Tour Scams, Beijing

I've visited Beijing last week with other 15 people accompanied by the local tour guide who can speak Bahasa so good. He brought us to silk factory, jade factory, bamboo factory, tea house, massage herbal factory and pearl factory. I didn't shop a lot as I only brought 1200 RMB to Beijing. Lesson learned, as we stepped into pearl factory at the bird nest stadium.
We have been brought into a room where the trainer introduced us all about pearl. She takes 10 minutes explaining about the lotion which made from pearl that can smooth our skin. She said another trainer will take over her place but after waiting for another 5 minutes, she said all trainers are busy at the moment and the son of the factory owner will guide us. So a cute and handsome guy pertaining as 'son' of the pearl owner came in. He said that it is his first day working and he just graduate from University. He have 3 siblings and other 2 brothers runs another pearl factory. He got a BMW car with driver and his mom drove Ferrari to work. I was like..wowww! He's so lucky! He wanted to visit our country and need us to entertain him so we treat him as a friend. SInce that day is mothers day, he gave us pearl ring for free but in return, need us to pray for his mother's health. I was like...no biggie, good son.
So he brought us to VIP room and show the pearl bracelet.The price is 2280 RMB for a bracelet! Since he already treat us as his friend, he marked down the price to 300 RMB! We're shocked! The staff also gasping and murmuring like...'damn..our boss is crazy giving very low price!'. So other group members roughly grab the bracelets without any delay. I was like...something wrong instead. So I didn't pick any.
After that we had lunch at restaurant and other tour group from Indonesia saw I'm wearing the pearl ring. He get closer to me and ask me about the pearl. His group went there yesterday. I was like....Damnnn!! yesterday? Same story: first day working, got BMW, treat as friend. Ok, so we have been fooled. I think the market price for original pearl bracelet is around 100 RMB. But I'm not sure wether the pearl is fake or not. Hmmm... Lucky I didn't buy any.

Unique Suggestions: Show no intrests at all. Don't get influence by the marked down price!

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I was a victim just two days ago. Apparently this 'Rocky' and his fellow subordinates think they have a full proof scam plan that could potentially be a long term money earner. I have never been so furious! Given the link to this site and re-reading the exact same things Rocky told us just last Saturday made me even more frustrated as my tour guide, 'Ricky' was in it as well. Although I was safe, as I did not purchase anything from the scam, my tour mates spent a bucketload of money on low quality jades!

It was definitely not right for him to be selling jade to us in a pearl factory aint it? I think, the pearls are probably just a cover up. The tour guide took us to the Derun at the last day I was in Beijing as well.

He also gave us that 'I believe in fate and you are all my friends' bullcrap as well. He tried to impress us by wrapping a jade with a piece of plastic and then burning it. Then taking us to this 'VIP' room where he gave us discounts of jades that were priced from 8000 Yuen to 500 Yuen. This is just too ridiculous!

Well its a good thing I was all touristy with my camera at the shop. I took a close up of his grey suit ass.

He seems pretty confident when he talks. Exclaiming that he would be the CEO his father's jade mine and shop and how he had ties with the Olympic stadiums and medal making. His conditions when we were to buy his discounted jades were:

1. You must never tell anyone of the price he gave you.
2. You must not resell them.
3. Advertise his 'shop'.

I have read all the other reviews and concluded that there are multiple 'sons of the boss'. Some doing it more than once. Gosh, Rocky might have been to the factory for the first time for who knows, 20 times already.

I was under Reliance, Subang branch. I bet they are accomplices to this scam as I read in previous tips on this page, they too followed a Reliance tour. Not too reliable after all.

Unique Suggestions: Leave, or at least show no interest.

Fun Alternatives: DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING.

Inform other tour mates of this.

Other fun alternatives: Sue their sorry ass / expose them in public or flash this site at their faces if you have 3G.

Having seen so many reviews regarding Derun right before I went for my Beijing trip, I would have never thought that one of my tour stops included this scam store as well. The modus oprandi remained the same as all the fellow reviews below.

Firstly, we were brought into a room with a lady explaining to us the benefits and uses of pearl powder. Not before long, she claimed that an expert will arrive shortly to educate us with knowledge about authentic and imitation jade. The expert never came, and instead came a fair-skinned, fairly good looking young lad dressed prim and proper. He appeared nervous and told us he was an intern at Derun and would be doing the explanation instead. After an extremely long-winded explanation, it was obvious by now that he was trying to forge a fake friendship by telling us his "real" identity : the son of Derun's owner and the fact that Derun has many stores all over China, and that Derun also used to be a distributor for the famed jeweller Chow Tai Fook, which was all nothing but ***. I didn't discover something was wrong until I saw the store's name and he started giving out free gifts.

He then offered us a free gift which was a pearl ring each, and then chatted it up with us while trying to convince us of his identity and make us let our guard down by emphasizing his intent to make friends. After that, he brought us to a so-called "VIP room" which had a remote-controlled door with all sorts of jade and items inside. After constant emphasis on how he simply "wanted to make friends" with us, he then showed us a piece of jade pendant with plated gold in the middle. He told us that its original price was 8202RMB, and now he was going to sell it to us simply for 1000RMB. He also told one assistant to simply send the purchase bills of our group straight to his office and bypass the finance department.

After that enormous slash in price, he also brought us around to see the various sections of jewellery, and I concede that he had put up an extremely convincing act that it would have been difficult to see through his act had I not read virtualtourist before I visited the store. I left the store without buying anything and spent the few hours simply sitting around and taking a rest. It was also very unethical on the tour guide's side to have stopped at the store for the entire morning since time could have been spent on other non-scam attractions and landmarks. For fellow tourists visiting Beijing with a local-based tour agency, please be beware of Derun and other shopping stops included in the tour itinerary, a vast majority of these stores offer tourist-based prices and locals do not ever patronize them.

Unique Suggestions: If Derun or any other scam shops are already unfortunately included on one of your stops, please hold a firm stand and resist any thought to purchase something despite it's seemingly attractive price and various discounts. Do NOT say yes or even think of buying anything, not even the cheapest thing in the store. Making up an excuse works sometimes as well, such as visiting the restroom or simply staying outside of the store til the entire group has exited the store.

I was a victim as well. All the earlier accounts of their modus operandi are true. The staff will say that the son of the boss will serve us personally. The so called "son of the boss" is a big time con artiste. Boy is he good! I really must hand it to him. He reeks of Andy Lau charisma. He will try to convince you about making friends and offering 90% discount in his VIP room. The supporting act by his staff to look in disbelief added the cherry on top to complete the performance. I must admit i was an idiot at that time to fall for such a scam. But i must also defend myself, the whole act is a Golden Horse Award winner.

But God is good. Luckily i paid using my credit card and disputed the claim through the tour agency and kicked up a big fuss with my local agency. It's a long story of overall bad services coming from the tour guide, the driver and the hotel. Everything was terrible for me.

The good will always triumph over the evil. Just got my money credited after waiting for 3mths. Always use credit card to pay for purchases overseas my friends. Haha.... see who gets the last laugh. The so called "son of the boss" of the jade company must be thumping his fists on his chest. All his Andy Lau charisma and acting gone to waste. What a douche....

Unique Suggestions: If it is too good to be true. It is a scam!

Fun Alternatives: .........

I was a victim of Derun scam as well. The shop is located at the"bird nest" shape Olympic stadium. Unfortunately didn't read previous articles prior to my trip to Beijing in May'12 and to add salt to the injury, my 8d/7n Beijing tour was with Reliance Travel Malaysia at Sungei Wang Kuala Lumpur, a supposedly reputable tour company. Their China counterpart was Beijing Tour Company and local tour leader name was Serena (pic attached). Bought pearl and jade pendants at very exorbitant prices. Story line same as what was mentioned in other articles ie. briefing by young boss son then 80-90% discount offer as friendship.

Careful not to buy expensive items as the unscrupulous tour companies and or their agents collude with the shops at client expense. Most disgusting! Chinese authorities should put a stop to such scams and these people behind bars !!

Any malaysians who sign up for beijing local tours, please be aware of all this side stops especially the one at beijing olympic stadium.

Our group got con by this artists too claiming that he is the owner son and today is his special day and he will give us good price on the the supposedly Grade A jadeite. That guy is such a smooth talker. The modus operandis is the same as what dot_dot had mention.

You can see there's a lot of smart young boys in suits claiming either he is the manager or he is the owner son.

Our group purchased more than rmb30k of jade where they thought they got a good deal but in fact, after reading the story here, their jade could have been just a few hundred rmb worth of B, C grade.

I hope with my posting and thanks to internet, any folks who's planning for their trip to beijing and signing up any local tours, please be wary of all this con artists. They sounded so real and genuine that it is all lies.

You are better off buying jade from shopping mall instead where the local patronise.

The other con artist is the herbal medicine where a group of mens in lab coat will diagnose you and claim either you have kidney or liver issue. They will target those men and will persuade your wive/gf to buy the medicine if you want to cure your loved one. The price of some the medicines runs into thousand of rmb which in fact, you could get it for less than 100 yuan outside.

Their acting is so good that when they touch your hand, you will feel a jot of static when his hand touches yours.....the con doctor says, it is chi power. He will spray something on your stomach areas and when he rubs your stomach, you can see red patches which he claims is toxin from your body.

I didn't buy the acting and just smiled and told him, i only believe in western medicine. Left the room.

So, with my input, i hope those who read will try to advise their friends who is planning a trip to beijing, just be wary of all this side stops. No matter how good a deal is, just walk away. Afterall, china is a land of con and fake.

Unique Suggestions: just pretend to be bored and look not interested.

Fun Alternatives: Dont' buy.

My experience was the same as many here have described. This place is a complete fraud. Some dude who calls himself 'rocky' will pretend that it's his first time in the factory and that he's checking it out for his parents. He'll tell you over and over that he is your friend, and that he's not trying to sell anything to you. Then eventually, he'll take you to a 'VIP' section where he'll pretend to mark down a 3000 RMB product and sell it to you for 300 RMB. A pathetically bad actor colleague of his will pretend to be outraged. These guys are complete scum and slimeballs. Rocky will give you his phone number and ask you to advertise for him in the US. I recommend that you take his number and post it everywhere so people know who to call if they want to speak to a con artist.

OMG! Those Derun scammers are really good!!! We had a similar experience with others here but this time the guy (a.k.a "Kenny") pretented that it was his birthday as well as first day as the manager of that particular store. We were taken by his story of wanting to make his parents proud and bought the huge discount crap because they owned the mining company. Anyway, it was a blessing in disguise that our tour guide let us get dinner for ourselves (she was pretty pissed since we didn't buy anything for the first few days). We already bought 7300 yuan worth of jade and only found out that we were scammed during dinner. It's really their MO to bring the tourists on their last day so that there wouldn't be enough time to take action. In our case, we called the embassy and reported this shameless practice. Our flight was the next morning and we were ready not to go home yet if need be. The embassy was willing to give us police backup but due to time constraint, we opted to go to the store and demanded the tour guide to go with us. It was obvious that the travel agencies are in on it. Don't know if you guys were able to pursue with your complaint but even if we were able to retrieve our money, our embassy will still push through with the complaint. Our incident report is complete with pictures so it'll be easy to support.

Unique Suggestions: Do not make small talk with the sellers anymore. Before entering into the store, tell your tour guide that you are not buying anything. If possible, let the guide come with you. This way, he or she will be the one who's put on the spot. You have complied with your compulsary tour so it's ok to go.

Women posing as "students" who "want to practice their English"

Unique Suggestions: Last week, I was stopped by two women who asked me if I was American and if they could practice English with me. This took place in the shopping mall next to the Grand Hyatt Hotel. I had heard of this scam before, but they seemed sincere. They asked if we could have coffee so they could "practice English." I was suckered because I'm an ESL instructor!! Also, I was alone. I agreed, but instead of a coffee house, they headed down a sidestreet near the mall to a Chinese tea house. They ordered tea and wine for the 3 of us. We chatted, but they were more interested in discussing me than themselves. Finally, it was time to pay. They produced a menu that listed each pot of tea at 750RMB! They passed the bill to me. The total bill was 3000RMB, or $500!It was obvious that they and the tea house were working together. They kept saying, just use your credit card. I realized by then it was a scam to bilk me on my credit card. Scared to death, I threw 300 RMB on the table and ran.

Fun Alternatives: I was a fool and ashamed that I believed them for one second. What can I say? If two women in this mall stop you and ask to practice English, the answer is "no!"

Scam #1 should now be KTV.

Whether you enter on your own or taken by a Chinese “friend.” You are in for a major screwing, not literally. It looks like a karaoke place, but wait. You enter the room to sing a few songs and have a few beers. Suddenly girls appear and want to drink with you, “No Charge.” You feel it looks like fun and you say okay. Suddenly a cart appears with lots of snacks and a six pack of beer. The snacks are NOT free and they are expensive–but more on that later. The girl wants a brandy and you say okay; brandy is 130 rmb [later it turns out that is per ounce--the drinks obviously turn out to be three ounces each].

The waitress wants to drink and you say, NO. She says no problem she will buy her own drink. When she finishes it is placed on the table. The girl will play you and rub up against you and dance for you. She can really drink, [though you notice she leaves the room after each drink {only to find out later she spits it in a can or vomits it up.]

Each time the waitress buys her own drink she places it on the table.

When you have drunk too much and know you need to leave, the waitress says you must tip the girl and the waitress as they live on tips only, they do not get paid. What is normal tip? 600rmb a $100 each?????? Oh, and they must get tipped before bill. Why? Because they know there is no way in hell you will tip them after the bill comes.

When the bill comes it is over $2000 for four of us!!!! Interestingly all the waitress’s drinks got counted on the bill. They merely count all the bottles and glasses on the table many of which the waitress or the girl escort were going to buy for themselves!

You ask to see the manager and he agrees to lower the bill to $2000 but no lower. You explain you do not have that cash. No problem–one of there big guys accompanies you to the ATM conveniently located right outside the bar. On the way back to the bar you poke your head inside a room and tell some college kids to watch out they are going to get fleeced, you are ushered out so fast your head is spinning.

After too many beers you are not thinking to just not pay, hide your credit cards in your shoe, run away, or call the police, they are counting on too much alcohol and not much clear thinking.

Once outside I meet four young guys from America who had each been ripped off for $300 each. In talking to other people anything marked KTV and you are going to get fleeced.

I am meeting with the Chinese consulate to see what can be done.

But Scam Number #1 should be avoid KTV bars!

Unique Suggestions: Call the police!

Fun Alternatives: Go to karaoke only where it is all Chinese