Group who owe $275 bill at Prinsep Street bar finally pay up after non-stop evading and excuses

The $275 bill owed by a group of four diners at SMOObar in Prinsep Street was finally paid off on Thursday night (Apr 13).

In an update on its Facebook page on Friday, SMOObar shared that it has received the outstanding sum via a PayNow transfer of $5 and a cash deposit of $270.

SMOObar, which made a police report about the incident on Wednesday, said it initially had "little hope" of retrieving the money but "ultimately, we are glad that our persistence paid off as they finally made the payment for the amount outstanding".

The bar also said it was "left bewildered" by the response it got from one of the customers via messaging app Telegram after the payment was made.

SMOObar shared screenshots of their conversation, in which the diner said: "(By the way) what you did to me was dirty. You (don't know) the full story and you decided to trend me. Not that I care but next time will be nice to understand the full story before making assumptions."

The diner also accused SMOObar of "dragging up my old articles and mentioning I am not trustworthy".

This comes after previous Facebook updates about the incident by SMOObar.

The bar had publicly named some of the diners, identified their social media handles as well as posted photos of them.

It also alleged that one of them ('D') had similarly evaded the bill at another F&B outlet two weeks ago, while another ('A') had been in the news in 2018 for shop theft.

Telegram screenshots shared by SMOObar in earlier Facebook posts also show 'D' and 'A' pushing the bill to each other. At least one person can be seen giving multiple excuses about why he was unable to transfer payment immediately and failing to show up at the bar despite saying he would.

In its latest Facebook update on Friday, SMOObar said: "Once again, we appreciate the support given from the public and may similar incidents not happen to any F&B establishments or retailers in future."

It appears that this is not the first time 'D' and 'A' have committed such acts at F&B outlets. A restaurant at Bras Basah Road has since called out the two men for skipping out on a $289.98 bill.