Save yourself a fortune with Hong Kong shopping tips

To call this page "Hong Kong shopping tips" may be an understatement.

In fact, this is called "The Shopping Tips to save you a lifetime Fortune". Yes, it is THAT important. First, take a look at the Chinese restaurant shown in the picture below:

This is a franchised chained restaurant with 3 to 4 different locations in Hong Kong.

Side topic:
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Although all bear the same name, the quality of food does vary. You should visit the one located on 3/F Dragon Centre (near Cheung Sha Wan MTR Station).

I used to think highly of this restaurant despite its poor décor because the food is tasty, fairly priced and the service is acceptable.

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My friend and I went to that restaurant to enjoy an afternoon delight and everything went nicely, until we checked out.

As usual, we approached the counter and asked to settle the bill. The cashier “skillfully” did her numbers-crunch, then confidently replied “HKD68” (around USD10). One thing caught my eyes - a baby pink Hello Kitty calculator, with which the cashier did the number punching and caused my suspicion.

I asked how she came up with that sum of HKD68. She started to mumble the price of the dishes. “$10 $28, $12, $8 ...” and she counted four dishes, and the total did not add up to $68.

Confirmed that she has definitely miscalculated, both in number of dishes and the sum, I showed my displeasure.

“We ordered three dishes, why you have counted four items?” She fiddled aimlessly with the calculator for another 5 seconds and I could not but to do the calculation myself.

I did the simple addition and came up with the correct total in 5 seconds.

The difference was not a huge sum but the miscount of an extra dish (please remember, there were only three items on the bill) and her authoritative attitude on her careless calculation really got on my nerve.

The meal should cost only HKD58. The cashier, now quite embarrassed, apologized and of course, I said, “It is okay.” I sincerely hope she will learn from this mistake.

Previously, I never bother to double-check the bill because I thought it was not a lot of money involved and do not have the habit of checking bills. This is the first time I realized how wrong I have been all along. I really should, for the benefit of both parties concerned, check before I pay!

Lesson learnt:

Wherever you shop or pay. Hong Kong or elsewhere, you should always check your bill before forking out your hard-earned money.

P.S. This is especially true when the cashier is using a funny-looking calculator. ;)

P.P.S. If you want more shopping tips from me, please subscribe to my URHK monthly e-newsletter below.