The mats are advertised being made of self-cooling wood fibers. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

With the heat of the summer on, so-called air-conditioning mats have been widely sold online.

The mats have been advertised as a replacement for air-conditioners.

“I heard that the mats were made of self-cooling oak wood fibres. So I tried to buy one for these extremely hot days,” a man living in Hà Nội’s Cầu Giấy District told zing.vn.

He thought he would save money by not using his air-conditioner.

On online markets, the mats’ prices ranged from VNĐ40,000 to 100,000 (US$1.8-4.3) each.

However, Hòa and many customers were quickly disappointed with the mats as they have turned out to have no cooling effects. 

When Hòa asked the seller if his mat was broken, he was told it would work well in an air-conditioned room.

If something seems too good to be true, it just might be. — VNS