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Sometimes you just have to laugh!
tomprescott - 26/10/13 at 09:30 AM

Hi All,

Not sure if this is the correct section of the forum but it's where I'm putting so it will have to do!

I live in Vietnam and after a few years of catching rides on the back of other peoples' bikes, taxis (which are cheap here) or borrowing the gf's bike on the weekend, I decided it was finally time to buy myself a bike.

For those not familiar with bikes in Vietnam (the top gear show was actually quite close to the truth) most bikes are semi-auto Honda's (there are a few, SYM, Yamaha, Suzuki, Vespa and some Chinese bikes like lifan but the vast majority are Honda) of 115-125cc, and are built for the Asian market, so the dimensions are a little different to European bikes. In short, whenever I ride one of these it is really dangerous because my legs are too long, and my ankle not flexible enough, to have any measure of control over the gear lever and footbrake. Because of this, I decided my options would be limited to fully automatics, which are quite nice given the traffic in the city but a bit lacklustre when it comes to performance and not exactly masculine, or a proper bike.

I opted for the proper bike on account of I may want to do some long distance driving at some point and in general the dimensions are better: seat height etc. The list of reasonably priced proper bikes which you can actually buy from a dealer is very short, and eventually came down to a choice of three: A Yamaha FZS, a Honda RR150 and a "MadAss" which I had never seen before but quite liked the look of.

I quickly discounted the MadAss on account of not knowing anything about the reliability and having never seen one before, thinking that access to a suitable mechanic if I needed anything serious doing would be impossible. Also, because they look quite weird it would probably attract a lot of attention from the police, which is not really what I want.

After struggling through the information the dealer could give me on the Yamaha and Honda, in Vietnamese, there is very little info online about these bikes, particularly in English - I eventually settled on the Honda, as the features were near identical but the Honda was a fair bit cheaper. I get escorted up to the sales office and meet with a really surly looking Vietnamese woman who discusses additional options I want and all the usual guff. I offer to pay by bank transfer (visa cards have a daily transfer limit equivalent to about USD2,000, which wasn't enough for the bike) so she writes the bank details down and gives me them on a scrap of paper.

I'm about to leave when I decide to double check the numbers - the last thing I want to do is get home to find I have to go back out and get the details again. I look down and the bank account name is an individual, not a company. The first name of the bank account just happens to match the name tag pinned to her shirt. I asked why she had given me her bank account instead of the company's and her response was that if I pay to the company they will have to charge VAT. I didn't tell her that I'm a tax consultant. I said I didn't mind paying the VAT and asked for the company account, which she refused.

I spoke to the guy who had been showing me the bikes and told him I would bring cash tomorrow instead, but that I wanted a receipt from the company for the cash paid (thinking that warranties may be an issue, or that the bike could later be reported stolen) and he said that was fine. I was on the verge of getting angry about the sales girl trying to rip me off, but I thought it would be better vented to the LCB massive.

Sorry for the long story, no refunds for wasting your time!

carpmart - 26/10/13 at 10:55 AM

So all is well then as you spotted it before it was an issue.

I guess in Vietnam as much as Blighty one need to be careful with any transaction.

Hellfire - 26/10/13 at 12:06 PM

I'd be happy not paying the VAT provided I got a receipt.

Phil

coyoteboy - 26/10/13 at 02:55 PM

quote:

I'd be happy not paying the VAT provided I got a receipt.


standard practice in Spain I hear. A serious part of the reason their economy is in such poor shape and their needy are walking the streets eating out of bins. Seems harmless and we've all done it at some point for something, but it's not as good as it sounds!

tomprescott - 26/10/13 at 03:06 PM

Yep standard practice here too, as it happens it seems I will get a receipt but won't be paying VAT - doing a cash transaction is much safer, they give you a receipt and because you're the end consumer if they don't charge VAT then when/if the tax authorities come to audit them they will consider the sale price VAT inclusive so no risk for me. Like I said, I didn't tell her I was a tax consultant!

The issue with paying into her personal account was less to do with the VAT and more to do with her netting herself a nice bonus - the bike was probably somewhere between 6 and 10 times her monthly salary, and there's nothing to say she would still be there the next day after taking the money!