Money back
In short
Photograph the marked price and demand the invoice, which a business must produce when you ask. Settle it at the counter if you can. If not, call the municipal service line: Beijing publishes (+8610)12345, answered in eight foreign languages including English, and you press 1 after the Chinese prompt. The department handling it has 45 working days to mediate. After that the route is a civil lawsuit.
Open the support hubApplies to
Visitors charged more than the displayed price, hit with a charge nobody mentioned, or refused a receipt, anywhere from a restaurant to a taxi to a tour desk.
Check before you rely on it
The complaint procedure, the eight languages and the 45 working days are published by Beijing. No page we opened says other cities run the same line on the same terms, so outside Beijing confirm with the local service line.
Review date: 2026-07-25
Most of what decides this happens in the first two minutes, before you leave the premises. After that you are arguing from memory.
What you are owed
These are rights a government portal states in English, not customs or etiquette.
| Situation | What you can ask for | On what basis |
|---|---|---|
| The price on the bill is higher than the price on display | The marked price, and the reason for the difference | Consumers have the right to know the truth about goods and services, including the price, and to request the content, specifications and costs of a service. Shops are required to mark prices clearly. Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — What Are Consumer Rights? (page dated 2023-12-25; read 2026-07-25) |
| A service charge appears that nobody mentioned | To be shown where it was published before you ordered | The right to know covers the costs of the service; the statute adds that unfair or unreasonable rules imposed through notices, announcements or entrance hall bulletins are invalid. Source: National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China — Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests (page dated 1993-10-31; read 2026-07-25) |
| You are told you must buy something to be served | To refuse it | Consumers have the right to fair trade through quality assurance, reasonable prices and proper measurements, and the right to reject compulsory operator trading behaviour. Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — What Are Consumer Rights? (page dated 2023-12-25; read 2026-07-25) |
| The shop will not give you a receipt | The invoice or service document, on demand | Business operators shall make out invoices for purchases or documents of services, and must produce them where consumers so demand. Source: National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China — Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests (page dated 1993-10-31; read 2026-07-25) |
| You are asked to pay a person rather than a business | A business payee, a written contract and a receipt | Beijing's prepaid consumption guidance states plainly that money should not be transferred to individuals, and that the consumer should obtain and retain the contract, invoices or service documents. Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Things to Notice for Prepaid Consumption (page dated 2023-12-25; read 2026-07-25) |
| A refund is agreed for a payment you made by phone | The service fee back as well as the price | Weixin Pay states that where a transaction is refunded, the transaction fee is reimbursed in proportion to the refunded amount. Source: Tencent / WeChat Help Center — Guide to Add and Use International Cards with Weixin Pay (read 2026-07-25) |
Counter to decision
Is there a number I can call in English?
Beijing publishes the language list, the routing and the timetable in one place.
The call opens with a Chinese voice prompt; pressing 1 reaches the individual complaint channel. Beijing states the hotline currently provides services in eight foreign languages — English, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean and Arabic — and that the operator transfers the call to the foreign-language desk. Have the supplier name and address, the product or service and the amount, the cause and time of the dispute, and your own contact details ready before you dial.
The hotline forwards an acceptance form to the relevant department, which calls you and then has 45 working days to mediate. If no agreement is reached, the mediation is legally terminated and the remaining route is a civil lawsuit.
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Guide on Protecting Rights of Consumers Involved in Consumption Disputes (read 2026-07-25)
The published facts
Each line links the official source and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-07-25.
Beijing publishes (+8610)12345 as the consumer complaint line. A Chinese voice prompt answers and pressing 1 opens the individual complaint channel. The hotline currently serves eight foreign languages — English, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean and Arabic — and transfers the call to the foreign-language desk.
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Guide on Protecting Rights of Consumers Involved in Consumption Disputes (read 2026-07-25)
After the hotline forwards the acceptance form, the relevant department calls the complainant proactively and has 45 working days to mediate between the parties. If no agreement is reached in that window, the department legally terminates the mediation.
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Guide on Protecting Rights of Consumers Involved in Consumption Disputes (read 2026-07-25)
Beijing lists four things: the name and address of the supplier involved, details of the products or services including the amount, the cause and time of the dispute, and your own personal and contact information.
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Guide on Protecting Rights of Consumers Involved in Consumption Disputes (read 2026-07-25)
Consumers have the right to know the truth about the goods they buy and the services they receive, and to request the price, origin, producer, specifications, grade, main components, after-sales service and the content, specifications and costs of a service.
Page dated 25 December 2023
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — What Are Consumer Rights? (page dated 2023-12-25; read 2026-07-25)
Consumers have the right to fair trade through quality assurance, reasonable prices and proper measurements, and the right to reject compulsory operator trading behaviour when purchasing goods or receiving services.
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — What Are Consumer Rights? (page dated 2023-12-25; read 2026-07-25)
The consumer protection statute states that shops shall mark clearly the prices of the commodities they supply, and that business operators must produce invoices for purchases or documents of services where consumers so demand.
Articles 19 and 21 of the text published in English
Source: National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China — Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests (page dated 1993-10-31; read 2026-07-25)
The statute lists five ways to settle a consumer dispute: consult the operator, ask a consumer association to mediate, appeal to the relevant administrative departments, go to arbitration under an arbitration agreement, or bring proceedings in the people's court.
Article 34 of the text published in English
Source: National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China — Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests (page dated 1993-10-31; read 2026-07-25)
Beijing's guidance on paying in advance states that a consumer should sign a written contract rather than rely on a verbal agreement, should obtain and retain all contracts, invoices and service documents, and that money should not be transferred to individuals.
Page dated 25 December 2023
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Things to Notice for Prepaid Consumption (page dated 2023-12-25; read 2026-07-25)
Under the Beijing rules on single-purpose prepaid cards, the contract must state at least the parties and their contact details, the business's collection account, the amount paid in advance and the payment method, and the calculation method, channel and service fees of refunds.
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Things to Notice for Prepaid Consumption (page dated 2023-12-25; read 2026-07-25)
Weixin Pay waives its transaction fee under 200 RMB and charges 3% above it. Where a transaction is refunded, the help page states that the transaction fee is reimbursed in proportion to the refunded amount.
Source: Tencent / WeChat Help Center — Guide to Add and Use International Cards with Weixin Pay (read 2026-07-25)
If mediation fails, filing means a complaint with a copy for each defendant, a photocopy of your passport, and evidence such as invoices, receipts, purchase contracts, shipping documents and screenshots of chat records. The acceptance fee is due within seven days from the day after the payment notice, and the court notifies both sides of the hearing three days in advance.
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Guide on Protecting Rights of Consumers Involved in Consumption Disputes (read 2026-07-25)
Beijing cites the Civil Procedure Law: a foreign national, stateless person or foreign organisation who sues or responds in a people's court and needs a lawyer to represent them must appoint a lawyer from the People's Republic of China.
Source: Beijing Municipal People's Government — Guide on Protecting Rights of Consumers Involved in Consumption Disputes (read 2026-07-25)
Beijing's tourism authority publishes 12301 as a non-profit tourist service hotline giving 24-hour bilingual service in English and Mandarin, covering inquiries about hotels, dining, scenic spots, routes and travel agencies, and dealing with tourists' complaints. The page carries a 2014 date and names a municipal commission that has since been reorganised, so treat the number as a second option after 12345.
Page dated 15 January 2014
Source: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism (Visit Beijing) — List of Tourist Services and Complaints Hotlines in Beijing (page dated 2014-01-15; read 2026-07-25)
In short
The counter argument, the phone call, the tipping question, and the court option.
Ask at the counter first, photograph the marked price, and get the invoice — a business operator must produce one where you demand it. If that fails, call the municipal service line. In Beijing that is (+8610)12345, which runs in eight foreign languages including English, and the department handling your case has 45 working days to mediate.
Beijing's 12345 hotline currently provides services in eight foreign languages — English, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean and Arabic — and the operator transfers you to the foreign-language desk if you complain in one of them. Dial (+8610)12345 and press 1 for the individual complaint channel after the Chinese voice prompt.
Beijing publishes 45 working days. The hotline forwards your case, the relevant department calls you, and it has that window to mediate between you and the business. If no agreement is reached, the mediation is formally terminated and the remaining route is a civil lawsuit.
No official source we could open publishes a tipping norm or a rule on service charges, so we do not state one. What is published is that shops must mark prices clearly, that you have the right to be told the costs of a service before you accept it, and that unfair rules imposed through notices and hall bulletins are invalid. If a charge was never shown to you, that is the ground to argue on.
It matters a great deal. The statute requires business operators to produce invoices or service documents where consumers demand them, and the court filing list starts with invoices and receipts. Without one, a complaint rests on your account of the amount rather than a document.
Beijing's own consumer guidance says money should not be transferred to individuals, and that you should sign a written contract and keep the invoices or service documents. A payment to a private account is the hardest kind to trace and the hardest kind to recover.
On Weixin Pay, yes. It charges no fee under 200 RMB and 3% above it, and states that when a transaction is refunded the transaction fee is reimbursed in proportion to the refunded amount. Alipay publishes no fee schedule for an international card on any page we could reach, so we do not quote one.
Yes, in the People's Court with jurisdiction, and that is the published route once mediation ends without agreement. Expect to file a complaint with copies for each defendant, a photocopy of your passport and your evidence, to pay the acceptance fee within seven days of the notice, and to be told the hearing date three days ahead. If you want a lawyer to represent you, the Civil Procedure Law requires that it be a lawyer from the People's Republic of China.
Not published
One of these is about the law itself: the English statute we could open is the 1993 original, and that boundary is printed rather than hidden.
Source: National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China — Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests (page dated 1993-10-31; read 2026-07-25)
Source: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism (Visit Beijing) — List of Tourist Services and Complaints Hotlines in Beijing (page dated 2014-01-15; read 2026-07-25)
Card networks, wallet caps, the 200 RMB fee line, and the failure states that stop a payment before it becomes a dispute.
Open payment guideThe departure refund, the four conditions, and the 28-day clock that starts if you take the money at the till.
Open pageThe published ATM limit, who charges the fee, and what to do when the machine keeps your card.
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