Beware of the "Fake" Kangaroo Cafe tour mobs. Now there's 3 of them.

The fake or imitation Kangaroo Café/s story started out with some slow
old nags (rumoured to be starring in the Vietnamese version of dumb &
dumber) who opened a fake, phone box sized tour office but forgot to
include food, drinks or even coffee ? Next they opened up another
cheap & nasty looking place around the corner. The 3rd part in this
hilarious trilogy was when they opened a tiny little mini hotel which
is apparently is the Kangaroo Cafe Tours Hotel ? We've listed the 3
scammers below.

83 Ma May St, Ha Noi, opposite Hanspam Travel (tiny
office - rude & dishonest staff)

16 Hang Be St, Ha Noi. (Some kind of café - eat at
your own risk - check your medical insurance)

10e Dinh Liet St, Ha Noi. (The fake hotel -
otherwise know as bed bug & scabies central)

Note: The new fake hotel is particularly bad with very aggressive
staff. When you check in your passport is confiscated at reception
(to encourage you to do what they tell you) & then you'll be
introduced to the latest features of the hotel. The sometimes and/or
rarely turned on hot water system, the almost never turned on air con
system (turned off as soon as you go to sleep) & whenever they see you
there'll be the constant hassling to buy their lousy tours.

Stevie Wonder could see through this scam !

There really is only 1 Kangaroo Café in Viet Nam & regardless of what
some of the guide books say, we’re not affiliated with anyone other
than Griswald's Vietnamese Vacations.

Over the years we’ve had various outfits trying to claim some sort of
association or relationship with us in various ways & by various
means. Whilst it’s completely untrue, it is of course somewhat
flattering & is most definitely a positive indicator that we’re
obviously doing something right.

These con artists are just too lazy to work hard but yet arrogant
enough to think that all western tourists are stupid. Sadly though,
some people have been fooled & even bought tours from the fake outlets
only to find out later that the crooks who run this scam never
intended to do anything else but steal their money.

We must state very clearly that we can't take any responsibility for
anything the scammers do.

So, please avoid these dills at all costs.

They'll steal your money like they stole our name !

If however, you're 1 of the unlucky ones who've been caught out
there's a few things you can do. Firstly, contact your bank & cancel
your credit card transaction immediately. The fake cafe mobs don't
have their own credit card facilities & are using one of their mates
credit card facilities. As such they're already in breach of the
credit card merchant rules & they're also of course in breach for
offering services that they're not licensed to provide. Your bank is
duty bound to follow your instructions & immediately cancel the
transaction & refund your money to you.

Next, go straight to the;

Ha Noi Dept of Tourism,

2nd floor, No 3 Le Lai St, Ha Noi, S. R. Viet Nam

Tel: (844) 824 7652

Please state in a short & clear fashion that you've been sold whatever
it was under false pretences & by an unlicensed tour operator. Mention
that you've already been in contact with your embassy, demand a full
refund & insist that the people operating the fake cafe are punished
to the fullest extent of Vietnamese law.

The 1 & only real Kangaroo Café© specialises in small group travel and
tours for singles, couples, small groups and families to anywhere and
everywhere in Vietnam. Please visit us to find out more about our many
interesting itineraries including trekking, mountain climbing,
camping, adventure, snorkelling and fishing tours.

Max Hart wrote:

We've listed the 3 scammers below.

83 Ma May St, Ha Noi, opposite Hanspam Travel (tiny
office - rude & dishonest staff)

It's Handspan Travel not "Hanspam". By the way, we used Handspan Travel
when in Vietnam a couple months back and they are a great agency. The store
is located at 80 Ma May Street and they also serve food, which is quite
good. I'm still alive after two months:-)

I know nothing about the joint you described across the street. We did find
that the same hotel and restaurant names seem to pop up everywhere, so you
need to be very specific when complaining about a hotel or restaurant. We
stayed at the Classic Hotel in the Old Quarter but noted there are three or
four Classic Hotels in Ha Noi. I suspect this is typical in Vietnam, where
the various proprietors are always trying to rip each other off for the
tourist business.

Other scams include taxi drivers at Nobai airport who will try to divert you
from your original hotel destination to another one with a similar or same
name (but lower quality) where the driver will get a commission. Our cure
was to have the hotel send out a taxi and pick us up for $10 US., which we
thought was well worth the cost and a guarantee that we would be taken to
the right hotel, also without the worry of what the fare would be. Nobai is
a fair distance from the Old Quarter.

rg