A dispute between a food delivery rider and a customer has arisen over a wrong food delivery.
According to Zaobao, the customer had received a wrong food order and had requested for the food delivery rider to correct the mixed-up order. However, the food delivery rider refused, which led to the dispute.
Reportedly, the incident happened at about 2.45pm on Saturday (7 May) at an HDB flat along Jelebu Road, Bukit Panjang.
A 35-year-old man, known as Mr Tan, told the reporter from Shin Min Daily News that he had ordered a lunch for two which cost him $26.30 through the food delivery platform, GrabFood that day.
After waiting for more than two hours, his order was finally delivered by the GrabFood delivery rider. But unfortunately, a wrong order was delivered. The food delivery rider had mixed his order up with another customer’s order.
“At the time, another customer contacted the food delivery rider to inform him of the incident. The latter then hung up the phone without apologizing. He just told me that my food was delivered to another place and asked if I could wait 15 minutes for him to switch back the orders,” said Mr Tan.
He then politely refused and suggested for the rider to cancel his order so that he could reorder. But this did not sit too well with the rider.
“He asked me to cancel the order myself impatiently. I explained to him that I can’t cancel the order once the food delivery rider picks up the order. So, I asked him for help. But the rider said: If you want to cancel, then cancel it yourself. And then he walked off,” he continued.
Mr Tan immediately opened his door, wanting to persuade the rider to cancel his order, and to question the rider why he had refused to help. This then led to the conflict between the two.
“He attacked me in the face first. He hit my glasses and then punched my collarbone at least two or three times. I felt pain and had to keep backing off and blocking him with my hands. He didn’t leave the scene until I back off into my flat,” Mr Tan said.
The entire incident was captured on Mr Tan’s phone. The 8-second video showed that the food delivery rider had his back against Mr Tan. But after being questioned, he suddenly turned around and attacked Mr Tan.
Mr Tan immediately called the police who went down to the scene. He also informed the company, Grab, in hopes of pursuing the matter legally.
“Police officers also came to the scene and recorded statements for both parties,” added Mr Tan. When asked, the police have also confirmed that they received a report regarding the incident.
Wants to cancel the order hygiene concerns
Mr Tan told the reporter that he requested the cancellation due to hygiene concerns.
He said that he knew that it was not easy for the food delivery rider to make a living and stresses that he did not mean to make things difficult for the food delivery rider.
“The other customer wouldn’t know if the food has been opened or not. Coupled with the current COVID-19 situation, I think it is inappropriate to exchange the food,” he explained.
Mr Tan added that he was not looking for an apology, nor did he hold any grudges against the rider. All he wanted was to understand the reasons behind the rider’s hostility. If it’s due to work stress, he hopes that Grab will look into their employees’ well-being, said Mr Tan.
Grab: The food delivery rider involved has been suspended from work
Grab said they had suspended the rider involved as they do not condone inappropriate behaviours involving harassment causing hurt. A spokesperson from Grab also said that they are conducting internal investigations as well.
Wrong order delivered will lead to pay being deducted
A 19-year-old food delivery rider told the reporter that if a wrong order is sent, the platform will deduct the money from the rider’s pay. Therefore, riders would need to be very careful when picking up and delivering the orders.
“If the wrong order is being delivered, we will try to exchange it. If the other party does not accept the food, there is nothing we can do. After all, we made the mistake. If it’s the first mistake, usually we just get a warning. But for the subsequent mistakes, most food delivery platforms will deduct the money from our pay,”, he said.
Can a food delivery rider REALLY earn more than $8,000 a month?
Another 23-year-old food delivery rider said that he believes that most food delivery platform is not that unfriendly after all. In fact, if the delivery speed is slow, our pay will not get deducted. However, if there are frequent mistakes, the delivery rider’s account may be suspended, and in severe cases, the delivery rider’s account may be terminated.
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