On February 17, speaking with VietNamNet reporter, Mr. Vu Tri Cuong (owner of King of Seafood 3 restaurant, Bai Chay ward, Ha Long city, Quang Ninh) confirmed the scandal on social media about a group of tourists accusing his restaurant of "rip-off" that took place at this restaurant.
According to Mr. Cuong, some posts on social media accusing the restaurant of "overcharging" are not accurate. The nature of the incident is not as commented on on social media.
Accordingly, on February 15 (the 6th day of the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin), King of Seafood 3 restaurant opened for business on the first day after Tet holiday, at around 9:00 p.m. on the same day, a group of 16 guests came in to order food.
At the fresh seafood tank area, the group of tourists directly requested 2.5kg of long-legged shrimp, 4kg of grouper, 2kg of large snails, 3kg of large mantis shrimp, 2kg of flower clams and 15 live oysters.
There are also side dishes such as rice, stir-fried vegetables, cabbage and meat soup, caramelized meat, beer and soft drinks.
Mr. Cuong added that the two sides had previously discussed the price and showed the diners the price list. Only when they agreed did they weigh the food and bring it in to cook.
"That day, I was also directly at the restaurant and even served food to the group of guests. During the service, no one complained about anything. The only thing was that the guest asked for cheese oysters but the restaurant ran out of cheese so I suggested switching to grilled oysters with scallion oil and they agreed," said Mr. Cuong.
Regarding the issue of prices being too high compared to normal and signs of "rip-offs" during Tet, Mr. Cuong informed that during Tet, market prices increase, some seafood products are scarce, so high prices are normal. Moreover, during Tet, restaurants hire employees to work with salaries 3 times higher, causing all costs to increase.
"Everyone has to make a profit, all costs increase during Tet. You can't compare the price of seafood in the market with the price in a restaurant because to make a dish, many things need to go with it. This is the first time my restaurant has been criticized like this, nothing like this has happened before," said Mr. Cuong.
Notably, on February 16, many social media accounts also posted articles claiming to be acquaintances of Mr. Cuong and said that the price of seafood during Tet was reasonable.
For example, a Facebook account named "Tran Hai" spoke up, saying that those who complain about the high prices should not go to Quang Ninh to eat seafood. The post then received many mixed and angry opinions. However, Mr. Cuong affirmed that he did not know this person and thought that this person arbitrarily posted the information, making the matter more complicated.
Previously on February 16, a post appeared on Facebook accusing a restaurant located in Bai Chay Ward, Ha Long City (Quang Ninh) of "ripping off" customers by charging nearly 12 million VND for dinner there.
Specifically, a Facebook account named Pham Huyen Trang reported that a group of 16 diners went to the restaurant Vua Hai San 3 and ate 2 bowls of dried shrimp for 2.1 million VND, a plate of grade 5 mantis shrimp for 1.3 million VND, and when ordering cheese oysters, they were given oysters with scallion oil, clams and snails that were all small. The bill for this group of diners' meal was 11,785,000 VND.
The information was also posted on many social networking sites, making many people angry.
Immediately afterwards, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, Chairman of Bai Chay Ward People's Committee, said that local authorities had stepped in to verify.
Accordingly, during the process of exchanging, buying and selling goods and serving customers, the restaurant provided a price list and agreed with customers on the prices for the items requested by the customer group. At the same time, during the process of using the service, customers did not have any complaints.
The restaurant has provided a price list of items for sale in the establishment, a business registration certificate and a food safety certificate.
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