Military personnel and task forces who are helping deliver food and aid to households in Ho Chi Minh City have reported numerous residents placing prank orders over the past few days.

City authorities have arranged personnel to go shopping for food for households at a time when all residents have been requested to stay home in according with the ‘shelter-in-place’ mandate that came into force on Monday.

Accordingly, people either make a list of food they want to buy or choose available combos designed by their local authorities and send the purchase orders to military delivery forces via phone calls or text messages.

Cash-on-delivery and bank account transfer after delivery are common payment methods in this shopping model.

While the model has proved helpful in several areas across the city, functional forces in some wards have seen numerous prank orders, with the flakers disappearing when being contacted to settle the payments.

Notably, authorities in Tay Thanh Ward, Tan Phu District reported up to about 30 prank orders on Friday, according to the ward’s chairman Phan Thanh Hoa.

Being contacted over the phone, some of the buyers did not answer while others said that they had never placed orders.

The troops had no choices but to return Friday’s prank orders to supermarkets, which showed cooperation in accepting the returned goods.

Hiep Tan, Tan Quy, and Phu Thanh Wards in Tan Phu District also experienced the same problem, with the flakers citing late delivery and the intention to check if the model really works as reasons for their rejection.

According to the aforementioned ward leaders, the process of compiling orders, going shopping and traveling is time consuming, leading to slow delivery.

“We ask for your understanding during this difficult period, and please, consider carefully before placing an order to avoid the waste of our delivery manpower,” said a ward leader.

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