Global LLC Showroom: Cheating consumers in BigC Vinh Supermarket

(Baonghean) - Mr. Ho Sy Trung, residing in Hamlet 8, Hung Chinh Commune, Vinh City, sent a petition to Nghe An Newspaper complaining that the infrared cooker showroom of Global Import-Export and Trading Company Limited located in BigC Vinh Supermarket had deceived consumers. Investigation and verification showed that this incident...

Consumers are outraged!

Mr. Ho Sy Trung wrote: "In December 2013, I went to BigC Vinh Supermarket and saw an infrared stove counter on the first floor. When I arrived, several employees came over to greet me enthusiastically, then introduced a pair of infrared electric stoves printed with the words Saniyo - Made in Japan, which they said was imported from Japan, worth 20 million VND but would be discounted 4 million VND. Because the house was under construction, I said I would get it when it was finished. They wrote down my name, address, and phone number and then called me repeatedly to inquire. After a while, they said over the phone, "Today is the company's founding day, there is a golden hour promotion, so the pair of infrared stoves are reduced to 12 million VND and will only be available for 3 days, please come down and buy." I went down to buy, they brought the stove to install at home and gave me an additional set of pots and pans (worth 3.5 million VND), and wrote a sales invoice and warranty card.

Mr. Ho Sy Trung and the infrared electric stove of unknown origin.

Before my family could use it, an acquaintance came to visit, looked at the stove and said "You've been fooled, this is a Chinese stove, worth no more than 6 million VND". When I showed the warranty card to check, it was indeed a product from one place, a different warranty, there was nothing to prove that the product was made in Japan. I went back to ask, but they were evasive, unable to prove the origin of the product. On February 21, 2014, I brought the stove down to return it, they accepted the stove and said "When the stove is sold, we will refund the money, or return 4 million VND to you and you can take the stove home to use". I did not agree, asked them to pay the full amount because I had bought a fake stove...

After that, I continued to go down to return the stove and was asked by the seller named Dung to go to the rented room to talk. Here, Dung said that the money had been transferred to the company so it could not be returned, if anything happened next week the company director would contact me to resolve it completely. After waiting for a whole week without any news, I continued to go to BigC to ask and coincidentally met the director named Quyen. Quyen pulled me to a sympathetic coffee shop and said, "You can rest assured to use the stove, and the company will return you 4 million VND and give you an extra multi-purpose pan." When I disagreed, Quyen loudly said, "You are a special person so you are treated like that, but other people do not have this...". Knowing that I could not get my money back, I had to accept to take the 4 million VND and the multi-purpose pan back as evidence."

We looked at the things Mr. Trung bought and compared them with the sales invoice and warranty card, and found that the showroom of Toan Cau Trading and Import-Export Company Limited at BigC Supermarket had many unclear points. The warranty card had the company stamp, printed with the logo KITCHEN Made in Japan stating "100% genuine imported goods", but the infrared double stove did not have any signs to prove that it was made in Japan. The packaging was made of thin cardboard lined with a few pieces of poor quality foam, patched together. The stove was black, the letters printed on the surface were not sharp, the stove had no brand, only a few sloppily pasted labels made of normal paper with a rough description of the warranty period, model... The 8-page 13x18cm catalog in English also did not include the product name, origin, or manufacturer. Even the promotional pots and pans are of poor quality because the screws are stamped with aluminum, the handles are not insulated... Mr. Trung said: "Because I bought a fake stove, for more than 4 months now I still have not completed my family's kitchen. Why are there stalls in BigC Supermarket that deceive consumers like that?"

Video clip of Toan Cau staff advertising the brand and origin of infrared cookers:

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Exposing the scam

Pretending to be someone who wanted to buy an infrared double stove, we went to the showroom of Toan Cau Trading and Import-Export Company Limited at BigC Vinh Supermarket and saw what happened exactly as Mr. Trung had described. A group of young female employees gathered around to invite us to see the goods, excitedly introducing the quality of the products and then called a male employee named Thang to come out to meet me. Thang asked me to "Stay a few more minutes to fully introduce the features of the infrared stove". After showing off, he invited me inside the counter to chat and clicked his tongue regretfully: "If only you had come here yesterday, it would have been better".

- Why so?

- Yesterday (March 31, 2014 - PV) to celebrate the company's founding anniversary, the infrared double stove was discounted 20% to 16,000,000 VND. If you buy it today, it will cost you 19,990,000 VND.

- There must be some reduction, right?

- To reduce the price, I have to ask my director's opinion. Please leave your address and phone number so I can ask the leader's opinion...

Asking to see a new product set, Thang ordered a female employee to bring out a Saniyo infrared double stove in its original packaging. When opened, it was the same as Mr. Ho Sy Trung's. Thang asked: Why don't imported goods have labels or import stamps for consumers to identify the product and its origin? Thang explained: "If you like import stamps, we can put on dozens of them. We have 2 counters here on the 1st and 3rd floors, and the market management comes to check every day. Our company's products are genuine Japanese products, not smuggled goods. You can rest assured about the quality. We guarantee up to 15 years....".

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We suggested that Mr. Trung contact a salesman named Dung. When Mr. Trung arrived at the counter on the first floor, the staff there said: "Mr. Dung is going back to his hometown to repair his house". However, when he went up to the counter on the third floor, a female staff called Dung out for Mr. Trung to meet. Seeing Mr. Trung continuing to talk about the old story, afraid that it would affect sales, Dung invited Mr. Trung to a coffee shop next to the fence of the Viet Duc Children's Cultural House to talk. Dung repeatedly loudly persuaded Mr. Trung to be assured of the quality of the stove and that only Mr. Trung would be treated so well by the company's leaders and that the selling price of 8 million was too preferential. When Mr. Trung told Dung directly: I don't need cheap, I just need to buy genuine imported Japanese goods, Dung said bluntly: "You can buy imported goods, but you have to pay 48 million VND. As for my company's goods, they are... Japanese components, assembled in Vietnam".

Checking the market outside BigC Vinh Supermarket, infrared cookers are very available. At an electrical appliance counter near B3 apartment building, Quang Trung Ward, the shop owner introduced several brands of infrared cookers, including the Saniyo - Madein Japan brand... identical to the one in BigC Vinh Supermarket (from packaging, stove body, label, model). We asked to buy a Saniyo - Madein Japan brand cooker... identical to the one in BigC Vinh Supermarket, but the shop owner told us that the price was only 5 million VND and advised us not to use this type because the quality is not trustworthy. The shop owner said: There are never imported Saniyo - Made in Japan infrared cookers, only Chinese ones, even the ones in supermarkets!.

According to the regulations on product labels and what has been witnessed, it can be affirmed that the infrared cooker showroom of Toan Cau Trading and Import-Export Company Limited at BigC Vinh Supermarket is deceiving consumers.

When going to reputable supermarkets, the basic thing consumers want is to feel secure in buying quality goods. BigC is one of the big brands with a chain of supermarkets in almost every province and city across the country. What does BigC Vinh think when there is a showroom here that is deceiving consumers?

Article and photos:Ha Giang