A man from Binh Duong Province has decided to sue Tribeco Company for refusing to grant him the VND100 million (USD4,700) prize he won by using their product.
The winning card the carton of instant noodles
Ta Van An found a VND100 million winning ticket after buying a carton of instant noodles made by the Tribeco Company. He contacted company employees who told him that the card was invalid. An said that after he was offered a lesser sum and refused, there was no response from Tribeco, so he hired an attorney and began preliminary legal proceedings on July 24.
Meanwhile, a representative from Tribeco affirmed that the winning ticket was invalid and said that they were preparing necessary documents before making any statement to the press. They said that they were currently unable to provide any more information because company executives were on vacation. "We have nothing to hide and are ready to disclose any relevant information," said the representative on July 25.
After An went public, a woman called Tienphong Newspaper and said she was from the Department of Export Promotion. She confirmed that Tribeco's promotion campaign had been licensed by the department.
However, Bui Huy Son, head of the Department of Export Promotion, which is under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said they were looking into the case and the woman was not a department official. "We asked the local Department of Industry and Trade for detailed information but haven't received a reply," Son said.
According to an expert in trade, it looks like Tribeco does not intend to deal with the case appropriately. He went on to say that Tribeco might want to prolong the situation until the promotion campaign expires.