Larsian to penalize overpricing vendors

STALL tenants who are found to have overcharged their customers at the newly-opened Larsian will be heavily penalized.

Joey Herrera, manager of Larsian, said the penalties will be P1,000 for first offense, a two-week closure for second offense, and termination of lease contract if proven guilty for three times.

Larsian, a barbecue strip near Fuente Osmeña Circle, is run by the Cebu Provincial Government and is a favorite hangout for food trippers both local and out-of-towners.

“The issue of overpricing has been there for long. If magsige ta og recommend tangtangon, wala gihapoy liabilities sa part sa owners. So karon, I hope this will be more effective kay sa owners ang penalty,” said Herrera.

On Sunday evening, one lady-seller of a stall in Larsian has been banned from working at any of the stalls there for allegedly “bloating” the customer’s bill.

The customer, an editor of a media outfit in Cebu, posted her complaint on Facebook with the photos of two stall attendants who allegedly over billed her.

“I was tagged by a person in the comment section of the post so I learned of the issue. I know the complainant and she is credible. I informed the governor and he told me to do the immediate actions,” said Herrera in an interview.

Herrera said the governor recommended that the erring sellers be fired, but since they are not employees of the provincial government, the most that Larsian management could impose is banning them from being employed by any of the tenants.

Upon reaching out to the stall owner, Herrera said the owner vouched that only one of the two ladies in the complainant’s picture was involved in overcharging the customer.

“Ako pa i-check kang Miss… if only one of them ra ba gyod or silang duha ang involved gyod sa overcharging kay kung silang duha, we will also have the other woman banned,” said Herrera.

Herrera said the incident on Sunday was unfortunate since they have just been on soft opening last November 8.

“Sayang ba. It is sad kay bag-o lang ta nag-soft opening and this should have been our chance to prove nga na-address na nato ang mga previous issues sa Larsian and this happened,” Herrera said.

Herrera however assured that during their formal opening on Friday, November 16, all tenants will be strictly enjoined to follow new policies to prevent similar incidents.

Among the new policies are for the tenants to display a menu and price list so that the customers will have a way to counter check the amount that they are supposed to pay for their meal.

“Kay soft opening pa man karon, daghan niingon nga nagpa-print pa but during the opening na gyod, they will have to really comply with the policies,” Herrera added

All food servers, after the formal opening, are also required to wear uniforms and food safety attire like spit guard and hairnet, identification card and health card while on duty.