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Home services getting more expensive on Tet days
It is now the high business season for Tet services: car and motorbike care, money change, home decoration and beauty services. Of course, the high demand has made the services more expensive.
High fees for car renting, money change
It’s very cold these days, which has pushed up the demand for car renting and dry laundry. Nguyen Huu Thanh, the owner of a car renting shop at No 286 Nguyen Trai Street in Hanoi said that the number of people renting cars is double that of the last year, while the rental has also increased. In 2011, Thanh rent car for the fee of 700,000 dong, while he now can charge up to 1.1 million dong per day.
People mostly demand medium class cars such as Hyundai Get (500,000 dong in fee per day), Lacetti (700,000 dong), Innova (1.2 million dong). The clients, who need to rent cars, have to show identity cards and deposit money of 7-8 million dong.
“The service has been in such a high demand that even luxurious cars such as Camry or Civic which have the high fee of 1.7-2.2 million dong have also been ordered,” Thanh said.
Regarding dry laundry, instead of charging 30,000 dong for an overcoat, laundry shops now charge 120,000 or 150,000 dong. Previously, customers could get their clothes back after two days. Meanwhile, customers are now told to wait for one week.
Hoang Minh in Den Lu residential quarter said that he only had to pay 100,000 dong to have 4 overcoats washed earlier this winter, while he has been charged 300,000 dong in recently days.
Small change service proves to be the most bustling service these days. Vietnamese people have the habit of changing their banknotes in big face values into small changes, which they will used to donate when going to pagodas on Tet days, or to give to children as Tet gifts.
Nguyen Anh Ha, the owner of a small change shop on Quang Trung Road in Ha Dong district, requires the fee of 40-45 percent for new 200 dong banknotes, 30 percent for 500 dong banknotes, and 15 percent for 1000 dong and 2000 dong bank notes.
For example, people need to pay 100,000 dong and get back 60,000 dong in 200 dong and 500 dong bank notes.
Vietnamese people now not only like Vietnam dong new bank notes, but they wish to have dollar banknotes as well. On some websites, one dollar banknotes are being offered to sell at 25,000 dong (the actual dollar price now is about 21,000 dong per dollar).
Small change shops’ owners say that in general, two dollar bank notes and 10,000 dong bank notes are now most wanted.
Home services in high demand
Ha Thuy, an office worker, said that she does not have time to do housework herself, therefore, she has to have house cleaning, ornamental trees taking care, preparing parties done by service providers. “You just need to spend several hundreds of thousands of dong or one million dong to have everything done just within a short time,” THuy said
Doanh Minh Chinh on Thai Thinh street of Dong Da district said that the services are now very diversified. Housewives can find assistants to make rice glutinous cakes, wash dishes and clean house. “You just need to spend 100,000-200,000 dong a day, and you can go out on Tet days,” she said.
Especially, if someone wants a party to feast guests on Tet days, they just spend some tens of thousands of dong to hire a professional cook who will surely satisfy his guests.
If housewives want someone to make purchases for them, they would have to spend 20,000 for every invoice, and the transport fee from supermarket to home, about 10,000-30,000 dong.
The service of painting houses and interior redecorating has become 15-20 percent more expensive, while the service fee is thought to increase by 50 percent on the days just before Tet.
Hong Chau
vietnamnet
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