My Recent Experience Buying Groceries from Redmart Singapore

I’ve been a purchasing from Redmart off and on, and have previously relied on their service for stress-free grocery deliveries... Until today where they totally left me speechless. It was not just a minor mistake. but it was a complete breakdown in basic delivery protocol and customer accountability.

I had placed a grocery order exceeding $100, only to later discover that it had been marked as delivered to the wrong unit on a totally different floor. An "8" was mistaken for a "5", and the delivery rider proceeded to take a photo of the incorrect door as proof and close the job without any form of verification.

No knock. No confirmation call. No attempt to check the unit number twice. The neighboring unit’s door was even open, yet no communication occurred. My groceries were simply abandoned and declared successfully delivered.

This is not just inconvenient; it is negligent.

Customer Support: Functional but Fails the Consumer

Reaching support required navigating an AI-driven chatbot system that felt inefficient during an already stressful situation. Only by typing "live agent" was I able to speak to a human representative.

While the agent was polite, the solutions offered placed the responsibility of resolving the issue unfairly on me as the paying customer.

The Two Options Provided and Neither Ideal

1. Re-delivery of Compromised Groceries

This involved collecting the groceries from the wrong unit and re-sending them to me. This should never be an acceptable solution. Once items, espcially food, have been left unattended or potentially handled by unknown parties, their safety and hygiene can no longer be guaranteed.

I was even advised that I could check the groceries item-by-item upon arrival for issues; essentially asking me to quality-check goods that were already mishandled due to Redmart’s error which was totally un acceptable.

2. Refund Process

Even the refund was layered with unnecessary friction. I was presented with two sub-options:

Self-service via app: Faster in theory, but requires manually requesting a refund for every single item and confirming that I had "received" them simply because photographic proof existed despite it clearly showing the wrong address. Also not an option as it is not accurately represented.
Internal escalation by customer support: Less tedious but now indefinite in timeline, with no guaranteed processing window communicated upfront.

In the end, I opted for internal escalation as it was the only option that aligned with factual accuracy.

An Additional Disturbing Detail: A Late Call With No Resolution

To add to the frustration, the delivery rider called me approximately 2.5 hours after I raised and settled the issue with customer service. By that point, the situation had already caused significant inconvenience and stress.

During the call, he informed me about the misdelivery, but there was no sense of ownership or concrete resolution offered. I told him clearly that I had already requested for a refund through Redmart’s customer support. His response? He asked if I wanted everything to be refunded, to which I replied, yes, everything, as the whole delivery being sent to the wrong unit was already compromised.

However, the call ended with no clear closure, no confirmed action plan, and no reassurance. It felt less like accountability and more like an afterthought long after the damage had already been done.

What Should Have Happened

From a consumer rights perspective, this situation should have been handled with:

Immediate acknowledgment of delivery error
Automatic refund for the full order without conditional confirmations
Clear communication of refund processing time
Re-delivery option should be re-packing and delivery not collecting from the wrong unit; especially if it involved food of any kind.
Stronger delivery verification before marking orders as completed

What To Do If This Happens To You

If you ever face a similar situation, here is a more assertive and practical approach:

Document everything immediate: screenshot the incorrect delivery photo, order details, and timestamp.
Contact support and request escalation: type "live agent" and clearly state: "Delivery error to wrong unit. Items compromised. Refund required."
Reject re-delivery of unattended items
For both safety and consumer protection reasons, insist on a refund instead.
Ask for a clear refund timeline
Request confirmation in writing. Typical refund processing may take 3–10 working days, but escalation cases can extend beyond this.
Follow up if no update after 5 working days
Do not wait passively. Reopen the case and quote your case reference number if there are no updates.

Escalate if necessary

If unresolved, consider reaching out via Redmart’s email or Lazada Singapore’s customer care channels with full documentation. The key also is being patient and try to trust the process.

This incident was not just inconvenient: the emotional exhaustion of chasing support, making decisions I shouldn’t have had to make, and worrying about my refund should never be part of what is meant to be a convenience service.

Mistakes are human. But systems exist to prevent them, and when those systems fail, strong recovery processes are non-negotiable.

Convenience Should Not Mean Compromise

As consumers, we pay for reliability, safety, and peace of mind. A service failure combined with a burdensome recovery process signals a deeper issue that needs attention.

I am sharing this experience not to attack, but to advocate for clearer procedures, stronger delivery accountability, and more transparent resolution timelines. Redmart has the potential to improve this process, but consumer convenience should never come at the cost of responsibility.

This should not be the norm. And customers should not have to fight this hard for what should have been done right the first time.