'I threw away $574 worth of food': House of Seafood owner delivers food to Woodlands flat, gets caught in the middle of shouting match between loan shark and debtor instead

On Friday (Dec 22) night, local restaurant House of Seafood received a large order — two crab dishes, one red grouper, stir-fried lala with sambal chilli, a seafood casserole and five rice.

The bill amounted to $573.45 and the person who ordered the food claimed that he can't use PayNow and can only pay by cash, according to a report by 8World yesterday.

As owner Francis Ng had no reason to reject this order, he agreed and decided to deliver the food personally to the flat at Woodlands Street 83.

When he reached the flat, a man, who looked surprised, came to the door to collect the feast.

Ng asked for payment and the man told him he didn't order anything, adding that he thought it was his friend who wanted to give him a treat.

"I called the man who ordered the food and was told that I delivered it to the correct address. He also requested for a video call, so that he could talk to the flat owner," Ng said.

What ensues is a shouting match between the two men through Ng's phone.

The man shouted at the flat owner: "Owe money pay money!"

"If you have the guts, come and collect the debt yourself! I am calling the police!" the flat owner yelled back.

And that was when Ng realised that he was caught in a situation between a loan shark and his debtor. When he realised that he is not getting any payment at all, he hung up the call and left.

"It was already quite late, so I threw away $574 worth of food, it's such a waste," he said.

The restaurant manager who handled the order earlier shared that this is the first time they met with such a situation. He added that when he heard from Ng that they were scammed, he attempted to call the loan shark again.

He said: "The man still replied and said that he wasn't home at the time and wanted us to deliver it again. I told him to make payment first but afterwards, he didn't reply to our messages and never picked up our calls again."

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com