| SCAMS AND WARNINGS | |
|---|---|
| Nov 12, 2007 20:07 | #11   |
| GUEST39191 | Avoid nice street conversations with "students" pretending to learn English. This will lead you to spend few hundred $$ for few cups of watery tea or a drink. In Shanghai - watch for SUNDY COFFEE at 558 7th floor Nanjing East Road - they should be reported to police and I will do it (just need time to find out how). Tom |
| Nov 12, 2007 21:39 | #12 |
 | Guangzhou train station has a reputation for being the most dangerous place in China, but I really don't know why. I go there often and have never had any problems at all. I am not saying it is a safe place, but I think its reputation is vastly exaggerated. If you go to any train or bus station, just play by the simple rules - don't wear jewelry, watches, or sunglasses, etc. Don't wear your bag on your back. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by anyone, such as a fake fight, argument, or someone asking you to take their photo. Don't talk to anyone who approaches you to offer anything or to practice their English. Never tell anyone where you are going, or show them your ticket. If you keep alert, it is very unlikely anything bad will happen. Thieves rely on their victims being unaware, and won't come near you if they think you are streetwise. Good luck. |
| Nov 17, 2007 23:46 | #13 |
| GUEST97126 | Here it comes - Shanghai, Nanjing East Road near Bund There is a serious problem with hawkers in Shanghai. Chinese ladies pretending to be English students trying hard to learn English, invite tourists (mainly single male) for a talk to local coffee shops of their choice, where the naive tourists are charged exorbitant prices for their food and drinks (food and drinks are ordered by those ladies behind the backs of unsuspected tourists). If the customer refuses to pay, he is threatened and forced to use his credit card to pay. With limited Chinese language ability the foreign customer has little chance to refuse. Here is an address of one of such places, where I was “robbed” of 3395 RMB for 4 cups of tea and other drinks ordered by those unscrupulous “students”: Sundy Coffee, No. 558 7th Floor, east Nanjing Road, Shanghai |
| Nov 25, 2007 09:25 | #14 |
| GUEST79211 | I read about this scam in Shanghai where you meet a girl and she says "let's have lunch and split the bill" then she takes you to an expensive place and hits you with the tab. you don't realize it until later.. the girl works for the place. that is not what happened to me. what happend to me is that I was lost, so i took out my map, knowing it might make me look like a tourist, but i had no choice. and i thought what good luck as this group of studnets offered to help me and we got to chatting and they seemed very nice and they asked me if i wanted to come wtih them to a "tea ceremony" so i said yes and then we walk 10 minutes and enter this small room with a woman in a fancy uniform and the woman shows me the prices, it was pricey, a fortune here. After we said goodbye i became convicned this was a scam and my host told me this happened to her last guest (why didn't she tell me about this?!!) I feel like such an idiot. i know i will get past this and accept that this sort of thing can happen when you travel, but it leaves a sour taste. i feel like i can't be as open and trusting as i was before. i have been analyzing my thoughts and feelings about it - rather than just feeling bad, I am trying to learn from it... one obvious thing is that there are ups and downs and you cannot have the good without the bad, so one good or bad thing is only part of the alrger picture. secondly, i think most peole would have fallen for this trick. they seemed so real, so honest, i mean the guy he walked past the place as if he didn't know it was there! they acted as if they wer hearing about the ceremony for the first time, joking with me, translating what the uniformed woman was saying, it was like we were bonding. these guys are the best actors i have ever met i wish i had just walked away... |
| Jun 5, 2008 11:00 | #15 |
| GUEST58791 | Dear readers, I just got trapped by the scam, and lost RMB2990, which is equivalent to more than USD400. The name of the place is Sundy Coffee, 558 7th Floor Nanjing East Road, Shanghai. So I guess this kind of scam is business as usual for Sundy Coffee. I have learned the hard way, and wish that something could be done to stop this. Any suggestion would be welcome. |
| Jun 29, 2009 18:55 | #16 |
| GUEST54112 | Is it just women? Do men scam too? |
| Jul 28, 2009 11:21 | #17 |
| GUEST13116 | Last May, my husband stayed in Shanghai for one night before he came back to the States on the next day. I found out later from our credit card and bank account that he paid about $300 to the Sundy Coffee you mentioned (for drinks) and spent $2000 (yes, it is US dollar, not RMB) cash for something else. Can anyone tell me what he could used the cash for that night? |
| Oct 10, 2009 03:28 | #18 |
| GUEST68166 | I like the environment and food there and it is reasonably price, go somewhere cheap if you want cheap food and cheap drinks YOU COULD GO STARBUCKS, KFC somewher suit your cheap taste! |
| Oct 29, 2009 03:27 | #19 |
| Scams always happen in any metroplis. In a word, pls remember to take ur basic/essential/primary caution as usual, even when u r comin for a tour. Don't be penny wise, then bad luck won't hit u. |
Last edited by YAOEVEN: Oct 29, 2009 03:28 |
| Nov 13, 2009 20:10 | #20 |
| GUEST21652 | Regarding "Is it just women or do men scam too?" I had a male approach me for the "practice English over coffee" scam. When the bill came for 475 RMB. Both the waitress and the scam artist looked at me, bracing themselves for my reaction. I reached in my pocket (the pocket where I only kept 170RMB) and pulled it all out and said "well...we've got a problem because this is all I have. In reality, I had 2000 RMB in another pocket. He asked if I had a credit card and I told him it was in the safe at my room (another lie). He then got out his credit card and pretended to go over and take care of the bill. I think the 170 RMB (26 USD) that I shelled out was still a high profit take although it could have been worse. These scam artists are indeed superb actors. It's too bad the Shanhai officials didn't care enough to bust up these operations. These scam artists are going to make a killing for the 2010 World Expo. |
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