Category: Fraud Prevention

Picture that you’ve paid up thousands of dollars upfront, only to receive a delayed and defective batch of products. Or, what if your supplier decides to double the price, halfway through production?

Sending angry emails at 1 AM will not get you far, but there are methods that can help you gain the upper hand in a dispute with a contract manufacturer.

Methods that I will present in this article.

But first, we need to draw the line between you being disappointed, disputes and outright frauds.

This is how I define a supplier dispute

If you the supplier has failed to comply with the written product specifications, quality requirements and order terms – signed and stamped in a contract – and refuse to comply, then you are in a dispute. Continue reading How to Resolve a Dispute with Your Supplier

Small businesses importing from Asia get scammed everyday. You’ve heard the stories, so that probably doesn’t come as news. Most people would assume that there is no recourse, if you are scammed by a fake supplier.

But, I know two Chinese lawyers that don’t agree.

This week, we publish a practical ‘how to guide’ for reporting scams directly to the Chinese authorities and getting your money back – co-authored by Mr Kai Xue and Mr Li Xianun – both lawyers working for DeHeng Law Offices in Beijing.

In this article, Kai and Li explains how you should deal with fraud situations, including how you should manage the scammers and how to file a police report (that will actually be accepted).

Kai Xue and Li Xianyun, please tell us a bit about your backgrounds and roles at DeHeng Law Offices

Kai Xue (Left photo) is a transactional lawyer advising mostly in cross-border finance and outbound mergers and
acquisitions. Li Xianyun (Right photo) is a litigation lawyer representing clients in general commercial arbitration or litigation, including disputes stemming from foreign trade.

Aside from our professional interest in being engaged in legal matters, we are enthusiastic about providing better public information on smoothly conducting business in China, and if necessary, catching bad guys. Continue reading Supplier Scams in China: How to Get Your Money Back: By Kai Xue and Li Xianyun

All too often I hear Buyers making supplier selections on highly arbitrary factors, primarily the responsiveness the sales rep on the other side. Such factors are largely irrelevant. A supplier selection without the right data is often the root cause of quality issues further down the road. In this article, we explain how you can perform a China Company Verification by analyzing their documentation. This procedure can be managed from your office, and doesn’t require an on site visit.

Consider it a first step of the selection procedure, as there are limitations to what can be done from a distance – as compared to more comprehensive, and far more expensive, factory audits. The ideal outcome is identifying a number of potential candidates. In this article, we look into two sets of documentation, company related documents and product related documents, and the role of buyer references and US customs data. Continue reading China Company Verification: How to Vet Suppliers in 4 Steps