(1) We located the tea house where we were scammed. This can be harder
than it sounds because the scammers take you via a convoluted route
and disorientate you with a barrage of questions when you are
leaving/arriving. If you have some sense of where the tea-house is,
good, just look for it. Otherwise, you could try going back to
People’s Square (or wherever the scammers found you) and wait for
another group to pick you up.
(2) Once we knew where the tea house was, we went to the police
station and told them we had been scammed. The police know the scam
well. In our case, a policeman came with us to the tea-house as
personal escort. He did not help us much at all, we had to locate the
tea-house ourselves (even though the policeman knew the tea-house) and
we had to do the majority of the talking – it seems the police have a
stand-off policy – they know about the scams and don’t stop them, but
if you complain and make enough noise , they will escort you and help
a little.
(3) Once we were at the teahouse with the policeman we confronted
whoever we could find. There was only one girl there (one of students
who finds westerns) and not one we had dealt with when we were
scammed. Even so, confronting her was enough to get our money back.
(4) We told them we know about the scam and that we are not leaving
until we get ALL our money back. Be stern and don’t be afraid to be
confrontational (verbally only, of course). They will try to say that
you had X cups of tea and that you have to pay for them, that you saw
the menu etc. Don’t back down , tell them you know about the scam, ask
them if they really think 49RMB per person per cup of tea is fair?!