150 bouquets, zero downpayment, and one very expensive lesson

On 8th Sept, we got an order so big it could’ve been our highlight of the year. Instead, it turned into one of our most expensive lessons.

At 3pm, we received what looked like the biggest order we’d ever had:

• 150 small bouquets

• 4 extra-large bouquets

• Pickup scheduled for 1pm on 10th August

That’s less than 48 hours’ notice! 😳 For a small business like ours, the request was massive—but exciting. His instructions were: “Just make as many as you can. I’ll take what’s ready.”

The cherry on top? He said it was a corporate order from the government.

Red Flags We (Almost) Ignored

We asked for a downpayment. He said he’d send the invoice to his office, then disappeared. By the next morning, still no confirmation. But with good faith (and maybe a touch of overconfidence), we started preparing anyway.

We told him we could only manage 100 bouquets.
At 3pm the next day, he finally replied:

• No downpayment.

• Will pay SGD 2,200 in cash on collection.

• The order was supposedly from Bedok Army Camp.

It felt strange, but we still tried to compromise. We told him: “Without downpayment, we’ll only prepare 50 bouquets.”He agreed and gave us his word.

Meanwhile, we even turned down a few legitimate smaller orders because this so-called “corporate” one would max out our capacity.

The Collection Day Drama

We got everything ready—50 small bouquets, carefully crafted. On collection day, he kept assuring us:

• His “men” would pick up.

• Payment would be SGD 1,100 in cash.

We waited. And waited. Three hours past the appointment time, he finally called—only to say he would only accept the order if we had all 150 bouquets.

When we reminded him of the agreement, he dodged responsibility, threw in army-style excuses like “an officer wants to talk to us”, then stopped responding altogether.

At that moment, it was clear: we’d been led on, strung along, and stood up.

The Cost of Good Faith

We had already bought supplies, invested hours of work, and completed 50 bouquets. The outcome? A painful loss of around SGD 1,100—plus the frustration of rejecting real customers for a fake one.

What We Learned 🌼

• No downpayment, no bulk order. Period.

• Always ask for a signed purchase order for corporate jobs.

• Trust your gut. If it feels sketchy, it probably is.

• And most importantly: an “I give you my word” doesn’t pay the bills.

Not every order is a good order. This one turned into a thorny lesson—but one that taught us resilience and sharpened our instincts.