Many Vietnamese customers who had eagerly booked and paid for super cheap tourism packages on some websites have ended up swallowing the bitter pill with unexpected happenings.

Along with the development of information technology, more and more consumers in the Southeast Asian country tend to turn to the Internet to plan for their trips via websites operated by online travel agencies.

What local holidaymakers did not expect is that some of such online tour providers are associated with frauds.

Online advertising

Victims of fraudulent travel agencies may have themselves to blame, as they have put too much trust in online ads run by those dishonest service providers.

One such victims, Khanh, said she paid nearly VND80 million (US$3,440) for a tour to Taiwan for her family of eight people in late May.

"I came across an ad for the package on social media, and the company’s website was also certified by the Ministry of Industry and Trade,” Khanh said.

The woman said the company held many live-stream sessions to promote their tour on Facebook, with some of the videos garnering thousands of views.

“In addition, the price offered was so attractive that I decided to make booking without any hesitation,” the victim admitted.

However, more than two months after she paid for the booking, Khanh and her family still could not depart for Taiwan.

When questioned by Khanh, the company explained that all of the family’s visa applications were rejected, without showing the woman any proof of the visa failure, and firmly refused to give her any refund.

It’s not until recently did Khanh realize she was deceived by this company, which had in fact stopped offering tours for a while.

Play it by ear

Khanh’s case was only one of many examples where customers fall for the tricks by these fraudulent tour operators.

The dishonest companies often send employees to physically collect payment from holidaymakers, or request money transfer immediately after the bookings are made online.

These companies then do not perform their commitment with the customers by deliberately reporting making mistakes such as wrongly filling information or providing incorrect airplane codes.

Kim, another victim, said she booked a tour to the south-central Vietnamese resort city of Nha Trang for her and her friends at Vietgiadinh, which specializes in selling air tickets and organizing tours, after getting to know the company through the Facebook page of a famous model.

With a deposit of over VND40 million ($1720) from Kim, Vietgiadinh promised to arrange air tickets and to provide her the customer codes and flight information later.

"They sent people to collect money at my house and gave me the receipt so I had no doubts,” the victim recalled.

However, Kim and her companies faced a series of mishaps right after their departure.

Upon arriving at the airport, Kim and her friends were shocked to learn that their names were not in the list of the flight passengers.

She immediately called the company, only to be told that it made some unknown mistakes. Kim and her friends were also asked to wait two more hours at the airport until she received another airplane code.

“But the whole tour was really miserable and extremely embarrassing,” Kim said.

When the tourists came to check in at the hotel stated in the package, no one at the facility knew anything about Kim’s booking.

She called the company again and was guided to another hotel at a lower standard.

"It’s obvious that they did not organize the tour, they only dealed with the situation as it developed," said Kim.

The terrible trip did not end there as the company suddenly informed her of a flight delay and blamed it on the airline when she was about to return to Ho Chi Minh City.

"My family did not believe it, so we checked the information from the airline and was confirmed there was no delay,” the woman said.

“Then I was blown up to know that the travel company deliberately postponed the flight and bought cheaper tickets from another airline."

According to many victims like Kim, they received only one way tickets while hotels also reported no receipts from the owners of the travel websites, even they had covered payment for return airfares and surcharges.

Don’t go blind because of cheap prices

Nguyen Thi Khanh, vice chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, said the sale of tours through the Internet was recently promoted by many companies.

This form of tour service can help customers easily select trips suitable with their budget while saving time as they do not have to come to the company’s office to make the deal.

However, the convenience also becomes the loophole that allows dishonest companies to sell tours online without any obstacle, according to Khanh.

The Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association always recommends that people carefully consider before buying cheap tours, advising that they should choose prestigious travel brands.

Before buying a tour, holidaymakers should carefully study what the package includes such as meals, hotels, insurance for passengers and incurred fees if any.

With overseas tours, customers should ask if the company has an international travel business license.

“Scams are often handled by individuals or intermediaries, who receive commissions to sell cheap tours or travel vouchers or vouchers of restaurant related to tourist destinations,” said Tran The Dung, deputy general director of The He Tre (Young Generation) tourism company.

“Therefore, visitors must stay very calm before the [attracttive] offers,” Dung said.