Delivery man cries after Tampines resident confronts him over missing $400 watch straps

Someone might have kept these watch straps for themself because no one was keeping watch.

A confrontation between two Tampines residents over a pair of missing watch straps resulted in a delivery man bursting into tears, Shin Min Daily News reported on Monday (Jan 29).

One of the residents, surnamed Dai, 40, shared with Shin Min that he purchased two watch straps online last week, which cost him $400 in all. 

Last Saturday, he was notified that his delivery had arrived.

As he was busy then, he only went to collect his package about 30 minutes later, only to realise that it was gone. 

"The package was not at my door, so I called the delivery company to check," he said. 

When the delivery man returned to the unit, he realised he made a mistake and delivered the package to Dai's neighbour instead.

The delivery man, surnamed Sai, 24, had placed the package in a gap between the metal gate and door, and even snapped a picture as proof of delivery.

With the package now missing, Sai reportedly stood outside Dai's neighbour's unit yelling for 10 minutes in a bid to get him to open the door. 

Dai's neighbour, a 67-year-old man surnamed Huang, denied taking the goods, adding that he was out that morning and only returned home at noon.

Worried that he would have to reimburse Dai for his loss, Sai reportedly broke down in tears. 

Seeing him in tears, Dai took pity on the delivery man.  

"My items disappeared and my neighbour said he didn't take them," Dai told the Chinese daily. "There was really nothing I could do.

"The delivery company advised me to call the police. If I didn't call the police, the seller wouldn't send me new watch straps."

Both parties called the cops

When the police arrived, they reportedly carried out a search in Huang's home, much to the latter's dissatisfaction.

Prior to the police search, Huang had let Dai into his home to look for the missing parcel and thought the matter was resolved.

"I don't understand why he called the police, I didn't do anything wrong," Huang said. "I felt it was unreasonable, so I also called the police."

To allay his neighbour's concerns, Dai explained that he made a police report so that the seller would send him another two watch straps. 

Persuaded by Dai, Huang went home and did not pursue the matter further. 

Speaking with AsiaOne, the police confirmed that a report was lodged.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com