Alleged Prank Led to 12 Food Delivery Riders Gathering in Joo Seng; Police Investigating

Delivering food sounds like a simple job, right?

Just pick the meal up, drive to the given location, and pass it to your customer.

But there’s one thing we’re forgetting: humans are determined to make anything difficult. 

Forget demanding customers, late orders, and strict security guards, some food delivery riders had something more infuriating to deal with recently: pranks. 

Alleged Prank Led to 12 Food Delivery Riders Gathering in Joo Seng

On Friday (19 Feb), a group of 12 food delivery riders were seen gathered next to a multi-storey carpark in Joo Seng.

Had they planned a secret meeting there in defiance of Covid-19 rules? Nope.

According to 8World News, the food delivery riders suspected they had all received prank orders.

They reportedly received multiple orders and delivered food to the same address, but no one came to collect them.

Angered, they called in the police.

Facebook user Nur’aqilah AZ, who shared pictures of the riders in the area, suspected the same thing.

“Prank orders according to one of them”, she said. “And more coming”.

“Pity them. Got old uncle all also.”

Police Investigating Incident

According to CNA, the police said they are investigating the incident, which they have categorised as a case of “intentional harassment”.

The police said they were alerted to the incident at Block 7 Upper Aljunied Lane on Friday (19 Feb) at about 7.30pm.

A spokesperson for foodpanda also told CNA that the company is looking into the matter.

When asked if any payment was made for the alleged prank orders, foodpanda said: “The cash on delivery option is offered for users who may not have access to cashless payment options so as to offer an inclusive service to our customers.

“We appeal for the responsible use of food delivery services and cash on delivery option in consideration of food delivery riders who are working hard round the clock to deliver hot food to our homes.”

Harassment By Loan Sharks?

While the Facebook user who shared the photos suspects a prank, some loan sharks have used unrequested food delivery orders to harass debtors lately.

They would order large quantities of food or make multiple orders on the same day, and arrange for the food to be delivered to the debtors’ homes.

As you can imagine, this makes things messy for both the debtor and the poor rider, who has to waste several trips.

On some occasions, food was even delivered to debtors’ relatives.

Whether this was a prank by some mischievous residents or harassment by unlicensed moneylenders, however, remains to be seen.

Either way, the police will come down hard on them.

To know more about being a food delivery ride, watch this video to the end:

Featured Image: Facebook (Nur’aqilah AZ)