On the evening of September 18, a Facebook post appeared by an account named Giang Tran, reflecting on the fact that a volunteer group traveling to Yen Bai City to provide relief to flood victims stopped at Hien Anh Restaurant (Gioi Phien Commune, Yen Bai City) for lunch and was overcharged.
According to this article, a volunteer group of 12 people ordered 4.5 kg of river catfish for 900,000 VND/kg, 2 plates of fried meat for 180,000 VND/plate, 9 cans of beer for 25,000 VND/can, 6 cans of coke for 15,000 VND/can and 2 bowls of rice for 20,000 VND/bowl. The bill for this meal was 4,765,000 VND.
According to the post by Facebook account owner Giang Tran, the restaurant charging 4,765,000 VND for this meal is "unacceptable" in the context of the whole group going to Yen Bai to do charity work for flood victims.
The article received a lot of support after being posted because it was thought that the items on the bill were too expensive compared to the general level.
Below the comment section, an account named Ni Hao said that a 180,000 VND meat dish is twice as expensive, and a 900,000 VND/kg catfish is too expensive. In Hanoi, it's okay, but in Yen Bai, the price difference is too great.
An account named Quynh Nguyen wrote that the volunteer group traveled from far away to help the people of Yen Bai, but the restaurant overcharged them, which is very embarrassing for the people of Yen Bai.
"Don't forget the story of Ba Lien's Clean Rice in Ha Long, now boycotted and deserted" - one account reminded.
On the morning of September 19, speaking with Lao Dong, restaurant owner Hien Anh said that the restaurant did not want to justify or explain this issue. "Currently, the restaurant is busy with many things, fighting storms and floods," this person said.
According to the reporter's reference in Yen Bai market, currently local restaurants often sell 2 types of fish: river catfish (natural) and lake catfish (usually raised in Thac Ba Lake).
A famous fish restaurant owner in Yen Bai City said that for lake catfish, the selling price for customers is around 300,000 - 400,000 VND/kg. As for river catfish, the import price is 800,000 - 900,000 VND/kg. Therefore, the selling price must be from 1,100,000 VND - 1,200,000 VND for the restaurant to make a profit.
"I don't know exactly what kind of fish Hien Anh restaurant sells to customers. If it's lake catfish, there are obvious signs of overcharging. But if it's river fish, the restaurant only sells it at the same price as imported fish, which is quite unreasonable for business operations," he said.
