Photo of an eviction notice and wilting flowers at a florist shop at the Royal Square mall in Novena. Photos: Cassandra Hong/Facebook Not long after an argument over unpaid rent spurred her eviction, the owner of a Novena florist suspects she was review-bombed after her business was bombarded by complaints it had sent dead flowers.
At least five people to complain in recent days were unable to produce receipts of their purchase or photographic evidence of the spoiled flowers, Catherine Ong of the LA Atelier florist told Coconuts yesterday. She said that everyone who complained was “never a customer” and plans to report them to the authorities.
“Altogether they had fervently wrote multiple untruthful comments. We shall be making a police report against these people for their harassment and baseless attacks,” Ong said, linking the complaints to her dispute with the landlord, who she accuses of refusing to grant her relief in the form of four months’ rent under a government scheme .
“These messages seem[ed] to start after we had a tiff with our landlord over his refusal to accord us with the advanced COVID-19 relief which we sought for assistance from Ministry of Law,” she wrote.
The florist is located in the Royal Square mall. Someone answering the phone Tuesday in its rental office referred inquiries to his management but said he had no clue how to reach them. Emails to a general email listing had not been returned as of publication time.
The complaints about Ong’s shop were posted to La Atelier’s listings on Facebook , Google , and Shopify. Several included photos of the evacuation notice posted on the storefront instructing Ong to vacate by Jan. 22 after not paying rent for five months. Another photo showed wilting flowers inside the store.
The five complaints from Agnes Ng, Aisha Nur, Christina Lee Qian Er, Cassandra Hong and Serene Lau, indicated that they could not get ahold of Ong over their orders. None of those who complained has responded to requests for comment since yesterday.
“Ordered for Fresh flowers for my client but received rotten flowers just because they’re closing down!! Such Dishonest and irresponsible florist shop!! [Truly] disappointed. Order at your own risks!!” Cassandra Hong wrote Monday.
“Terrible shop!! Purchased fresh flowers from Catherine but delivered spoiled flowers. Called her many times but no answer no call back no response!! So irresponsible!! Worst scenario is I went down to their shop and found this notice!! Never pay rental for 5 months and just close shop and disappear?!?!?! Missing in action???! Worst experience I ever had ?!! Irresponsible!! BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK !!”
From the Source: Novena florist thinks ‘rotten flowers’ reviews were revenge after rent dispute