Despite local authorities’ efforts to stop them, street vendors have recently continued to increase in numbers and rip off tourists around Hanoi’s Old Quarter, worsening the beauty of the tourism area in visitors’ eyes.

1001 ways to lose money

Street vendors in the area have thousands of tricks to get tourists’ money through selling their goods, Tien Phong Newspaper reported.

It was an afternoon on Ma May street when two vendors were trying to force two foreign tourists to buy bracelets by put the jewelry into their hands. It was a hard mission but finally the travelers were able to escape from the sellers after 10 minutes of steadfastly refusing to buy the bracelets. But that didn’t matter since the vendors had a lot of other “potential customers” to reach everyday in the area, and not every traveler is strong enough to refuse their intense invitations. Many tourists have to buy the bracelets at the price of VND100,000.

Another trick, a special one, is fanning tourists and then asking them to buy goods. Despite the refusal of tourists who feel annoyed with the unwelcomed “service,” vendors continue their act and later asking for a ‘fanning fee’.

Two tourists are asked to buy fans though they already have. Photo: Tien Phong

On several streets like Be, Ma May and Bac, there are fruit vendors who are always ready to put their burdens on tourists’ shoulders to force them to pay what they call a “photo posing fee”, worth around ten thousand to one hundred thousand VND.

If travelers steadfastly refuse, they will put some fruit into a nylon bag and then use body language and try their best, and even argue to force tourists to by their products.

“Tourists only feel glad to buy our goods if we let them carry our shoulder poles for posing,” a seller told Tien Phong Newspaper’s correspondents after she forced two tourists to pay the fee.

"Carry it and pay me the fee." Photo: Tien Phong

Thieves and more

Not only do they get ripped off by street vendors, but tourists visiting the area in recent years also have to face thieves.

At 5pm one day, two men walked around with several maps that they kept asking travelers to buy. When they found a woman walking alone, the pair approached her and spoke some English. Though the visitor said no, they kept following her and finally succeeded in receiving VND100,000 through selling a map to the visitor, who had tired of the vendors’ non-stop offers.

After the first “victim,” the pair on to the next customer, a Korean man with a backpack. While one man distracted the tourist with maps, his partner took the chance and tried to open the backpack’s zip.

Fortunately, the visitor noticed and pulled the backpack in front of him after expressing his anger.

Taylor, an English man who seems to be experienced in avoiding becoming victim of such tricks, said his friends had earlier warned him about the rip-offs and thieves in the tourism area. Instead of wearing his backpack on his back, Taylor carefully keeps it in front.

“It makes me feel safe from thieves when I walk around here,” he explained.

Do Quan, a tour guide, said he always tells his customers to be careful and walk in groups, as well as avoid buying goods from street vendors, otherwise they will be ripped off or bring home poor-quality goods.

Street vendors keep following tourists everywhere in Hanoi's Old Quarter. Photo: Tien Phong

“However, many tourists have been victims of vendors’ tricks. A hat sometimes even costs over ten dollars. Travelers’ wallets and passports have gone missing, especially with tourists who travel alone,” Quan said.

At the end of July, local newswires posted news about a Scottish girl losing her passport while walking around the area. The poor girl was crying and promised to give US$100 to those who could help her get her passport back. Soon after the offer was made, a middle-aged woman came to her and showed her the passport in a car passing nearby. As promised, the local woman received US$100 for helping to find the passport.

It is not only tourists from foreign countries who face these problems, but domestic travelers have also suffered the same issues. Sometimes they have to pay prices which are five times higher than the original rate just for boiled corn.

These rip-offs do not only take place in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. In March, two eateries in the coastal city of Vung Tau were fined VND36.2 million (US$1,730) in total for overcharging tourists.

Tran Thanh Huong, who runs the Nhu Y eatery at 306 Phan Chu Trinh Street, was fined VND25 million for distributing the eatery’s flyers without permission, and for “using food additives with dubious origins in food trading.”

Meanwhile, Tran Thi Hue, owner of Hung Phat 2 eatery at 189 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, received a VND11.2-million fine and had her business license revoked for charging customers higher prices than registered.