Many elderly people were tricked into buying Korean ginseng at exorbitant prices.
Many old people, out of pity for the money, stopped eating and cried after spending all their savings to buy red ginseng after shady seminars.
Strange Seminars
Receiving information from readers, in the last days of January 2018, Lao Dong Newspaper reporters took on the role of investigating the shady sales seminar activities of Ghangwa Vina General Trading and Service Company Limited, located at Building I9, Lane 13, Khuat Duy Tien, Hanoi.
This company holds product introduction seminars from Monday to Saturday every week at its headquarters. Mornings from 8am to 10am, afternoons from 1pm to 3pm, with only Sundays off. Each session has hundreds of participants, most of whom are elderly women over 70 years old. “The company restricts men and does not allow young people to attend the seminars,” a customer informed.
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| Illustration photo |
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan (62 years old, resident of Thanh Xuan Bac ward, Thanh Xuan district, who attended many seminars to promote products of Ghangwa Vina Company), at first, she and many other old ladies were sent free seminar tickets by the company's employees to their homes, and were also given gifts. The presenter at the seminar was Mr. Trong - the company's director, from the South.
Regarding the content of the presentations, Ms. Lan said: “Director Trong mainly talked about elderly health care and introduced ginseng types, with many uses, preventing and treating many diseases for the elderly. Initially, they sold 26 million VND/box of red ginseng extract, then reduced it to 18 million VND/box and then to 9.8 million VND/box.”
According to research, the elderly who pay to buy the product will get a VIP card and when attending the seminar will sit in the front row, those who do not buy will have to sit in the back seat. There is always a team of consultants here to introduce and persuade the elderly to buy the product.
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| Elderly people attending a ginseng sales seminar of Ghangwa Vina Company. |
Ms. Lan confided that the elderly are often afraid of illness, and this company has "hit" their psychology, so despite the "exorbitant" price of the product, many elderly people are still willing to pay. However, at this time, many elderly people who have bought ginseng extract expressed regret and worry when their children and grandchildren told them that the price of this product on the market is only about 1/10 of the price sold by Ghangwa Vina Company.
The "bitter taste" of ginseng
Mr. Nguyen Khanh (25 years old, residing in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi) said that after attending a seminar of Ghangwa Vina Company, his grandmother hid from her family and took all 30 million VND from her savings for old age to buy 3 boxes of ginseng from this company.
When the family found out, the old lady said: “Mr. Trong - the company director - said that just drinking this box of red ginseng extract will make you much younger and healthier, not afraid of illness, and save a lot of money going to the hospital. Why not buy it?”
Khanh's grandmother also said that she was not the only one who bought ginseng, but hundreds of other men and women who attended the conference also spent tens of millions of dong to "invest in health".
“The last time my uncle came home from Korea, he looked at the ginseng box and said that this ginseng is sold all year round in Korea, as much as radishes. As for the type of red ginseng extract that my grandmother bought for 10 million VND, the highest price there is only about 2 million VND in Vietnamese currency. My grandmother felt sorry for the money, cried, stopped eating for several days and still had to stay home and receive IV fluids,” Mr. Khanh said bitterly.
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| The headquarters of Ghangwa Vina General Trading and Service Company Limited is locked and silent (small photo). Photo: PV |
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi - a member who has attended this company's seminars many times) said that Ghangwa Vina Ginseng Company has moved its headquarters to Ha Dinh ward but did not disclose the specific address and operating time.
According to the reporter's records, the new headquarters of Ghangwa Vina General Trading and Service Company Limited is still locked and quiet. A shop owner opposite this company said: "Before Tet, there were still some relatives of the elderly coming to meet the company's people to ask about ginseng products, but because the company was closed for too long, they decided to give up."
Through discussion, Ms. Ngo My Linh - Vice Chairman of Thanh Xuan Bac Ward People's Committee - said that immediately after learning about the incident, the authorities inspected the headquarters of Ghangwa Vina General Trading and Service Company Limited. However, up to now, this company is still closed and there is no sign of it resuming operations.
“After learning about the incident, we reported it to the Thanh Xuan District People's Committee and provided information to the police for investigation. Currently, the authorities are still in the process of investigating and collecting information. The ward's viewpoint is to thoroughly resolve this company's violations in accordance with the law, preventing the practice of enticing and luring the elderly to buy red ginseng extract at sky-high prices,” Ms. Linh affirmed.
