Trust Us. We Know What We're Doing.

Checking out of my old apartment turned out to be more of a pain in the neck than finding a new one. Because my former landlord was apparently a busy man, he'd long ago turned all the actual rent issues over to a real estate company, with whom I'd had at least one prior problem.

This meant that my deposit--a whopping two months' rent--was in the hands of the real estate company, rather than those of my landlord. Before you get your deposit money back, any outstanding bills have to be resolved, and an inventory of the apartment has to be done (in my case, to be sure that a cagey 外国人 doesn't make off with some poor sap's TV). After two hours of looking over the place, the real estate agents conceded that I hadn't stolen or damaged anything, and the landlord had not only agreed but also pointed out that I'd actually fixed a few things up, putting the place into better order than it had been when I moved in.

I asked whether we should go to the real estate office then to take care of my deposit. "在这里我们没有钱。 我们的福田办公室有钱。 你请给我们你的合同和你的发票，还有我们的福田(什么）五天后(什么) 你钱." (Zai zheli women meiyou qian. Womende Futian bangongshi you qian. Ni qing gei women nide hetong he nide fa piao, haiyou womende Futian (shenme) wu tian hou (shenme) ni qian.--We don't have money here. Our office in Futian has money. Please give us your contract and your receipts, and in five days our Futian (something) will (something) you money.

I responded, “你们先给我钱，就我给你我的发票." (Nimen xian gei wo qian, jiu wo gei ni wode fapiao.--Give me then money first, then I'll give you my receipt.) Then the agent did the one thing that always tells me I'm about to be screwed over by someone; he said, in English, "Trust us. We know what we're doing. This is process, always process." I told him I didn't much care about the process, pointing out that once I handed over all my receipts and my contract I had nothing left to indicate his company owed me money. Even my landlord said I shouldn't hand over my contract or receipts until after I'd been paid. "This is not a confident matter. We just want to help." I told him he could help me by writing down the address of their Futian office and letting them know that I'd be coming to collect my money at my earliest convenience, so they'd better get ready.

The next day, I got a message from the company, asking for my fax number. I sent them the school's number, and they faxed me an invoice detailing what they thought I was owed as a return of my deposit. Unfortunately, they'd listed one month's rent as unpaid (which was bunk), bringing my refund down significantly to about nothing. One of my coworkers called and cussed them out over the phone, and then they sent another fax, this one indicating that I was owed more money. They then began calling the school, asking me to sign and date the invoice and fax it back to them so that they could prepare my money.

I asked a coworker whether the invoice clearly stated I was owed money or whether my signing might indicate I'd been paid money. The invoice stated neither. Again, my coworker called and cussed the company out.

The next week, at my earliest convenience, I made a trip to Futian and visited the company's main office. When they asked what I wanted I showed them the invoice, and they immediately said, "你需要去那个南山办公室." (Ni xuyao qu nage Nanshan bangongshi.--You have to go to that Nanshan office.) I told them that, since the Nanshan office had told me to come to the Futian office, I was there, and I planned on getting my money.

“如果我需要再去南山，就我先要去给公安说话." (Ruguo wo xuyao zai qu Nanshan, jiu wo xian yao qu gei gongan shuo hua.--If I have to go to Nanshan again, then I'll go to the police to talk first.)

Then the woman quickly went back to get my money.