PUBLISHED ONMay 07, 2026 3:45 AMUPDATEDMay 11, 2026 7:11 AMBYEsther LamA durian seller in Aljunied has been accused by a customer of using dishonest methods to pressure customers into making a purchase.
A post made in Facebook group Complaint Singapore on May 1 by user Brad Lee, with a photo of the stall and titled "dishonest durian seller", warned of their alleged "unethical sales tactics" and advised people to avoid at all cost.
Lee and his mother had visited a durian stall under Block 95 Aljunied near Geylang East Market & Food Centre that day, and he asked the durian seller if it was possible to open up one of the fruits for checking before purchasing, to which the seller allegedly agreed.
He told AsiaOne that the incident occurred around 5pm that day when he was visiting his grandma who lives here and wanted to eat durian.
The 30-year-old wrote: "First durian I opened was okay, ripe and soft. I told him I wanted two more."
This administrative manager then picked a smaller durian to open but claimed that the seller put it back and insisted on opening the one he picked, which was visually bigger.
"I was a bit sceptical but he reassured me that bigger (meant) more meat (which I know wasn't true)," Lee recounted.
"He opened it and the meat was super hard with very big seeds. I told him, 'I'm rejecting this.'"
Lee claimed that the seller then started raising his voice, forcing him to buy the fruit and retorting in Chinese: "I open already, you don't want? You think what?"
Lee added that the seller had earlier said that if he ate the durian and the meat was hard, he would give it to them for free.
However, when Lee's mother requested he try it, the seller allegedly refused and claimed that he doesn't eat customers' food.
"My mother felt that he was being very unreasonable and kept raising his voice at us. She decided to pay $100 and leave as she did not want the situation to escalate," wrote Lee.
Many netizens took to the comments to condemn the durian seller for using underhanded tactics to force a sale.
"When durian sellers insist to pick the fruits for you instead of you picking the fruits already is a red flag to walk away," said one.
"Personally, I boycotted all durian sellers in Geylang because I have been conned by them (different sellers) too many times. They are either unethical, have poor quality control and some will sell you fake MSW if you are not discerning enough," pointed out another netizen.
Others also shared their own experiences with this particular seller, with one netizen even noting that the seller is "famous" for using such tactics.
"I bought from this stall before, their quality by luck. So I never patrol again," wrote another.
"This shop will always try to force u buy one. If u just want to look look only he will start to like show the durian and open it then when open already ask to buy"
AsiaOne has reached out to Lee for more information.
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