The restaurant owner refunded 1.2 million VND for 3 bowls of vermicelli soup.

On the afternoon of February 3, Mr. Le Hai Ninh said that the restaurant had worked with the People's Committee of Bach Khoa Ward, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi about the incident of "joking" about 1.2 million VND/3 bowls of vermicelli soup. At the office, he also sent a sincere apology to the customer's family and returned the excess money.

In his handwritten apology letter, Mr. Ninh wrote:

"On the first night of Tet, when my uncle's family came to eat noodles at the restaurant, I made a joke about paying 40,000 VND for 3 bowls of vermicelli soup instead of 400,000 VND, causing my uncle to misunderstand and pay exactly 1,200,000 VND. I myself did not open a checking account, so the misunderstanding became even bigger. Then, my sister (who lives in Ho Chi Minh City) did not find out the truth and went online to talk back and forth, further increasing the family's anger.

Through this incident, I realized that I have many shortcomings towards your family as well as in controlling sales actions. I write these words hoping that you and your family will sympathize, share and forgive me. I sincerely apologize to your family, and on behalf of my sister, I apologize to you and your family."

According to the apology letter, the customer's family accepted the apology from the noodle shop owner and decided to donate 1.08 million VND to the Fund for the Poor of Bach Khoa Ward. At the same time, the customer requested that Bach Khoa Ward allow the shop to sell normally and control reasonable prices.

Mr. Ninh also clarified that the 3 bowls of noodles that day only cost 40,000 VND/bowl, a total of 120,000 VND/3 bowls. Because the customer had paid 1.2 million VND, the restaurant asked the authorities to return the excess amount of 1.08 million VND to the customer.

"We are still waiting for the official decision from the ward about resuming sales.", Mr. Ninh informed and revealed that the restaurant is expected to reopen in a week.

In addition, Mr. Ninh shared that he was very sad when the incident became the center of discussion on social networks at the beginning of the year. He affirmed that he had no intention of "overcharging" or taking advantage of Tet to increase prices.

In a previous post, the owner of the bun rieu restaurant explained that the customer's 3 bowls of bun rieu were beef bun rieu, priced at 30,000 VND, and on Tet holiday the restaurant charged an additional 10,000 VND, making the total of 3 bowls 120,000 VND.

Mr. Ninh confirmed that the customer did ask for the price, and he quoted 1.2 million VND, but the customer did not ask a second time. Through the incident, the restaurant said that it realized this was an expensive lesson and would completely learn from the experience and not joke with customers like that again.

Previously, an account shared on Threads about having to pay 400,000 VND for a bowl of vermicelli soup at the 54 Bach Mai vermicelli restaurant. She transferred a total of 1,200,000 VND for 3 bowls of vermicelli in the early morning of January 30 (the 2nd day of Tet).

Regarding the incident, on January 31, the People's Committee of Bach Khoa Ward (Hai Ba Trung District) directed the police and medical forces of the ward to verify and clarify. After working with the authorities, the restaurant owner admitted that there was a mistake, because he was "joking" and quoted the price of 1.2 million VND/3 bowls of vermicelli soup. Unexpectedly, the customer thought it was real and transferred the payment of 1.2 million VND.

After the incident, the authorities suspended the operation of the vermicelli shop. At the same time, they will continue to clarify whether there was any "overcharging" to handle it according to the law.