VietNamNet Bridge – It seems to be more difficult to ask someone to pay debts nowadays, when all businesses and people are bogged down in the economic recession. Therefore, it requires special tricks to recover debts.

Tran Van Hon, 57, asks for payment for fish

In 2002, the owner of a Piaggio X9 scooter in HCM City “invented” a new method of asking for reimbursement. The man, who believed that he unluckily bought a low quality product, asked the distributor to replace 19 motorbike parts for him, free of charge.

However, since he was refused to do that, he stuck the words “Ban se hoi han neu mua X9” (you will feel regret if you buy X9) on the scooter, which he drove everywhere. The slogan then appeared everywhere in the city. Especially since the scooter driver parked the scooter right in front of a sales agent of Piaggio motorbike manufacturer. The shop owners then had to ask for the help of the police to drive the man away.

Some months later, the news about a man who hired some people to push his Ford car, which was damaged because the air bag did not inflate during the accident. The event then attracted a lot of people, who followed the car around the Hoan Kiem Lake in the central area of Hanoi. Of course, the information then appeared on the first page of a series of local newspapers as breaking news.

After the happening, Ford’s prestige has been badly affected, while the automobile manufacturer saw the car sales decrease significantly.

A branch of a commercial bank in Hanoi recently was surrounded by hundreds of people who introduced as the creditors to ask for debt payment. The people even intercepted the motorbike drivers on the road, delivered to them the copies of the articles explaining why they had to use that method to collect debt.

Prior to that, Agribank also faced the same problem. The demonstrators, who brought with themselves drink and food, stated that they would stay there until the bank can make commitments about the debt payment schedule.

A business complained that a creditor sent letters to all of its partners, informing about the business’ unpaid debt. The behavior, which aimed to smear the image of the enterprise, which then resulting to the fact that the partners refused to maintain the cooperation with the enterprise.

In some other cases, the banderoles with the debt chasing words were hung over the cars parking in front of the companies. By doing so, the debts incurred by the businesses would be known to everybody. In this case, businesses would have to try to arrange enough money to pay debts, or they would see their prestige fall down.

Especially, the law of the jungle has also been applied, because “the end justifies the means.” Wreaths were sent to the families of the debtors (in general, wreaths are sent to funerals), which was believed to bring ill omen to the debtors.

In many cases, creditors did not follow necessary legal procedures to ask for debt payment, but applied the laws of the jungle, even though they understand that this is a behavior of breaking the laws. The behavior turns the creditors into crimes.

In early August 2012, tens of farmers gathered in front of the villa of Nguyen Thi Dieu Hien, Chair of Bianfishco--a very big seafood company in Vietnam, to ask Hien to pay for the fish she collected before from farmers.

Tran Van Hon, 57, in Can Tho City said that if he cannot collect debts, he and his family members would commit suicide with a bottle of pesticide.

Hon said that his family has been pushed against the wall. His assets have the total value of 4 billion dong, while the family owes 20 billion dong and he cannot collect debt from Bianfishco.

US$1 = VND20,900

Compiled by C. V