Police investigate dispute over foreign tourist’s moldy juice claim in Vietnam’s Nha Trang

Tue Van, 37, owner of the juice shop, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper he had just received an invitation to the police station regarding the case.

As for the foreign tourist, police said they had sent an invitation to a Vietnamese woman accompanying the tourist to the shop to buy the drink.

Previously, a video of an argument at the juice shop was widely shared on social media.

In the video, a foreign tourist demanded a refund, claiming that his drink showed signs of mold.

Van confirmed that he was the man arguing with the tourist in the video.

According to Van, the incident occurred at around 9:00 pm on September 14, when the foreign tourist came to the shop and bought a cup of beetroot juice for VND39,000 (US$1.50).

After drinking about half of the cup, the tourist complained that the juice appeared to be moldy and demanded a refund.

The tourist later gave the shop a one-star rating on Google Maps and posted several complaints about the business.

“I explained at the time that we could replace the drink with another one, but the shop would not issue a refund because what he saw was just foam from the juice, not mold,” Van said.

“We explained everything properly, but the tourist still refused.”

Explaining why the shop refused to issue a refund, Van said doing so would inadvertently imply that there was a problem with the drink, while the shop was confident about the quality of its products.

After the two sides failed to reach an agreement, the tourist left.

The incident has since been widely discussed on travel forums.