Punched customer: I won’t go back to KFC

Punched KFC customer Danny Ng found the outlet's service to be too hot and spicy for him.

KUALA LUMPUR: All he wanted was fried chicken for dinner, but Danny Ng, 26, got a zinger in the face instead.

After being punched and threatened by Shah Alam KFC workers on Feb 6, Ng told reporters that he would not visit another of the fast-food chain’s outlets for a long time.

“I won’t go back to KFC, not for a long time, I’m mentally distressed,” he said at a press conference at Segambut MP (DAP) Lim Lip Eng’s office.

Ng’s hot and spicy ordeal began at 10.15pm on Feb 6 at the i-City KFC outlet.

He was there, along with his wife (who only wanted to be known as Mrs Ng, 28) and his sister, Connie Ng, 25, to redeem four KFC vouchers worth RM132 that they had bought before Chinese New Year.

According to the trio, these vouchers could only be redeemed at the i-City outlet, and would expire on the 7th.

Translating on behalf of Danny Ng, DAP lawyer Eric Tan said: “There was a long queue, and there were a lot of people waiting, so (we) decided to wait for half an hour.”

“But after 45 minutes, some customers found out that there was not enough chicken.”

Danny Ng claimed that this caused a stir among the patrons there, especially after KFC staff purportedly told them after five minutes that there were no chicken left.

Some of the kitchen staff, according to Danny Ng, also allegedly said: “Sudah habis mahu apa lagi? (There is no more chicken, what more do you want)?”

The staff’s working behaviour further irked Danny Ng, and he claimed that they were not “working very hard”.

“They were playing with each other,” Tan said on behalf of the Mandarin-speaking Danny Ng. “They should have informed (us) if the chicken was finished… and not provoke the customers.”

Danny Ng, it seemed, then strode up to the counter in frustration and promptly told the staff there in a loud voice: “Sini ialah KFC, macam mana servis itu, saya mahu cari manager, saya mahu complain (Where’s the service at this KFC? Get me the manager, I want to make a complaint)!”

He, however, denied making any rude or racist remarks at the staff present.

It was at this point that Mrs Ng claimed that she saw the workers brandishing “steel bars” from inside the kitchen. Fearing for her husband’s life, she dragged him out of the outlet.

But it was not enough for Danny Ng, who went back into the KFC with a handphone, intending to take pictures of the aggressive staff.

Seeing him re-enter the outlet, the KFC kitchen staff stormed out from behind the counter and confronted Danny Ng threateningly.

It was at this point that one of the workers suddenly punched him in the face, grabbed him around the neck and kicked him.

The attack was filmed as part of a 28-second video, which was circulated across the Internet, sparking a massive uproar over the fast-food chain’s “fowl” service.

Danny Ng further claimed that one of the staff there told him to quickly leave the KFC outlet, as the kitchen workers had called for their friends to come, presumably to beat him up.

Following the release of the video on the Internet, Danny Ng was later approached by DAP officials.

He would later make a police report, and undergo a checkup at the Universiti Hospital.

It was at the hospital that an investigating police officer known as Inspector Azizan advised Danny Ng not to contact any political parties over the matter.

Allegedly Azizan’s call was to downplay the matter, with him saying: “We are 1Malaysia.”

Speaking to the press, Tan said that Ng and his family would later meet with the police and KFC managers to try and settle the matter amicably.

Nevertheless, he said that although the matter was a “minor offence”, public perception of KFC would be hit hard.

“KFC (has a) high expectation (as) fast-food sellers. It was very clear that… (the staff) did not take steps in informing the customers.”

“The staff… were not in a very good condition… they were very grouchy,” Tan said.

According to Tan, KFC would run the risk of being “punished” by its customers if it did not settle the matter amicably.

In a related matter, Lim advised netizens, especially Facebook users, not to play up racial sentiments over the matter, as they were not present during the attack.