Resolution of a Scam without Loss of “Face”….Maybe

A few weeks ago I posted about a scam that involved taking off moles/warts/tags. We were overwhelmed at the time with the price tag attached. Admittedly it was several hours of work, involving many small removals. We were also upset with ourselves for even beginning the process. We have lived in Asia for 8 years now and know that this would be a case where business/scam would have a wavy line. We paid about 2/3 of the amount, (all the money that we had) , but said we had to wait until our pay check at the end of the month to finish. As the time approached we were told by other expat friends here that they had also been involved in the same situation in the same massage spa. Their bill was much less and involved much less work, and they just flatly refused to pay it and threatened to call the police. Nothing more was said.

We have agonized over this, because we were angry with ourselves, felt betrayed by a place with whom we have been engaged once a week for months and months, and because the 1/3 left of the payment was still extensive and would stretch us for the rest of this semester. We prayed and discussed what would be ethical and realistic. We practiced saying what we wanted in Chinese, (remember the language difficulties), and we finally decided that we would offer the money that we had paid ahead to the organization for us and was on file for our final massages of the semester to cover the bill, but that we were then done using their services and would leave. We felt that this was ethically viable. We had more than paid a reasonable price for the work done, and it also stated in a concrete way how very unhappy we were with their treatment of us. With a deal of consternation, they finally agreed to waive the last of the payment but that the lady would also not finish up the little bit that she had left to do on Rick’s back. So win-win, or lose-lose depending on what one wanted done, but we felt good about the interaction. It expressed our displeasure, but also let them save “face”.  We have seen Westerners absolutely broken in trying to do business within this context. We will continue to be watchful in situations which might be fraught with problems. Thankful that God gave the answer and helped us carry it through.