Food delivery riders allegedly caught up in suspected loanshark harassment at Clementi condo, sparks criticism of COD orders
Three food delivery riders were allegedly implicated in a suspected loanshark harassment case after arriving one after another with cash-on-delivery (COD) orders at the same condominium unit.
On July 7, TikTok user Klinsmann, who goes by @klins_05, shared three videos of the incident at West Coast Vale condominium in Clementi.
Speaking to Stomp, Klinsmann, the Foodpanda delivery rider, said that the incident occurred on July 6, 3.45pm.
After knocking on the unit’s door, a woman — later identified as the landlady — informed him that the intended recipient, a tenant named Rafiah, was not at home.
Looking at the rider’s phone, the landlady confirmed the contact details but said the tenant had not placed an order.
Klinsmann subsequently asked if the tenant was facing financial difficulties or had any trouble with loansharks.
He added that he had already tried calling the recipient several times, but to no avail.
The landlady told him to contact the tenant directly as she was “busy” with a meeting. In the video, Klinsmann added a text caption claiming she was trying to “avoid liability” before she closed the door.
Once alone in the corridor, he concluded that this was likely a loanshark harassment case.
Multiple food delivery riders affected
In a subsequent video, a second delivery rider arrived at the same unit with another COD order. Klinsmann intercepted him, warning him that it was likely a scam.
A third rider soon turned up with yet another COD order, which Klinsmann urged him to cancel.
The individual orders were valued at $50 and $65 respectively.
Klinsmann claimed the customer would not answer their calls because the registered phone number was from Malaysia.
To avoid food wastage, Klinsmann suggested that the other riders either eat it themselves or give it away.
Later in the video, a condominium security officer arrived at the unit’s door and appeared to speak with the landlady through the open door.
Klinsmann explained the situation to the officer, alleging that the tenant was the root of the issue and was likely involved in a loan shark dispute.
Rider questions COD system
Klinsmann claimed that he had to wait 10 minutes to contact customer support before he could cancel the order — time that could have been used to complete another delivery.
“You wasted your time, and you still haven’t collected the payment because of this problem,” he lamented, “So this collect cash thing (COD) has to be eliminated”.
“No compensation for us, and no deduction from app wallet,” he added. “That means we wasted our time coming here, because they don’t pay us for the petrol and time”.
Klinsmann confirmed to Stomp that three riders, including himself, arrived at the unit, although he believes more riders may have been affected after he left.
He also added this was the third time he had encountered such an incident. In each case, riders were not compensated for the time lost or the distance travelled.
When asked if there were any updates to the situation, Klinsmann said that Foodpanda’s customer support required riders to “waste” 10 minutes contacting the helpline, followed by another 10 minutes to investigate the case.
As a result, he estimated losing up to $20 worth of delivery earnings due to the platform’s processes.
Stomp has reached out to Foodpanda for comment.
‘Ban cash payments’
The three TikTok videos have garnered more than 500,000 views and 18,800 likes combined.
Many riders shared that they “always cancel cash jobs” to protect themselves from similar situations.
“They should just ban cash payments,” one user commented.
One commenter argued that COD is the “best” as there is no need to cash out. However, another netizen pointed out how vulnerable the system is to such cases.
They replied, “I agree, but some customers really like to take advantage by doing this type of scheme”.
Other netizens praised Klinsmann for staying behind to warn other riders.
“You are awesome staying to help de-escalate the problem instead of just going on your way to do more deliveries,” a netizen wrote.
Another added: “May you stay blessed for helping others”.
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