A small business owner's struggles with the Auckland Night Market

"Today I am speaking up not just for myself, but for all the small business owners who have been mistreated and taken advantage of by the Auckland Night Market."

This is how Wang opened her expository video on the social media app, TikTok, which as of July 30th has garnered over 468.3k views.

She described her experience as a small business owner trying to get in touch with the Auckland Night Market. The market itself is a predominant cultural event held every day of the week, across seven locations in the city, featuring music, food, and live events. But despite being what some call a "staple" to the city's culture, the market is not shy to appearing in the news for discourse. 

While trying to prebook a stand, Wang was told to call a woman in connection with the market named 'Victoria' upon arrival.

"When we arrived, fully packed, ready to set up. I called her three times and she didn't answer. On the fourth try, she picked up... She said on the phone 'Just set up anywhere'."

This confused Wang, having her double-check if the 'free-for-all' set up was protocol, Victoria allegedly hung up on her. With no other guidance, Wang and her team followed the directions.

Wang says a woman claiming to be Victoria then showed up to their stall, accused them of improperly setting up, and told the business owner that she would have to pay more if they wanted to keep their stall.

"Essentially, we felt like she was trying to scam us for extra money after following her vague instructions."

The dispute allegedly escalated to a verbal altercation, according to Wang, which was quickly broken up by the market security.

In response to Wang's story, the Auckland Night Market issued a statement in defence of their representative on their Facebook page.

They clarified on the account that no stallholder is allowed to set up wherever they want, said she was "politely asked to move to the correct allocated stall", and that Wang was overall uncooperative with their "reasonable request".

"There will always be a few who are dissatisfied and spread false or exaggerated stories in an attempt to damage our reputation for their own reasons." They say, before reassuring the public that they stay committed to organisation and fostering a welcoming environment.

While some came to the defence of the market team, the post was overwhelmingly negatively met by social media users. Many commented on their own bad experiences with the market. 

"I was there that night and saw the way the vendor was spoken too and it was very unprofessional…." 

"Na I believe the lady! Too much negative stuff has happened via your posts bringing down that Bahn mi place, get rid of that Victoria lady"

"This whole post is a major [red flag emoji] who is your socials team?!"

This prompted a counter-response video from Wang on her TikTok, where she continued to stick by her narrative. She brought in footage from the market, saying their team's behaviour reflects what she describes as a "tactic" to get more money out of independent vendors. 

Other small businesses, like Napier-based printing company Ink and Needle, came to her defence. 

"I had similar experience, I had really small stall and she charged me $150 and when I contacted them before going they said $80... she said forget about it, $150 or move out. My and my wife thought we have come so far let's do it, we couldn't even break even."

Throughout all of this, Wang continues to advocate for other small businesses affected

"Small business owners deserve to be treated with fairness, honesty, and respect. We deserve better!"