’s provided for free,” Christopher was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.
Christopher added that no injuries or losses were reported from the incident, which occurred on September 22 between 10pm and 11pm at the McDonald’s outlet in Taman Buaya.
He also said that the staff member who lodged the police report has been called to provide her statement at the Melaka Tengah police headquarters, while the customer is still being tracked down to help with the investigations.
He also said that following a police report to the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry’s enforcement division, a compound was issued against Gerbang Alaf Sdn Bh (McDonald’s Malaysia) for failing to display price tags on chilli sauce packets at the premises.
Yesterday, the fast-food chain clarified details on the incident, claiming that the customer who had taken to social media to lament the supposedly high prices of its chilli sauce had actually “aggressively” demanded to pay for the items.
McDonald’s added that the customer had become “extremely irate and verbally aggressive” towards its staff when additional chilli sauce packets were provided upon his request.
The customer, it said, had “angrily insisted” on paying for an additional 10 chilli sauce packets and urged staff members to issue a receipt for the purchase – despite its crew’s attempt to clarify that chilli sauce is provided free of charge.
On September 22, a user known as Saiful Adly Abd Wahab had posted on his Facebook page his disbelief over being charged RM10.60 for 10 packets of McDonald’s chilli sauce.
In the post, Saiful criticised the fast-food chain for supposedly charging customers exorbitant prices at a time when prices of goods are rising. – September 27, 2023.