A nightmare at a coffee bar in Harbin Airport of China

[amanda1969]

Since husband and I have got home safely, now it is my time to tell you the bad story which I got mad.

We got to Harbin Airport on December 3 getting ready to fly to Beijing.

We got there early so husband told me we could sit in a coffe bar to relax before we checked in. I knew it might be expensive to eat or drink at airport but since we got good service at Beijing or Shanghai airport, we decided to enter the coffee bar. Husband asked me what I would like to drink before we went into it. I told him I would not drink anything except eating snickers that we brought. And then after we sat, I saw a waitress came to us and I told husband I needed to go to the toilet. But before I went, I retold him I needed nothing to drink.

After I had done, I asked husabnd what he ordered. He told me he only ordered 1 cup of coffee. But to our surprise, the waitress offered 2. Husband saw this and asked me how much and he put 106 RMB on the table.

The waitress was happy.I asked husband if he had ordered 2 but he said he only ordered 1.

I asked the waitress why she offered 2 instead of 1. She said husabnd had ordered 2. I told her since she could not understand English and husband could not understand Chinese, she should have asked me after I came back from the bathroom.

Then she was very angry and kept on saying it was my husband's fault not hers.

I told her we might pay 2 cups but we needed good service. She said the coffee was ready and we should have paid. If we did not want to drink any of the cup, we still had to pay for her" good service ". I was mad and I told her words seemed like we were forced to pay for such wonderful service.

I asked for meeting their manager but they told me they could not contact him.

and at last a man came in and he told me he was the manager. I told him what had happened. I told him we got horrible service that husband would call the USA Embassy in Beijing because husband is an American citizen. He told me husabnd and the waitress did not have any fault but my fault . I guessed he could not bully husband but since I am a Chinese he could blackmail me.

What a good service and wonderful coffe bar!

I told him we are spouse I was not his translator.

And later we went away because he said we could.

On December 6, when I came back from Beijing I saw nobody was in the coffee bar unlike Bejing or Shanghai Airpirt.

 

Amanda

Edited December 8, 2008 by amanda1969 (see edit history)

[Richard & Li]

I had an experience with an airport coffee shop too.

 

I was tired (and I love coffee). Li refused to enter the coffee shop and waited in the terminal with our son. I went in and had two cups of coffee while engaged in a nice conversation with a Chinese physician who was fluent in English.

 

I don't recall how much the coffee was. But, it was expensive (more than Starbucks). On the upside, the coffee was excellent.

 

Li was not happy that I spent that much money on coffee (or any money on overpriced airport stuff).

[rob'sweetie]

Since husband and I have got home safely, now it is my time to tell you the bad story which I got mad.

We got to Harbin Airport on December 3 getting ready to fly to Beijing.

We got there early so husband told me we could sit in a coffe bar to relax before we checked in. I knew it might be expensive to eat or drink at airport but since we got good service at Beijing or Shanghai airport, we decided to enter the coffee bar. Husband asked me what I would like to drink before we went into it. I told him I would not drink anything except eating snickers that we brought. And then after we sat, I saw a waitress came to us and I told husband I needed to go to the toilet. But before I went, I retold him I needed nothing to drink.

After I had done, I asked husabnd what he ordered. He told me he only ordered 1 cup of coffee. But to our surprise, the waitress offered 2. Husband saw this and asked me how much and he put 106 RMB on the table.

The waitress was happy.I asked husband if he had ordered 2 but he said he only ordered 1.

I asked the waitress why she offered 2 instead of 1. She said husabnd had ordered 2. I told her since she could not understand English and husband could not understand Chinese, she should have asked me after I came back from the bathroom.

Then she was very angry and kept on saying it was my husband's fault not hers.

I told her we might pay 2 cups but we needed good service. She said the coffee was ready and we should have paid. If we did not want to drink any of the cup, we still had to pay for her" good service ". I was mad and I told her words seemed like we were forced to pay for such wonderful service.

I asked for meeting their manager but they told me they could not contact him.

and at last a man came in and he told me he was the manager. I told him what had happened. I told him we got horrible service that husband would call the USA Embassy in Beijing because husband is an American citizen. He told me husabnd and the waitress did not have any fault but my fault . I guessed he could not bully husband but since I am a Chinese he could blackmail me.

What a good service and wonderful coffe bar!

I told him we are spouse I was not his translator.

And later we went away because he said we could.

On December 6, when I came back from Beijing I saw nobody was in the coffee bar unlike Bejing or Shanghai Airpirt.

 

Amanda

This made me remind when Rob bought the barbeque,he was charged more than I bought,I later on ask the guy selling the grilled meat how much when Rob was far from me,he then told me a cheaper price than he bought.Then I asked him ,why did you cheat foreign guest?he responded with a shamless face,"why you have to get mad?foreigners have money, but dont tell him this ,just told him the ones I sold him was bigger than sold to Chinese"Then I told him,"Of course I have to care,cos he is my husband,he had to get my permission to spend proper money..." You know wht was irritating me,he said "wow ,your husband!!!very stingy." Maybe I should not translate to my husband,but I was so helpless and mad ,even shamed of him being a selling in Capital of China. Oh forgot to say, we ordered several chicken heart which is Rob's love/ But we decided to let him keep his chicken heart.He then asked in a hurry when he realized we didnt wanna buy from him.I told him to return the rest of the money he "stole" from my husband,to me he was worse than a pick pocket. of course he wouldnt agree this deal.so Then I told him to keep his over grilled chicken heart/ this kind of people were not worthy of talking too.they think they gained the extra RMB by cheating someone who doesnt know language.but they lost their later on business and self dignity. We have met many nice people but some evil people too,one lady sold him very hard corn for more price then others buy,I just wish I knew kungfu,when she made stupid excuses just let her eat fist.

 

I hate dealing with some rude people,I am not socialable and agressive.for the most my man doesnt know the language.Also I do not want to upset him just by some few cave people here.

[Batmaniac]

Always send the girl to bargain and avoid the laowai price! We've seen so many shady situations here. It blows my mind. Of course for every sketchy encounter there might be a cool one. Like the time I went to eat BBQ in her hometown and I was the first laowai to ever visit this guys BBQ stand. He came over and drank with me. He was so excited. He was calling up and down and bragging to all his friends at their BBQ stands that he had a laowai eating his BBQ!

 

And Rob can keep the chicken heats, gizzards, stomachs and whatever other nasty innards they cook up!

[amberjack1234]

Rob's Sweetie

How courageous you were. I am so very proud of you. The same thing happened to me while I was in Beijing and other local towns last year but unfortunately my wife is non confrontational so most everything went unchecked. He should appreciate and love you very much.

 

Larry

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

We where at the America Consulate in Guz. I had to have some paper work to get and my wife remainded behind at a coffe shop. She ordered coffee for me when I returned. It was 50 RMB or over $7 for a cup of coffee that was horrible. Coffee is expensive in China and poor quality IMHO.

[Batmaniac]

We where at the America Consulate in Guz. I had to have some paper work to get and my wife remainded behind at a coffe shop. She ordered coffee for me when I returned. It was 50 RMB or over $7 for a cup of coffee that was horrible. Coffee is expensive in China and poor quality IMHO.

 

Yeah they kinda have you over a barrel there. You don't want to leave really and there isn't another coffee shop in there. I was there recently and tasted the "muck" they call coffee. On the train to Guangzhou a fairly small coffee was 25 RMB. I couldn't believe I could get a larger 21 RMB coffee at Starbucks!

 

And there was a scam running a few years ago, maybe still is, but I haven't read anymore about it. Girls would lure westerners into some of these coffee bar/western food restaurants under the guise romantic interest or a date. The guy would get a bill for 1000 RMB for a couple of coffees and a decorative fruit plate and the girl would slip away. If you refused to pay the coffee shop would threaten to call the police.

[shadeOgray]

Always send the girl to bargain and avoid the laowai price! We've seen so many shady situations here. It blows my mind. Of course for every sketchy encounter there might be a cool one. Like the time I went to eat BBQ in her hometown and I was the first laowai to ever visit this guys BBQ stand. He came over and drank with me. He was so excited. He was calling up and down and bragging to all his friends at their BBQ stands that he had a laowai eating his BBQ!

 

And Rob can keep the chicken heats, gizzards, stomachs and whatever other nasty innards they cook up!

Hey them was sum good innards ya'll!

I remember Ting was hopping mad, I had to calm her down and tell her no big deal as they will loose money in the long run. I did have her teach me the word for liar. So every time we went buy and the lady who over priced me was at the window I would say in Chinese "Hello Liar!" HAHAHA and that was often. It's kind of heart warming to see a woman as gentle as Ting to get so hopping mad and defend me. That¡¯s love there people! Eat your hearts out, if it's a chicken heart though pass it to my plate...Yummy!

[Guest jin979]

We where at the America Consulate in Guz. I had to have some paper work to get and my wife remainded behind at a coffe shop. She ordered coffee for me when I returned. It was 50 RMB or over $7 for a cup of coffee that was horrible. Coffee is expensive in China and poor quality IMHO.

 

Yeah they kinda have you over a barrel there. You don't want to leave really and there isn't another coffee shop in there. I was there recently and tasted the "muck" they call coffee. On the train to Guangzhou a fairly small coffee was 25 RMB. I couldn't believe I could get a larger 21 RMB coffee at Starbucks!

 

And there was a scam running a few years ago, maybe still is, but I haven't read anymore about it. Girls would lure westerners into some of these coffee bar/western food restaurants under the guise romantic interest or a date. The guy would get a bill for 1000 RMB for a couple of coffees and a decorative fruit plate and the girl would slip away. If you refused to pay the coffee shop would threaten to call the police.

 

 

 

better you drink the beer instead

[jhammer]

Since husband and I have got home safely, now it is my time to tell you the bad story which I got mad.

We got to Harbin Airport on December 3 getting ready to fly to Beijing.

We got there early so husband told me we could sit in a coffe bar to relax before we checked in. I knew it might be expensive to eat or drink at airport but since we got good service at Beijing or Shanghai airport, we decided to enter the coffee bar. Husband asked me what I would like to drink before we went into it. I told him I would not drink anything except eating snickers that we brought. And then after we sat, I saw a waitress came to us and I told husband I needed to go to the toilet. But before I went, I retold him I needed nothing to drink.

After I had done, I asked husabnd what he ordered. He told me he only ordered 1 cup of coffee. But to our surprise, the waitress offered 2. Husband saw this and asked me how much and he put 106 RMB on the table.

The waitress was happy.I asked husband if he had ordered 2 but he said he only ordered 1.

I asked the waitress why she offered 2 instead of 1. She said husabnd had ordered 2. I told her since she could not understand English and husband could not understand Chinese, she should have asked me after I came back from the bathroom.

Then she was very angry and kept on saying it was my husband's fault not hers.

I told her we might pay 2 cups but we needed good service. She said the coffee was ready and we should have paid. If we did not want to drink any of the cup, we still had to pay for her" good service ". I was mad and I told her words seemed like we were forced to pay for such wonderful service.

I asked for meeting their manager but they told me they could not contact him.

and at last a man came in and he told me he was the manager. I told him what had happened. I told him we got horrible service that husband would call the USA Embassy in Beijing because husband is an American citizen. He told me husabnd and the waitress did not have any fault but my fault . I guessed he could not bully husband but since I am a Chinese he could blackmail me.

What a good service and wonderful coffe bar!

I told him we are spouse I was not his translator.

And later we went away because he said we could.

On December 6, when I came back from Beijing I saw nobody was in the coffee bar unlike Bejing or Shanghai Airpirt.

 

Amanda

It does sound like you got blatantly ripped off, but, to me it seems relative to the whole coffee bar industry there.

 

That is one scenario, a nicer one than I might have gotten into, had I not my SO basically proxy as the manager for me, and tell me, I am nuts.

 

Coffee bars in China I have found can be a torturous place for American sensibility or at least expectations.

 

They are enticing, some very plush, and in fact many have excellent coffee, I must say. They do not operate like restaurants, however. The prices for anything will be 3 or 4 times what you would expect at a regular eating establishment. And you will be forced often into menu items which are not clearly part of what you expect. I think of that now as a "minimum" service charge.

 

I don't want to put all coffee bars in the same bucket, because I have had really good experiences in several, and actually considering what I ended up getting were reasonable, but, others can be really frustrating.

 

A coffee bar in Anshan served our table a mandatory order of a huge fruit boat. It's like 120RMB ~$17. OK. But they wouldn't give us any napkins. Like not even one. Instead they offered theme tissue boxes for sale for 10RMB which is about all we would need for the table. One of our guests refused the tissue offer due to the high cost and suggested we use some hankerchief he had. That wasn't working for me, and I tried to eat this watermelon and stuff w/o any napkins, and I'm like starting to get uncomfortable. It's not realistic to eat such fruit w/o napkins and they don't give you even one?

 

My SO explained to me, all coffee bars charge for napkins, and don't give any for free. She also explained that even regular restaurants charge for the napkins you get, but I just never noticed and never had someone refuse to have napkins "served" to us. So, I basically want to change all of China to stop charging for napkins and I realize that is fairly ridiculous, but enter phase II.

 

I still think it should be said that it is rude not to serve someone napkins with food, and it doesn't matter what culture you are from. The coffee bar could have at least had a single napkin at 1RMB which is typical in other establishments to provide us and we wouldn't be in this predicament. I wanted to talk to the manager. My SO, told me I would be wasting my time only to try to help him. Well, I didn't want to help him so much as I wanted to let him know his policy was rude. Of course after we would be leaving. My SO really advised me not to think about doing so. My solution was to trump our other guest and order the tissue box for the table, after all, I paid for the fruit boat.

 

This went over well as a solution

 

I nearly got in an argument with my SO, and the staff at this place and the scene could have become ugly, but, I didn't and we had some laughs about the whole thing on the way home.

 

Avoid coffee bars and "american" versions of restaurants over there unless you have extra money to blow and you are willing to suspend your expectations of service and value. It made my SO uncomfortable that I was getting uncomfortable in several western style establishments over service, and there was no point, it can not be overcome, they won't remove something from the bill, they won't give a free dinner if we complain So I have learned to go with the flow and at least both me and my SO share our tastes and appreciate the better coffee bars, but if you want good service, at a good price, go to a Chinese restaurant.

[Batmaniac]

 

Avoid coffee bars and "american" versions of restaurants over there unless you have extra money to blow and you are willing to suspend your expectations of service and value.

 

I made the mistake of trying the "Champs" (I don't think it was a real Champs) at the Shenzhen Shangri-la hotel. The bill was close to a $100 and no alcoholic drinks at all! So avoid avoid avoid if you are here.

[Corbin]

 

Avoid coffee bars and "american" versions of restaurants over there unless you have extra money to blow and you are willing to suspend your expectations of service and value.

 

I made the mistake of trying the "Champs" (I don't think it was a real Champs) at the Shenzhen Shangri-la hotel. The bill was close to a $100 and no alcoholic drinks at all! So avoid avoid avoid if you are here.

Well your problem there is that it was at the Shangri-la Hotel which is if my memory is right a 4 or 5 star hotel to begin with. Anything at a hotel of that quality is going to be pricey.

 

China knows tea, but as far as coffee goes I never did get a good cup of it and their ice cream isn't much better.

[Batmaniac]

 

Well your problem there is that it was at the Shangri-la Hotel which is if my memory is right a 4 or 5 star hotel to begin with. Anything at a hotel of that quality is going to be pricey.

 

China knows tea, but as far as coffee goes I never did get a good cup of it and their ice cream isn't much better.

 

Yeah that definitely is part of the price, however the level of service and quality of the food was pretty low. I've had tastier burgers at McDonalds! I'm not so impressed with the hotel either. When we walked in we asked one of the Shangri-La employees where the Champs restaurant was. He said "you can't eat there, its just beer and dancing." I just have come to expect piss poor service generally everywhere here and move on. There's nothing you can do about it. Hell, today the check-out girl at Watson's tried to charge my girl 2 RMB for a plastic bag! Should have been .20 RMB.

 

And as far as the ice cream goes. I am convinced the 7/11's are stocking bootlegged Haagen Dazs here. It was pretty nasty stuff.

[Corbin]

 

Well your problem there is that it was at the Shangri-la Hotel which is if my memory is right a 4 or 5 star hotel to begin with. Anything at a hotel of that quality is going to be pricey.

 

China knows tea, but as far as coffee goes I never did get a good cup of it and their ice cream isn't much better.

 

Yeah that definitely is part of the price, however the level of service and quality of the food was pretty low. I've had tastier burgers at McDonalds! I'm not so impressed with the hotel either. When we walked in we asked one of the Shangri-La employees where the Champs restaurant was. He said "you can't eat there, its just beer and dancing." I just have come to expect piss poor service generally everywhere here and move on. There's nothing you can do about it. Hell, today the check-out girl at Watson's tried to charge my girl 2 RMB for a plastic bag! Should have been .20 RMB.

 

And as far as the ice cream goes. I am convinced the 7/11's are stocking bootlegged Haagen Dazs here. It was pretty nasty stuff.

Not all of it is piss poor service, I have had many places that were great. You just had to watch out that is all.

[Batmaniac]

 

Not all of it is piss poor service, I have had many places that were great. You just had to watch out that is all.

 

Oh sure. i don't mean to paint a broad brush over every establishment here. In fact, I find that I get treated better than my girl in some places. She was out and about one morning and decided to surprise me and stop and get me a McDonald's value meal for breakfast. When she asked for ketchup, the girl got snippy at her and said "No ketchup at breakfast!" My girl stood up to her and demanded a packet because she knows I like them on my hash brown. I always get a smile when I ask for a ketchup at breakfast. Sometimes they even give me 2 without asking for them. Anyway I found the whole exchange odd since China McDonald's puts ketchup on some of their breakfast sandwiches.