Fake products seized by authorities

A recent survey by the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE) shows consumers faced serious problems such as harassment if they sued for compensation.

The survey was conducted online, with 1,200 respondents. The results were announced at a conference about consumers' right in Hanoi on March 12 -- 46 percent of people bought products that were inferior to what was advertised, 40 percent were sold products with unclear origins and some 33 percent were sold outdated or falsely branded foodstuffs.

Worryingly, 90 percent said they did not know where to go to have their rights protected and 70 percent said they were dissatisfied with the current complaint mechanism. Few bothered to file complaints or sue producers because they believed it was a waste of time and money.

Spoiled yogurt

Several experts said consumers have not fully utilised all their rights and, when they felt cheated, preferred to remain silent. The conference heard that the absence of public objection encouraged companies to become more brazen when cheating consumers. 

Consumers’ interests are protected by the law and consumers should use the Consumer Protection Association to file complaints. The association can sue for compensation on their behalf. But only about 1,000 complaints were lodged at Vietnam Standards and Consumers Association each year, compared with South Korea, where 800,000 cases are processed. annually.

Le Quang Binh, head of the iSEE, said the government can actively protect consumers by forcing enterprises to give more detail information. "Only when consumers have enough information about the products can they make informed choices," he said.