Customer allegedly fails to pay $1,670 for daughter’s birthday party decorations, business lodges police report
A business owner has lodged a police report after a customer allegedly failed to pay more than $1,600 for lighting and decorations for his 12-year-old daughter’s birthday party.
The birthday party in question took place at around 3pm on Sept 5 at The Peak @ Cairhill condominium near Orchard Road.
The decorator, 36-year-old self-employed businessman Wang Jun Yong (transliterated), told Shin Min Daily News that a man named Will called him the day before the party to arrange decorations for his 12-year-old daughter’s birthday celebration.
“Although the turnaround time was a little tight, I had an available slot, so I agreed to take on the job.”
Wang completed the decorations at around 5.30pm as requested. However, Will was not present throughout the process, and his wife communicated with Wang about the payment instead.
“She said Will was at Tanglin Mall nearby and would be back at around 6.30pm. But we waited until 9.30pm and he still didn’t show up. We were eventually asked to leave by the condominium’s security guards.”
Wang said he asked Will’s wife for payment for the decorations, but she said she did not have the money to pay.
The business subsequently sought payment from Will in a WhatsApp group chat and sent him a receipt.
After repeated attempts to collect the payment went unanswered, Wang decided to lodge a police report.
Wang shared screenshots of messages from the man in an Instagram post on Sept 7. One message read: “Please relax, I had a really hard day yesterday. Excruciating to say the least.”
Over $1,600 owed to businesses
According to Shin Min, Will has yet to pay Wang $700 for the venue decorations. Another business owner who provided the lighting setup for the party also confirmed that Will owes him $970 for the services.
When contacted by reporters, Will admitted that he had not paid the amount, explaining that he would wait to receive an official receipt before making payment.
“I’ll see after I receive the official receipt. But honestly, I’ll consider what to do based on the services they promised to provide and how much was actually provided.”
He did not directly respond when asked about the receipts that had already been sent by the businesses.
In response to Shin Min’s queries, the police confirmed that a report had been lodged.
Businesses removed from group chat
According to screenshots of the group chat provided by Wang, Will stated in his last message that he had originally intended to make payment. However, he noted that the businesses had chosen to take legal action, and as such, the money might have to be channelled to cover legal fees.
Will also questioned whether the services provided by Wang matched what had been promised beforehand. He did not address the claims made by the business that provided the lighting.
When the businesses continued asking for payment in the group chat, Will did not respond, but removed two people from the group, including the lighting provider.
Forgot to collect deposit amid rushed arrangements
Wang said he normally collects a deposit upfront when accepting jobs, but forgot to do so this time because the arrangements were made at short notice.
“Things were really rushed that day. I thought since the job was for the next day, I could just collect the payment after completing it. It was my oversight not to collect a deposit in advance.”
Wang hopes his experience will serve as a reminder to other businesses to put payment safeguards in place when accepting jobs.
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