Authorities in Hue are finally investigating a local tourist agency after it was accused of continuously swindling and cheating foreign tourists.
Many tourists have been tricked at Adin's Cafe
Nguyen Van Thang, Chief Inspector of local Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said he was finally inspecting Adin’s Cafe owner Nguyen Dang Linh.
The latest scam was detected at the end of August when a man told two tourists that the local railway station was undergoing repairs and that they had to buy tickets to Hanoi at Adin's Cafe on 37 Bui Thi Xuan Street in Phuong Duc District. Seeing that the ticket prices were abnormally higher than usual at VND750,000 (USD36) per ticket, they had called an emergency hotline for foreigners in Hue who are in difficulties to ask for advice.
The inspectors visited Adin's Cafe where Linh admitted that he had been selling tickets at a VND350,000 mark-up. After receiving VND400,000 refund the tourists continued on their way.
This is not the first time that complaints have been made by tourists against Linh for selling tickets for rip-off prices. On February 12, reporter Katarina Rejger and her co-worker went to the police when they were sold tickets at VND340,000 higher than the normal rate by Linh.
Many tourism companies reported that they had also received complaints from tourists about a short Vietnamese man who sold tickets at Hue train station yet had never turned up to pick them up.
Linh issued tickets on behalf of A-Z Queen Travel Company, City Tour, DMZ Tours or under the An Phu brand, either using the names of companies that don’t operate in Hue, or blatantly posing as an official representative of well-established travel agencies.
Following these accusations the Hue Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism confiscated Linh's illegal business materials. However, despite committing fraud, Linh only received a reprimand and was requested to continue.
Chief Inspector Thang continued, "But he didn’t keep his pledge. Not only did he make a bigger signboard, but he also called our emergency number and swore at us, but he also sent untruthful complaints to other places. We have asked repeatedly asked agencies to deal with the Adin's Cafe case, but absolutely nothing has been done."
Thang has continued to call for stronger measures to deal with the serial fraudster.