Taxi drivers taking huge detours. Once this happened where it was an 15rmb trip but somehow the meter was saying 0 and the driver was asking for 30. Paid the man, got out of the taxi, walked inside, wife phones taxi company, day after a depressed looking taxi drive swings by our place with a full refund. 

When I shop at the local market, prices are higher. The other day we were buying some carrots (actually some other vegetable, but for some reason carrots are more fun) I wasn't shopping, my wife was, she asked about the price of the carrot, I am a few steps behind her, and as she asks for the price of the carrot, I step closer, the guy answers, says 3/jin, then sees me and says "ahem, 3.5/jin"

it is usually by taxi drivers that i am cheated - or they try.

Going to the airport last year i knew how much the fare was and the route, but the taxi driver tried to take a longer route and charge me more. I took a photo of his licence and sent it to a local friend who contacted the taxi company.

Also taxi drivers who try not to use the meter -  i always refuse that and insit on the meter.

i have experienced the other extreme as well - generous drivers who turn the meter off when they know they are lost. Or they help with luggage. Small but important things for a lone traveler.

I might not be able to have a complete conversation with the drivers, but it is always an experience 

i think you should ask: "who didnt get cheated in china?"

I have been lucky. I was only cheated by a taxi driver once. His meter was going twice as fast as it should have been.

I have loads of illegal taxis try to cheat me though. But I always agree the price before we set off.  If their price is stupidly high I walk away.

I daresay I have been done for the occasional overpriced item I have bought, but not that I noticed.

The taxi drivers in GZ are excellent. Especially the  the blue ones 

Got done one by a taxi driver swapping 100's for dud (fake) ones......was tired and in dire need of a pint so was rushing....long story but cost me 200 RMB. What I learnt from that was how to spot a dud 100 kuai note....not been stung again with that trick.

Taxi's tried to give me fake 50's, but I always checked. I love playing the walk into the store game and ask the price, first my Chinese wife walks in to ask the price and then later I walk in alone and ask as well, always have fun showing them they tried to cheat a couple. lol

Last year at the cinema.

My wife called to book 2 seats. The movie was in 3D, and as I wear glasses, I don't particularly like the experience of keeping a heavy chunk of plastic on the tip of my nose for 2 hours. So I asked if there was also the 2D version. They said yes, we have 2 rooms. Of course once we got to the cinema, there was only 3D.

Then, 150rmb as deposit for each 3D goggles, ticket was 110rmb. X 2=220. I handed over 600 rmb to the cashier. Being out of  75 Euro or 100 USD for watching a f*%$(#G movie was already getting on my nerves. Then I was waiting for the 80rmb of the change. As they were not coming, I asked the cashier and she said she charged the money into the member card we have (needed for pre-booking the seats). So I told her to take the money out of the card and she replied she can't. I called the manager. Same answer. "Sorry, once the money is in I can't take it out".

We watched the movie in complete rage. The next day my wife called the customer service at their central office in Beijing, threatening a big case with the local Consumers Protection Bureau (don't know how to call it...). 5 min later they called saying I could go get the money back. As I wasn't willing to spend 1 minute of my life on the case and as the cinema is very close to my office, we just left my address and demand to have the money delivered. The same idiot who tried to f*&^k me over came to my office to give back the money.

It is indeed comforting to know that others have had the similar experiences !!

I  invited one of my "We Chat Friends" for dinner and she wanted to go for western food. I suggested a couple of well known restaurants but she was quite keen on this one particular restaurant, so I agreed.

The entrance to the restaurant was from a side lane and under normal course I would have neither found out that place nor would have bothered to check out the place.

Once inside, the place was ok and prices on the menu were reasonable; 58 rmb for chicken steak is ok.

The price included a few chocolates and a small glass of some chinese red wine.

I thought that this was my lucky day, having found myself in the company of pretty chinese girl who could speak some english, good reasonable priced food......

But if something sounds too good to be true, probably it is !!

When the bill came, the steak was priced at 580 rmb instead of 58 rmb that I had seen on the menu.

Suddenly the girl forgot whatever English she knew, and I tried to make some noise in whatever little Chinese I know,;the menu was presented to me again....and sure enough this time the printed price on that menu was 580 rmb !!!!!

The damage was 580 X 2 minus the actual cost of food .

So, if you see some foreigners clicking the menu, could be one of us !!

A friend of mine booked tickets for a group of his students to the US through a travel agency. The prices and everything were agreed before and paid in full. As soon as the students arrived in the States the travel company called him and said they would cancel the return tickets if they didn't pay more money... 

When I first arrived in Beijing I rented an apartment from through an agent. I met with the 'landlord' and we signed the papers etc and everything was fine. Then three months later a man arrives at our door and tells us that if a woman comes to our front door and knocks that we should pretend not to be home and not open for her. While he was telling us this that woman arrived at our front door and the guy just ran away. Turns out the woman was our real landlord and she had no idea we were living there. She was renting it to a guy who said he was using it as an office and in turn he was renting it to us for 1,000 RMB more. 

The real landlord was great though, she let us stay and she fought to get us our deposit back that we paid to the fake landlord. We got it back in the end when she threatened legal action. 

The local outdoor food market sold me fruits for about double until I happened to go with a Chinese friend. You gotta love the westerner tax. 

Like others said, the taxis going the wrong way to make an extra 10 or 15 RMB, and the famous (?) Shanghai black taxi run-around.

The best one is my Samsung. Well, turns out it's not a Samsung at all, it's shanzai aka fake. It looks like a Sam, but it is definitely not. Of course I bought it at a nice mall and the price is the same, but they saw me coming I guess. Maybe part of the foreigner tax? Anyway, it won't accept QQ nor Wechat nor any useful software (says cannot run due to 'security reasons') and sends me updates and news that I pay for but cannot disable. I believe the software is modified. 

Thanks guys! 

Yea, I will buy a cheap phone soon and toss this Chinese ... thing in the lake.

And people wonder why I won't partner a business here nor invest anything. 

<Insert list rivaling the size, mass, and output of VY Canis Majoris here>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VY_Canis_Majoris