Beware of tricks of inviting elderly people to attend seminars to sell high-priced products

Authorities helpless?

In recent days, at the hall of Dai Phu Gia Hotel (Tan Ky town, Tan Ky district), Korea Mart Tan Ky Company Limited continued to organizeseminar, introducing products and selling to people. Previously, after the authorities organized an inspection and people rushed to return the goods, this company announced a 3-day suspension of operations.

However, after paying a fine of 1.5 million VND for not posting prices, the company resumed operations. According to the reporter, on April 25, about 100 people attended the workshop organized by the company, all of whom were elderly. “I don’t understand what they said at the workshop that the elderly believed so much. Many elderly people spent tens of millions of VND to buy a carpet, then their children found out and brought it back. However, now they insist on buying it back. They say they can’t sleep without that carpet. So their children have to continue buying it,” said Ms. Tran Thi Quynh (34 years old, Tan Ky town).

Korea Mart Tan Ky Company Limited continues to organize seminars, introduce products, and sell to people. Photo: Contributor

Tan Ky district leaders said that, faced with the complicated situation and signs of abnormality, Tan Ky district established an interdisciplinary team to inspect, but the enterprise presented all the procedures and documents, so there was no basis for handling. Tan Ky district People's Committee then had to issue a document asking the Market Management Department and the Department of Industry and Trade to help the district inspect and verify the quality of goods and the origin, prices of goods and services of Korea Mart Tan Ky Company Limited.

However, after the inspection, the market management team was only able to impose a fine of 1.5 million VND for not posting prices. “Regarding the procedures, this company presented all the documents. The products introduced and sold also have their origin. Therefore, the only fine that can be imposed is the act of not posting prices,” said the leader of Market Management Team No. 5 (Nghe An Market Management Department).

This person said that the market management agency regularly collects information and coordinates with localities to handle violations in the trading of goods. “However, the authority of the market management agency is also limited. Meanwhile, the above-mentioned business units have fully prepared documents and carefully studied the regulations before operating. Therefore, in addition to the handling work of the authorities, it is necessary to propagate to raise people's awareness, vigilance, and alertness when buying goods and using services.

Many elderly people attended the workshop. Photo: Contributor

Many people fall into the promotion "trap"

According to the reporter's investigation, not only in Tan Ky, recently in localities such as Vinh City, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Cua Lo town... similar forms of sales have also appeared.Tricks to organize a conferenceGiving low-value gifts and then selling products at high prices to the elderly is not new, but there are still many people who fall into this trap because they are greedy for promotional gifts.

With this trick and limited awareness of the people, companies have easily exploited greed to sell low quality products at very high prices. Many families have fallen into discord because parents hide large sums of money from their children to buy expensive products, only to discover after a short time of using them that they have been deceived.

A few months ago, a company rented a hall at the Phoenix Hotel (Trung Do Ward, Vinh City) and loudly distributed invitations to people attending a conference. Their target customers were also the elderly. The invitation clearly stated that all those who arrived on time would receive a 5-liter can of laundry detergent. In addition, there was a chance to receive 3kg of seasoning powder, 3 bottles of fish sauce, and 3 bottles of dishwashing liquid.

Invitation to a product introduction to sell high-priced goods in Vinh City. Photo: Contributor

Thinking that “gifts fall from the sky”, about 200 people, mostly elderly women, happily attended the conference. Here, the company's group said that this was a conference to give gifts and introduce the company's upcoming products; only "giving gifts without taking money is to ask you guys later when the company's products are sold in big supermarkets, you will know how to use and advertise this good product to help the company".

After that, this group sold cheap items to people such as a bottle of dishwashing liquid for 10,000 VND, a package of seasoning powder for 200,000 VND... After selling to people, this group returned the exact amount of money that people had spent on those products. To strengthen people's trust and appeal to people's psychology of receiving gifts, this group continued to introduce more expensive products such as pressure cookers and rice cookers, both priced at 3.6 million VND. After the first 4 people bought, this group gave these 4 people gifts with the main gift being the exact amount of money that the pot had bought, which was 3.6 million VND. Seeing this, many people rushed to buy the products. However, these people were not given gifts like the previous people.

A witness present at the conference said that while a member of the sales team was arguing with her relative about not being satisfied with the product and expressing that she did not want to buy it anymore, she asked to return the product and get her money back, the group began to deny it. At this time, she discovered that the car carrying the group was running and backing up close to the door of the hotel hall. Suspecting that the group was planning to escape, she shouted for everyone to stop the car. When they heard her shout, the entire sales team quickly jumped into the passenger car that was waiting with the engine running, then drove the car out of the hotel door. She and her relative standing near the car chased after them, clinging to the front mirror of the car, but they deliberately swerved, forcing the two to let go. Her family member was also knocked off the road by the group.

Many elderly people spent all their savings over many years to buy expensive products after attending the seminar. Photo: Tien Hung

This woman said that when the sales group got into the car and ran away, only the first 4 people received gifts by returning the money they had bought, and no one else had received their “gifts” yet, even though dozens of people had spent from 3 million VND to 8 million VND to buy the products. In addition, many other people spent 150 thousand VND to buy gift vouchers to draw prizes, but before they could draw, nor were they given any gifts, the sales group had already run away, leaving behind the bewildered eyes of hundreds of elderly people.

"To own a pressure cooker, a rice cooker, a non-stick pan and a jar of herbal medicine, my relatives had to spend more than 8 million VND. Meanwhile, when researching online, these were all unbranded products with very low value. I thought that after buying them, the company would refund my money. Unexpectedly, after leaving the workshop, I realized that I had been scammed. I bought poor quality products while I had no money," the woman added./.

Tien Hung