That other person, AS USUAL, is WRONG!! The total surface area is NOT.
Surface area of cone = Area of circular base + Lateral Surface Area, or, with r being radius, and l being slant height.
With r (radius) being 3 cm, if the height is 4 cm, then this represents a 3-4-5 right-triangle with a SLANT height (l) of 5 cm
We then have: