serpentza is a South African YouTuber that has lived in China since 2008, over the years he’s made thousands of videos on the good, bad and ugly aspects of living in China, with 53M total views he knows his stuff. This video shows him dressing down (he normally wears a suit) to pretend he’s a tourist so he can get scammed on purpose.
Sure enough two girls approach him and lead him to a ‘coffee shop/bar’ where the doors all have locks on…
So what’s the scam?
The coffee shop charges high prices for drinks (e.g. $5 for a tea) but in Chinese underneath it actually says $5 per quantity of liquid (e.g. $5 per ML). It then goes on to say if you buy a cup of tea you must buy a pot of tea which is $90+. The same happens with snacks etc and the girls of course order different items to you. Others users have reported these cafes want as much as $2670 for your bill!
How much will it cost me?
It varies but between $100-$2700. Google “Tea House Scam” for more.
Refuse to pay? Want to leave?
Good luck with that, they bring in heavies that will intimidate you, get you to pay or take you to the ATM etc until you pay.
