July 29, 2020, 02:39 PM
Durian season is a time that many people look forward to.
And with the convenience of online shopping, getting durians right at your doorstep has never been easier.
Though, there are some disadvantages to buying durians online.
Frozen durians instead of fresh ones
According to a Facebook post by one Dee Andriana, she claimed she ordered S$134.40 worth of durians after online durian retailer Durians Express Delivery marketed itself as a retailer selling fresh durians.
To her dismay, she received a batch of frozen durians instead.
Photo from Dee Andriana's Facebook page.
Photo from Dee Andriana's Facebook page.
Some of the durians also apparently "lacked in taste" and was "watery".
'Defroze can eat already fresh'
Unhappy with the purchase, she decided to get in touch with the retailer's online customer service.
In response to her query on why the durians came frozen when they were marketed as fresh durians, the representative from Durians Express Delivery simply replied:
"Defroze (sic) can eat already fresh."
Photo from Dee Andriana's Facebook page.
Photo from Dee Andriana's Facebook page.
The website does include a claim that the durians delivered are fresh.
Screen shot from Durians Express Delivery website.
She also tried to leave a comment on their Facebook page, however, the comment was apparently removed moments after.
According to the post, she will be lodging a report with the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE).
Unfortunately, this wasn't an isolated case.
More than 200 unhappy customers
Several others have also shared similar encounters with Durians Express Delivery.
Photo from Dee Andriana's Facebook page.
Photo from Dee Andriana's Facebook page.
A private Facebook group called Victims of duriansexpressdelivery.com was also created, with over 200 members to date.
In a report by 8Days, one of the affected customers shared that the group collated all of the case numbers and forwarded the list to the police.
They have also cc-ed the Prime Minister's Office and Law Minister K Shanmugam.
The group members then received a response from the police's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) who gave them the shop's number to seek a refund.
Some of them have since received a refund.
Similar name and logo
Turns out, Durians Express Delivery also goes by several different Facebook pages:
And it seems like its name and logo is modelled after another reputable online durian seller, Durian Express Delivery (note the omission of the letter "s" in "Durian").
Here's the logo for Durians Express Delivery:
Photo from Top Grade Durian.
And here's Durian Express Delivery's logo.
Photo from Durian Express Delivery.
The similarity has also affected Durian Express Delivery's business.
In a Facebook post from July 3, Durian Express Delivery shared that customers had confused them for Durians Express Delivery.
Hence, they received many complaints regarding bad quality durians.They also stressed that they are not associated with the other durian retailer in any way.
Ceased operations
8Days also reached out to the spokesperson for Durians Express Delivery who claimed to be someone who's "not a worker, not a partner, just helping my friend Jasper [the business owner]".
According to him, Jasper is a 26-year-old former merchandiser and had gotten "the wrong marketing company to help him".
Jasper had also apparently put his shop's name as Top Grade Frozen Durians since the beginning.
The spokesperson also confirmed that the shop has ceased its operations, even though its social media pages and website are still available online.
Top image from Dee Andriana's Facebook page.
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