Three food delivery riders turn up one after another with cash-on-delivery orders at same Clementi condo unit
Three food delivery riders allegedly became caught up in a suspected loanshark harassment case after arriving one after another with cash-on-delivery (COD) orders at the same condominium unit in Clementi.
On July 7, TikTok user Klinsmann, who goes by @klins_05, shared three videos of the incident at West Coast Vale condominium.
Speaking to Stomp, 21-year-old Foodpanda rider Klinsmann Tay said the incident occurred at around 3.45pm on July 6.
He had collected the order from an eatery at Ng Teng Fong Hospital before heading to the condominium unit. After knocking on the door, a woman — later identified as the landlady — informed him that the intended recipient, a tenant, was not at home.
After checking the recipient’s details on his phone, the landlady confirmed they belonged to her tenant but said the tenant had not placed the order.
Tay said he had already tried calling the recipient several times but was unable to get through. He also asked the landlady if the tenant was facing financial difficulties or had any issues with loansharks.
The landlady told him to contact the tenant directly as she was busy with a meeting. In the video, Klinsmann added a text caption quipping that she was trying to “avoid liability” before she closed the door.
Left standing in the corridor, he began to suspect the order could be linked to a loanshark harassment case.
Multiple food delivery riders affected
In a subsequent video, a second food delivery rider arrived at the same unit with another COD order. Tay intercepted him and warned him that the order might be part of a scam.
Shortly afterwards, a third rider also turned up with yet another COD order, which Tay urged him to cancel.
The orders were valued at $50 and $65 respectively.
Tay said the riders would not be able to contact the recipient, claiming the registered phone number was from Malaysia.
To avoid food wastage, he suggested the other riders either eat it themselves or give it away.
Later in the video, a condominium security officer arrived and appeared to speak with the landlady through the open door.
Tay also explained the situation to the officer and said he believed the tenant might be involved in a loanshark dispute.
Rider questions COD system
Klinsmann said he had to wait about 10 minutes to reach customer support before he could cancel the order — time that could otherwise have been spent completing 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”.
Tay told Stomp that three riders, including himself, arrived at the unit while he was there, though he believes more riders may have been affected after he left.
He added that 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, he said Foodpanda’s customer support requires riders to "waste” 10 minutes contacting the helpline, followed by another 10 minutes to investigate the case.
As a result, he estimated that the delay cost him up to $20 in lost earnings.
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 was the “best” as there was no need to pay upfront. However, another netizen pointed out that the system could easily be abused.
They replied, “I agree, but some customers really like to take advantage by doing this type of scheme”.
Several netizens also praised Tay 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”.
Riders ‘fully supported’: Foodpanda
In response to Stomp’s queries, a Foodpanda spokesperson said all affected delivery partners had been “fully supported”.
The spokesperson said delivery partners would not incur any financial losses or performance penalties, as Foodpanda has policies in place to protect them from bearing the costs of fraudulent activities.
Foodpanda added that it has implemented account verification processes, fraud prevention algorithms and ongoing monitoring of order patterns to detect and mitigate such cases. It also shares advisories from the Singapore Police Force with delivery partners to remind them to remain vigilant.
While COD orders remain available to ensure the service is accessible to customers who may not have access to cashless payment methods, the spokesperson stressed that Foodpanda has “zero tolerance” for any misuse of the feature.
Delivery partners who encounter suspicious situations are encouraged to contact rider support immediately via the Pandarider application.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Foodpanda Singapore.
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