Wild goose chase: Man contacts food delivery platform, bank and police over botched $22 food delivery

Many of us turn to food delivery services out of convenience.

Unfortunately, a botched food delivery ended up inconveniencing one man, who went to pretty great lengths to rectify what seems like a minor blunder. 

A Facebook user who goes by the name Chan Kester made a post on local group Complaint Singapore sharing his disappointing experience with Foodpanda last Sunday (Aug 21). 

Chan wrote that he placed an order on the app on Aug 15, which came up to $22.37.

According to the receipt Chan posted on Facebook, he had placed an order for a large McNuggets meal, one mocha frappe, and an apple pie. 

Unfortunately, he claimed he never received the food, despite receiving a notification on the app that it had been delivered. 

When Chan reached out to Foodpanda about the situation, a customer service agent known as Baba B told him that his meal was delivered to the correct location. 

The latter also showed Chan a picture taken by the delivery rider — to prove that the food had indeed been delivered. 

However, Chan disputed the agent's response, mentioning that there were "decorative items" stuck on his door, unlike the door shown in the delivery rider's photo. 

"I told Baba B that my condo has three towers with three different [units of the same number], and the delivery guy must have gone to the wrong tower, which he refuted," wrote Chan. 

Responding to netizens who questioned if Chan indicated his address correctly on the app, he explained he had clearly indicated his address, including the tower. 

To add insult to the injury, Chan added that the Foodpanda staff allegedly asked him if he hung the decorative items on his door after filing a complaint with them. 

Baba B eventually told Chan that the company would "escalate" the issue and get back to him. 

A victim of fraud?

Hitting a wall with the food delivery platform, Chan decided to contact his bank's fraud hotline, hoping to block his credit card and prevent the transaction from going through.

To his dismay, a staff named Zhiong informed him that the amount had been deducted. 

In addition, Chan had also filed a police report — a move which he claimed was suggested by the bank's staff. 

Ending off his post, Chan wrote: "I am disappointed that no [action was taken by] UOB nor Foodpanda on this. Even a police report, which I found it an unusual course of action just for a failed delivery of $22 but because UOB instructed me to make [sic]... was not able to rectify the issue." 

Over in the comments, several netizens appeared to sympathise with Chan, sharing that they too had bad experiences after ordering from Foodpanda. 

One netizen claimed that the delivery platform charged him "double", and he had to call the bank to get a refund. 

"Really [a] waste of time," he remarked.

However, there were also some who felt that the matter was too trivial to warrant contacting a fraud hotline, or making a police report. 

"It is not a fraud. Just merchant dispute or undelivered item," chimed one netizen. 

"Don't expect our police to start an investigation [over] $22. They can't be bothered," said another.

When contacted by AsiaOne, a spokesperson from Foodpanda said that they are aware of the situation and that their customer service team has reached out to the customer to provide assistance and to resolve the issue.

In April, the S-hook lady — Lerine Yeo — also took to her Facebook page to voice her disgruntlement when her Grab delivery rider allegedly dumped her Starbucks drinks all over a pathway near the condo unit she was at. 

The Facebook Live seller said she placed an order for seven drinks, but did not receive anything, even though the order was marked as delivered on the app. 

Yeo tried contacting the driver and Grab but to no avail. 

The next day, she discovered some empty Starbucks cups scattered across a pathway near her condo. The labels on the cups also matched her order number. 

"It really angers me not because of the money I have wasted but [because the delivery person is] running away from mistakes," she wrote. 

ALSO READ: GrabFood customer punched over botched order, but doesn't want apology and expresses concern for rider

claudiatan@asiaone.com