Florist Hit by Fake Bulk Order for Army Camp

It is the second small local business to fall victim to such a bogus deal in the last week

- Wong Man Shun

It was a rosy picture for Kiki Florist: a huge order of 150 small bouquets and four extra-large bouquets amounting to $3,820, the largest order for this small, home-based business to date.

The big spender, who called the florist on Sept 8 around 11am, claimed he was from the logistics team of an army camp in Bedok and said the order was a "corporate order from the Government".

The order, which was due for collection on Sept 10 at 1pm, was too large for Kiki's small team of two to fulfill in time. The florist and buyer eventually agreed on 50 small bouquets, to be paid for with $1,100 in cash and no down payment.

Sept 10 came and went but the mysterious buyer never turned up.

Fortunately for Kiki, which has a collection point in KAP Mall in Bukit Timah Road, it managed to sell off the 50 bouquets at a discounted rate of about $800.

Co-founder Joselyn Lie said she made a profit of about $200 – much less than if she had sold them without a heavy discount.

She also had to turn down several smaller orders as the team's hands were full with the large bulk order.

Ms Lie told The Sunday Times that she would not be making a police report as she "was not sure if it was a scam or just an irresponsible customer".

She added: "To protect our business from future scams, we will not be proceeding with bulk orders if there is no down payment."