Singaporean family allegedly scammed of over $7k in fake jade jewellery during China holiday

What was meant to be a leisurely trip to China ended with a headache after a family was allegedly scammed of over $7,000 in 'jade' jewellery, Shin Min Daily News reported on Wednesday (Sept 30).

Liu (transliteration), 37, said that her parents went on a tour of Guizhou with a group of about 20.

On the last day of the tour, the guide took them to an shop that sells jade products.

While Liu's mum initially warmed up to the idea, she was soon overwhelmed with products as shop staff kept introducing products to them.

Her parents left the shop with 16 pieces of jewellery, worth about 37,240 yuan (S$7,100).

Some of the pieces purportedly also came with certificates that they were genuine, Liu told Shin Min.

Upon returning to Singapore, her parents presented the supposed "jade" jewellery to her, but she noticed something amiss with a Buddha pendant supposedly made of "black jade".

Liu explained that she has been interested in jade since young and was able to tell how to identify the rare gemstone.

She also had the pieces appraised by the Nan Yang Gemological Institute which confirmed her fears — the "black jade" was not jade at all, but a far more common stone known as serpentine.

The pendant was worth less than $100, Liu told the Chinese language publication.

Liu was subsequently told by the Singapore Tourism Board to seek a refund from the bank as the transaction was made with credit card.

The bank told her that the process might take an additional 12 to 16 weeks, Shin Min reported.

Meanwhile, the travel agency that Liu's parents toured with said it is aware of the situation and is verifying it with authorities in China.

Should Liu's complaint be valid, the agency will assist with the refund, Shin Min reported.

In July last year, China announced that it would be take action against tour operators who engage in illegal practices such as forced shopping, The Straits Times reported.

A year-long campaign was also announced as authorities stepped up enforcement and supervision, while the Culture and Tourism Ministry published a list of companies and individuals accused of violating tourism regulations.

The ministry said it would continue to update the list.

In November last year, however, 23 tourists from Singapore faced a similar situation when their guide took them to various shops in Chengdu, pressuring them to buy items.

If they did not hit an unspecified quota, they were not allowed to leave, local singer Shawn Tok revealed.

"We spent a total of 105,000 yuan and it still wasn't enough," he said then.

The situation was later resolved when the group sought help from local police, who managed to get a full refund for them.

khooyihang@asiaone.com

据《新明日报》周三（9月30日）报道，一个原本计划轻松愉快的中国之旅最终却以一场噩梦告终，一家人被骗走了价值超过7000美元的“玉”首饰。

37岁的刘女士（音译）说，她的父母和大约20人的旅行团一起去贵州旅游。

旅程的最后一天，导游带他们去了一家出售玉制品的商店。

刘的妈妈一开始对这个想法还挺感兴趣，但很快就被琳琅满目的商品弄得不知所措，因为店员不断地向她们介绍商品。

她的父母带着16件珠宝离开了商店，价值约37240元人民币（7100新元）。

刘告诉《新明日报》，其中一些藏品据称还附有真品证书。

回到新加坡后，她的父母把所谓的“玉”首饰送给了她，但她注意到一个据说是“黑玉”制成的佛像吊坠有些不对劲。

刘女士解释说，她从小就对玉感兴趣，并且能够辨别这种稀有宝石。

她还请南洋宝石研究所对这些物件进行了鉴定，鉴定结果证实了她的担忧——所谓的“黑玉”根本不是玉，而是一种更为常见的石头，称为蛇纹石。

刘告诉这家中文媒体，这枚吊坠价值不到100美元。

新加坡旅游局随后告知刘某，由于交易是通过信用卡进行的，他需要向银行申请退款。

据《新明日报》报道，银行告诉她，这个过程可能还需要 12 到 16 周。

与此同时，刘的父母所乘坐的旅行社表示，他们已经了解此事，并正在向中国有关部门核实。

据《新明日报》报道，如果刘女士的投诉属实，该机构将协助办理退款。

据《海峡时报》报道，去年7月，中国宣布将对从事强迫购物等非法活动的旅行社采取行动。

当局宣布开展为期一年的专项行动，加强执法和监管，同时文化和旅游部公布了被指控违反旅游法规的公司和个人名单。

该部表示将继续更新名单。

然而，去年 11 月，23 名新加坡游客也遇到了类似的情况，他们的导游带他们去了成都的各个商店，并强迫他们购买商品。

当地歌手 Shawn Tok 透露，如果他们没有达到未指定的配额，就不允许离开。

“我们总共花了10.5万元人民币，但还是不够，”他当时说道。

后来，该团体向当地警方寻求帮助，警方最终为他们争取到了全额退款，问题才得以解决。

khooyihang@asiaone.com