Vietcom is a local Albuquerque business located on Carlisle Street. For the past two weeks, they have been dealing with air conditioning issues because someone stole their copper wiring. “They broke into our HVAC system and pulled out all the copper wiring and took it, so unfortunately we don’t have air conditioning right now,” says Tran Dou, assistant manager at Vietcom. She says other nearby businesses are also suffering from the same theft, with thieves looking to make a quick buck. “We lost about $80 worth of copper wiring and now it’s about $10,000 in damages. It’s really devastating,” Dou says. They are looking into alternatives like electric fans to keep customers cool and keep the store open. “We’re borrowing from friends, so that helps, but our electricity bill is going to be crazy. Customers are refusing to stay in the store. They just come in and leave. We understand the heat here is unbearable, but we’re trying our best.” Although they have dealt with problems at the restaurant since opening in 2020, they are not blaming anyone for these incidents. “We’ve had break-ins too. It’s been really hard for us. Every time they try to move forward, they always back out,” Do said. “It’s really troubling because there are a lot of homeless people in the area and we can’t always turn them away. We always politely ask them if they can leave, but sometimes that causes problems… We’ve had windows broken.” Do says he’s looking into other ways to keep his business from being affected by these incidents.
Viet Com is a local Albuquerque business located on Carlisle Boulevard.
For the past two weeks they have been dealing with an air conditioning issue saying someone stole copper wire from their business.
“They broke into our air conditioning system, uprooted all the copper wires and took them away, so unfortunately now we don’t have air conditioning,” said Tran Do, deputy store manager at Vietcom.
She said other nearby stores have suffered similar thefts, with thieves looking to make a quick buck.
“What was $80 in copper is now about $10,000 in damage, so it’s really troubling,” Do said. They are looking into alternatives, such as electric fans, to keep customers cool and keep the store open. “We’ve been borrowing some from friends, so that helps, but the electricity bill is going to be ridiculous. Customers are refusing to stay in the store, they just come in and leave. We understand the heat in the store is unbearable, but we’re doing our best.”
Since opening in 2020, the restaurant has dealt with a variety of issues, but no one has been held accountable for these incidents.
“We’ve had a lot of break-ins. It’s been really hard for us. Every time they try to move forward, they always move back,” Do said. “It’s really hard because there are a lot of homeless people in the area and we can’t always get rid of them. We always politely ask them if they can leave, but sometimes that causes problems… We’ve had windows broken.”
Du said he is looking at other ways to ensure his business is not affected by such incidents.
