Boycott Bee Cheng Hiang!
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There have been several cases of unhealthful products sold in China, perpetrated by unscrupulous manufacturers wanting to make a quick buck. It is commonly seen in the F&B industry. Food that is obviously unsafe for human consumption, some even containing banned substances, is sold anyway. I thought this would be limited to China, so imagine my disbelief when I found out that this is happening right here in Singapore! By a renowned local company, no less! If you’re a Chinese Singaporean, chances are your family would be buying bak kwa (pork jerky) this Chinese New Year. Bak kwa is a staple for the festive season, alongside mandarin oranges and “love letter” egg rolls. Bak kwa is most commonly found in the form of square slices. Of course, the original form of this barbecued pork wouldn’t be found in such neat slices, would it? So what happens is that after the bak kwa seller grills the meat, he would cut it into tidy squares like these. Now, when he cuts the bak kwa into squares, there would be long strips of extra bits left behind right? Having spent a long time over the fire, these leftover pieces now look black and [...]
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Jan 6, 2007
1
Sometimes, people can start to turn dumb in their urge to make unique and different comments.
Ask anyone WILL they knowing buy burnt pork?
Imagine:
If an unknown bak kwa stall in some basam malam display these burnt meat strips in a heap and sell them real cheap, like 1 kilo $2.00, and they weight it and sell it to you. Will you buy it? Seeing a heap of burnt meat strips.
But if it is a reknown company like Bee Cheng Hiang? Packaging it nicely and have their shop personnel explain to you, it’s the same thing but these are not cut nicely so we sell cheap. Will you buy then?
There is a point that we consumers will be more trusting when we buy from a reknown company, coz we THOUGHT they will not lower their standards and their reputation in order to earn some petty profits.
Honestly, I’m disgusted to read this. How much profit did Bee Cheng Hiang expect to milk from these little packets of burnt meat strips? They already have such long queues in their branches every Chinese New Year and such a large market share of the Bak Kwa industry but they will resort to these. Just for a few extra pennies? It’s not only the lack of social responsibility, they also lack self-respect and corporate pride. There are certain undermeans that are more suitable for small stall owners, and a large organisation should not resort to those.
Jan 7, 2007
3470
Thank YOU! You made two very good points, firstly regarding the dumb comments, secondly regarding the big corporations resorting to making petty money.
Jan 7, 2007
no doubt they’re in the wrong to sell these. but if an ‘unsuspecting’ customer were to SEE that these meat strips are in this kinda condition, would they still buy it? YES! They’re blind, ofcos!
Jan 7, 2007
loose pieces are sold by bee cheng hiang at a cheaper price than the larger nicer look square pieces
granted as with all things….there must be a trade off in terms of quality, price and aesthetics
the seller wants to maximise his sales….the buyer wants to minimise his cost….the trick is to find a meeting point…..
the seller thus lower the quality….the buyer settles for lower quality
if quality remains unchanged….who would want to pay a premium for no added advantage?
Jan 7, 2007
3470
The fact that the bak kwa is in loose bits is what makes it “lower quality”. That fact ALONE makes it “lower quality”.
It’s one thing to sell “lower quality” stuff. But selling trash is a different thing altogether.
Shredded bak kwa that are burnt and black and charred and unhealthful and meant for the trash should not be sold to anyone in the first place, whether it’s 10 cents per packet or $26 (the actual price).
Sigh.
Jan 7, 2007
so if your dad saw the pack from the outside, knowing it was charred and stuff, wouldnt he have asked for the contents? instead of just buying a packet of black ba kwa?
yes they did assure you that the taste would be the same, but for health issues, i think that that would be for the purchasers to consider.
if it were wrong for BCH to sell the burnt charred pieces of ba kwa, im sure CASE would have already prevented them from doing so. but as we can see, they havent, so obviously there must be some weird people out there who enjoy these kind of burnt charred ba kwa. so at the end of the day, if one WILLINGLY paid for the bakwa, whether or not under the influence of the salesperson, it would be pretty much his or her own problem.
oh im sorry if this offended you in any way. i just wanted to state my pov. SORRY AGAIN! :]
Jan 7, 2007
3470
Okay I’m tired of repeating the same point over and over to people who obviously lack the ability to see it. Keep the comments coming anyway. I’m not responding anymore.
To david: I don’t think the CASE staff make a habit out of surfing blogs for consumer complaints.
Jan 7, 2007
okay. anw. love your style of blogging. keep up the good work.
Jan 8, 2007
=)
Jan 10, 2010
4
Was it only this particular outlet in Chinatown that packaged these charred bak kwas for sale?
Perhaps the person they hired got lazy and instead of sorting out those that are not charred to be sold, he packaged all of them into the packet?
If this is the case, BCH need to improve their QC. I would call for a boycott only if I know that BCH made it a point to sell all lose pieces regardless of how charred they are.
Feb 9, 2010
3
Is this still an issue, 4 years later?
(Also Veron, put the year in the timestamp on comments!)
Feb 10, 2010
3470
No idea. Never bought their bak kwa ever since!
Dec 20, 2010
1
Recall your article, I also got cheated by them. They just hide those “charcoal” behind the good pieces.
I heard that they add some nitrate during the processing. This was been told by the workers that worked in their factory in woodland. According to them, BCH is using the cheap and dirty fish sauce from Vietnam which they need to filter/screen it for the broken glasses in the bottle. The screen just screen away the big pieces not the small one. Just imagine what we had bought! Don’t be cheated by their clean outlet.
Since then I also never buy BCH Bakwa.
BOYCOTT Bee Chen Hiang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jul 18, 2011
1
A complain about the bad service from Bee Chin Hiang:
Dear to-whom-may concern,
I would like to reflect a recent disappointing scenario happened as I
did my purchase with one of your branches at Tanjong Katong. I bought
a pack of fusion bak kwa and 6 packs of 3 fusion and 3 sliced on
Thursday and Friday respectively. On Friday, I told the store keeper
Chew that I needed six packs and I had bought one on the previous day,
so I needed FIVE packs. And because it was early in the morning at
10.20am, there were not enough stock, I have to buy a mixture. I chose
the new fusion flavour and the classic sliced flavour. I told him if
he can mix the flavours for me because these were for foreign guests,
so I thought it was good that they have a same share of mixtures.
Chew seemed understood my request, but eventually he packed SIX packs
separately, which were then packed in a big bag. I applied for time
off to do the purchase and I was really in a rush. I found out that I
had paid for an extra pack after I returned to work. Immediately I
called in to reflect and requested for a refund. Alan, the shop
manager tried to explain the company policy to me, but had shown no
intention to think of a solution to solve the problem. He told me that
it was DIFFICULT to compensate a refund and the best they can do is
for me to exchange for other products. I appreciate this gesture, but
I DON’T really need these at the moment, I DON’T expect to buy things
that I DON’T NEED with MY OWN MONEY as a result of a MISCOMMUNICATION.
I DON’T EXPECT a CUSTOMER to be RESPONSIBLE for the a MISTAKE OF
SOMEONE ELSE!
As I always esteemed the BCH, I expected a satisfactory reaction from
the company. I thought it was just that the shop keepers were simply
taking the easy way out to avoid the situation. Therefore I insisted
that they call the office for a responsible decision. As a result they
told me the office had closed and will inform the office by Saturday.
I insisted that they give me a prompt respond.
While I was impressed by the promptness the Sales Executive, Crystal,
had displayed as she called me on Saturday morning. Despite of not
getting through me, she was persistent and called me on Monday
afternoon. I was glad to hear from her, expecting good news.
However to my disappointment, she simply repeated what Alan had told
me earlier. She sounded polite, but apparently no intention to give
way and give a satisfying solution. I suggested that even refund is
not possible, at least keep a record of credit(i.e vouchers) so that I
don’t feel compel to buy things that I don’t need at this point of
time. The rejection was blunt and straight, no intention of creating a
win-win situation, but an intention to push a customer to reluctantly
and disappointingly accept the “company policy”. Both of us debated
over almost half an hour over this issue without any progress. I
thought that it was in vain since there is no intention to compromise
for customer satisfactory, I reluctantly accept the “company policy”
and say I would try to exchange for equivalent products.
I hope that the customer service department would really look into
this matter and reflect and make necessary adjustment. While facing
steep competition, I believe BCH would strive to provide the best
customer service.
I might share this incident with my friends in my workplace, my
community and even over the internet. I never wanted to see this
happen but I guess I have no choice.
Thank you for reading.
Regards,
Morgana
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