Woman Forced to Buy Two Boxes of Passion Fruit

A woman from Krasnoyarsk has described how she was pressured into buying two boxes of passion fruit for 2,000 rubles ($25) in the parking lot of the Planeta shopping and entertainment center. She shared her story on social media.

According to the woman, on 11 August she and her son were sitting in their car in the parking lot, waiting for her mother to return from the store. The windows and the car itself were open. A man selling fruit approached them.

“He starts talking to us: how beautiful I am, what a great son I have, how old he is, and all that,” the woman recounted. “Then he says: ‘I want to give you a treat.’ He opens the car and puts a box of passion fruit on my front seat. I say: ‘We don’t need anything, really.’ He says: ‘Just take it, please. Transfer whatever you don’t mind.’ I was completely at a loss and said: ‘Well, 1,000.’ He puts a second box in and says: ‘Let’s make it 2,000.’ And I just transferred him 2,000 rubles. He goes: ‘Thank you, thank you, I’ll go fill up my car.’ And he leaves.”

According to the woman, a few seconds later she realized she had been “had.”

“I wasn’t planning to buy passion fruit at all. I don’t even know how much it costs or why I need two boxes. But my son is happy. He tells me: ‘Mom, I always wanted a box of passion fruit,’” she continued.

In the comments, readers wrote that they had encountered the same scheme:

“They’ve been around for a long time. My father can’t say no. We’ve had oranges, grapefruit, persimmons, strawberries.”

“That’s how I ended up having to urgently eat two boxes of kiwi.”

“In the ’90s they pushed electronics like that — first there’s a gift promotion, then you buy some junk to get the gift, and so on.”

Another follower wrote that the same seller also operates near KrasTETS.

The press service of the Krasnoyarsk police told NGS24.RU that if the woman decides to contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs, her statement will be reviewed and an investigation will be carried out.

In a conversation with an NGS24.RU correspondent, the regional office of Rospotrebnadzor advised residents not to buy food from unknown sellers:

“This is unauthorized trading. The office always says that products should be bought where there is information about the seller and the goods being sold, including documents confirming quality and safety.”