VietNamNet Bridge – A representative of the Hanoi-based Trung Viet Taxi firm has apologized to and returned the money to an Australian couple who had to pay nearly VND1 million ($47) for a 7km journey in Hanoi.

Tourism official offers an apology to Australian tourist 

 

 

In the afternoon of April 30, the police of Cau Giay District, Hanoi, summoned a taxi driver named Cuong of Trung Viet Taxi for investigation of an act of overcharging. At the police station, the driver accepted that he claimed more fares than regulations and promised a refund.

According to Mr. Do Dung Thu, an inspector of Trung Viet Taxi, the company apologized to the Australian couple, David Patrick and his wife Brandi Dawn Burmey, and terminated the contract with the driver. The company also imposed a fine of VND20 million ($1,000) on the driver. This is the highest fine for a taxi driver for the act of overcharging.

Back from the Ha Long Bay and getting the refund, the Australian young couple was glad and thanked Vietnamese friends, especially the receptionist of the Vietnam Ethnology Museum who shared the story to the media and the Hanoi authorities who had quick response.

In the afternoon of April 28, they had to pay VND980,000 ($47) to driver Cuong of the Trung Viet Taxi for a 7km distance from the Military History Museum to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, though the meter showed the fare of VND98,000 ($4.5). The couple took photo of the driver and his car and showed the pictures to a receptionist at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, asking for her help.

In one week, two overcharging cases against foreign tourists were investigated in Hanoi.

At noon on April 23, Ilona Schultz and her two children paid a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. At around 11 am, she made a deal with a cyclo driver for the trip from the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to the Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre on Dinh Tien Hoang Road, at the price of VND70,000 ($3.5). However, driver Pham Van Chieu dropped them on Hang Trong Street and asked her to pay up to VND1.3 million. The driver was fined and had to give a refund to the passenger.

Two days later, three French tourists who had just arrived at the Noi Bai Airport were overcharged and threatened by a taxi driver and an employee of a hotel in the Hanoi’s old quarter. When the police investigated, the receptionist had to apologize to the visitors and compensated them VND10 million ($300).

Mai Lan