No boycott!

(Baongehan) - As a last resort, after a long period of impatience, on January 26, 2015, the Minister of Finance was forced to sign the decision to establish 3 working groups to "immediately" inspect about 40 transportation businesses in several large cities, the reason being that these transportation businesses are in the group that "stand firm" with fares even though "friends" gasoline have done so (reduced prices) more than ten times in the past year.

A day later, the public's urging also "pulled" the Television Station into action by broadcasting a report reflecting the unfavorable situation at My Dinh bus station (Hanoi) when there were more than 100 transport businesses belonging to that "steadfast" group. In fact, this situation occurred in most provinces and cities, however, the 5 localities with businesses in the "target" this time were Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai.

We use the word “last resort” above because establishing a freight rate inspection team seems to be outside the plan and desire of the management agency. It is certainly not a “specialty” of the market mechanism, where administrative intervention is not always encouraged. The thing is, waiting for businesses to volunteer to reduce fares has not seen any movement, suggesting many times has not seen any movement, and even reminding has not worked, so we have to inspect again, it is truly a last resort.

People still have not escaped the mindset that the market is a battlefield, a place of fierce competition, so if there is a winner, there will be a loser, if there is a winner, there will be a loser. However, that is the way of looking at it, and it could also be a classical theory. Nowadays, that winning and losing is replaced by the principle of “win win”. Everything is fine! Instead of stealing the cake from the opponent, people join hands and cooperate with each other to make a bigger, even tastier cake. Unfortunately, it seems that this modern business theory is still somewhere strange, at least, through the reportage of the “television station”, it has not reached... My Dinh bus station! For nearly a year, the story of transportation fares has been talked about a lot, too much. However, what people are concerned about is not simply the unfair and even somewhat brutal way of making money in this type of service, but more importantly, through it, they can see and recognize the extremely backward philosophy and business culture that has existed openly and offensively in society. A market that is not the same as... a market. Instead of showing gratitude, they take advantage of picking the pockets of those who have "fed" them during the most difficult days. People blatantly turn the criterion "customer is king" into a slogan that is easy to understand, and a little more luxurious is using it in the summary conference. Gasoline prices have steadily dropped over and over again, but transportation fees are either indifferent or are slowly reduced by a few drops for decoration and flattery, or in common parlance, reduced by a few cents to "trick" customers. More brazenly, while gasoline prices are falling, there are still businesses that dare to submit a request to increase transportation fares because... Tet is near! It feels like service providers are no longer ashamed. They openly "resist the blow"! Passengers still have to swallow their pride. It's not that commuters don't know how to calculate mentally, but they can't go home by... walking. In short, "customers" have no other choice. Is that the key problem? There's more! Try going to a big bus station once, you certainly won't be able to tell which vehicles are "obedient" in reducing fares and which are "steadfast". I give up! This lack of transparency has contributed to the chaos. Is this the biggest loophole for the long-standing practice of grabbing and giving birth? Everyone thinks that the decrease in gasoline prices is a golden opportunity for businesses to simply lower product prices to improve competitiveness. The reduction in fuel price is the first reward for passengers, and the increase in the number of passengers is the “reward” for the “bus companies”. But we are different, every penny of fuel price reduction goes into the “bus companies” pocket. They happily increase trips and vehicles. Transport companies compete to take advantage of this and make huge profits, regardless of public opinion. Passengers still reluctantly get on the bus day after day and pay the fare like a game of hide and seek.

Why do we need to set up an inspection team? Why do businesses reduce fares as a favor to passengers and not the other way around? Why not let the market adjust itself according to the law of supply and demand? Why not let customers “treat” businesses instead of managers? The answer is simple, because… it is impossible!

In developed economies, it is normal for customers to boycott this or that brand when they see some damage, and it is considered civilized consumerism. Why? One is that they are educated about it, and two is that they have the conditions to do it. The conditions here can be understood as transparency and the opportunity to choose. In our country, passengers are probably fed up with the stubborn "transporters". But unfortunately, how do we know who is good, who is bad, who is expensive, who is cheap, to choose? Moreover, if we don't take the "bus", what means of transport should we use? Honestly, if they don't reduce the price, or even increase it, we have to close our eyes and grit our teeth and accept it, it's no joke!

It is time to create a more transparent and equal business environment in this field. Protecting customers with inspection teams is just a form of “taking painkillers”. The problem is to give passengers the opportunity to choose with transparency, help passengers identify bad transport “bosses”, and then reveal the ultimate rights of customers. Otherwise, there will still be more inspection teams, while consumers will be frustrated because they want to boycott but cannot.

Nguyen Khac An