Fake rider seen taking order from table in front of chicken rice stall
The boss of a chicken rice chain in Singapore said a fake delivery rider allegedly stole an order from his stall in Havelock.
In CCTV footage posted on the OK Chicken Rice Facebook page, the man is seen taking the order from a table in front of the stall.
Source: OK Chicken Rice on Facebook
Fake rider approaches chicken rice stall, dressed all in black
In the clip, which had a timestamp of 12.05pm on 28 June, a man is seen approaching the stall, dressed in a black long-sleeved top, black pants, and a helmet that covered part of his face.
Source: OK Chicken Rice on Facebook
He looked at the orders on the table, as well as his phone, as if trying to find his order.
Source: OK Chicken Rice on Facebook
After pacing around the table for a few seconds and glancing at the stall a few times, he appeared to settle on one bag.
Source: OK Chicken Rice on Facebook
He then took the bag and left quietly.
Source: OK Chicken Rice on Facebook
Incident resulted in unhappy rider & customer
OK Chicken Rice’s owner Daniel Tan said in the post that as a result of the fake rider allegedly stealing food, the actual rider could not find his order and was bumped to the end of the queue.
This understandably made him upset, with the customer also feeling unhappy at being made to wait for their food.
He added that the incident was also hard on his staff, who got scolded and had to spend extra time and effort finding out what went wrong and replacing the food that was taken.
A netizen suggested that Mr Tan ask his staff to verify whether the order is correct before letting riders leave with the food.
He replied that they do, but pointed out that as his outlets send about one million deliveries per month, “nobody can perform at that volume and still get it right”.
Source: Facebook
Chicken rice owner offers fake rider free food & possible job
Addressing the fake rider who took the food, Mr Tan hoped that his actions were “out of necessity” and not malicious intent.
He also urged him to reach out to them for a free meal if he was going through a tough time and needed food.
He even said he was willing to explore offering him a job if he needed work.
Incident resulted in 30 30-minute delay
Speaking to MS News, Mr Tan, 45, said the incident took place at his OK Chicken Rice and HumFull Prawn Laksa stall in Block 51 Havelock Road.
Source: Google Maps
After the food was taken by the fake rider, the real rider arrived and took the balance of the order, he added.
However, he later returned, upset that he was ostensibly given the wrong quantity of food.
An argument ensued with Mr Tan’s staff, who is experienced and was very sure that he prepared the order correctly.
Thankfully, his staff could check CCTV footage on the spot and found out that the food was taken by a fake rider.
But this still resulted in a delay of 30 minutes as they had to prepare the order again.
Fake riders ‘a growing problem’, says owner
Mr Tan, who runs 17 halal-certified outlets across Singapore, said this is not the first time they had encountered fake riders.
He was “too tired” to list out all the incidents, he added, noting that he highlighted this particular one as it is “a growing problem” which causes misunderstandings, quarrels, and losses for his business.
While it was “very fortunate” that it resulted in only a 30-minute delay this time, when riders don’t check, it results in an angry customer who did not receive their full order and has no way to resend it, he lamented.
In this incident, four bento lemon cutlet rice sets worth S$16.60 each were taken.
Police report has been made
Mr Tan confirmed that he had made a police report about the incident, but was not hopeful of a follow-up.
Courtesy of Daniel Tan
About the offer of free food and jobs to those in need, he said:
We always wish to hire Singaporeans, and we have always done community work.
OK Chicken Rice is known for its “Pay It Forward” initiative amid the ‘Circuit Breaker’ in 2020, where people could donate free food to those in need.
It also handed out free food to drivers of taxis and private-hire vehicles, who struggled during the ‘Circuit Breaker’ as fewer people went out.
Also read: Woman Allegedly Swipes Takeaway Order From PLQ Restaurant, Police Report Not Made
Woman Allegedly Swipes Takeaway Order From PLQ Restaurant, Police Report Not Made
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Featured image adapted from OK Chicken Rice on Facebook.
