Cold calls and promotional sales have caused much trouble for people in Vietnam in recent times so locals have come up with various ways to deal with them and turn down the offers.

The trouble is not only publicly made by brazen individuals, but also by mobile phone operators, real estate firms, restaurants, banks, and insurance companies.

Expats and foreign tourists are not exempt from the trouble.

But don’t worry! Let us consult locals on tips to cope with it, as diamond cuts diamond.

From SMS, leaflets to ‘charity’

The most frequent trouble comes from phone operators when they flood subscribers with messages selling songs that can be set as ringback tones, offering promotions for scratch cards for pre-paid subscribers, and advertising other promotional programs.

The troubles also stem from other subscribers who send messages and make phone calls to promote services such as sales of apartments, kitchen utensils, insurance, and discounted goods from supermarkets.

On average, subscribers receive a few SMS messages for promotional sales a day. The majority of subscribers receive many such messages per day.

It is alleged that mobile phone operators forward the phone numbers, names, and other personal particulars of customers to the companies that want to advertise their goods. However, no one has ever admitted it.

Yet, banks and insurance firms often call mobile phone users and ask for the right name of the subscriber before requesting a minute to introduce their services.

A man named Dung wrote to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, “I am living in a small rented 25 square meter room and have a monthly income of just VND4 million [US$192].

“That means I am not able to buy a house but I often receive SMS messages about the sales of villas and apartments.”

Dung added he has been bombarded with many calls to invite him to open an account at a certain bank, with some even calling him when he was sleeping. He said he receives three or four SMS messages for promotions every day during a certain period, from supermarkets, restaurants, and companies.

“I blocked the phone numbers as spam but keep on receiving other SMS messages from other phone numbers the following days,” Dung noted.

“I am definitely not a potential customer of the services,” he said.

Companies even hire ‘armies’ of employees to drop leaflets on streets and in each house to promote goods.

Not only at home, the troubles also appear in public places where ‘the army’ of marketing staff members who are actually vendors are always willing to bother anyone there.

“Excuse me, please give me a few minutes to sell goods to raise funds for charity,” a man heard while walking in a park after work one day.

Without a response, the staffer began introducing souvenirs, food, nail clippers, and ear picks.

But the problem is the majority of the vendors in parks and public places are not doing it for charity, as workers from any charitable campaign are always ‘equipped’ with a letter of introduction to clarify his or her name, age, charitable program and its period, and the organizers of the program.

Tran Anh Viet, a ninth grader who lives in Binh Thanh District, recalled he was once invited to buy an item for charity for less than VND10,000 (50 U.S. cents).

He gave the vendor a VND50,000 bank note and the seller gave him a document to sign. Viet did not read the paper and signed it, and then the seller walked away with his VND50,000 note without returning any change.

Funny tips to turn them down

Tired of receiving calls from insurance companies and banks to introduce new products like low-interest loans, Hung has started using tricks to stop them.

-- “Excuse me, are you Mr. Hung from company A?”

-- “Yes, I am.”

-- “Glad to talk to you. I am from the bank B and want to tell you that we are now offering loans with low interest and you don’t need to deposit your assets as security, and [blah, blah, blah].”

-- “Good, is it OK to transfer from the U.S.?” Hung asked.

-- “Why is this?”

-- “I am now a U.S. permanent resident.”

-- “Oh, thank you, I am afraid not, and goodbye. Thank you.”

Hung said that by saying this, they will clear your name from their list for future promotional programs.

The bank official may not have enough tools to re-collect their money from the U.S. if there is a problem with the debtor.

Xuan recalled his tip to stop a vendor in a park by saying, “Sorry, please keep away. I am following a snatcher in this park.”

The vendor may have thought he was a secret policeman, or something else, and he immediately went away, Xuan said.

Vietnamese people sometimes say they are about to travel to Europe for a year, sell their house to move to a new location, or are retired from work already so that they have their names cleared from the ‘black lists.’

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