Went to the Aeon mall in my city, picked out a decent bicycle and a lock and did the registration and payment. Total came to just under 50,000 yen, paid cash. They then refused to give me the bicycle. Apparently it’s broke, despite this being a new bike shop only. My Japanese isn’t good, but I made it clear I wanted the bicycle or my money back and they just refused. So eventually I left because it’s like talking to a brick wall.
Is it worth it to file a police report? Again, my Japanese still needs a lot of work, and I’m afraid they’ll take the word of whatever story the bike shop makes up. All I have is my receipt, my registration form, some green tag they gave me, and the lock I bought (which is useless without a bicycle).
I’m so upset right now, I thought I was doing great here and then they play me for an absolute chump. I swing between wanting to scream and wanting to just swallow a bottle of pills and be done with it.
I don’t have the money to just go somewhere else and buy another one. I needed this.
What do I do?
​
EDIT:
I seem to be getting the same replies and while I do appreciate the help, really I do, I apologize for not being more clear.
It was almost certainly not a display model. There were multiple identical copies of most bikes, and the service staff physically took the bike and removed the price tag.
The bike was new, as were all the bikes there. It was in perfect working condition.
I did not order any service; they tried to sell it to me and pointed to a sheet where I could read “service” in katakana. I declined. Also, the receipt only has three items; the bike, the lock, and what I assume is the registration fee.
​
25 comments
Maybe go again with someone who speaks decent Japanese. Smells like a massive misunderstanding.
Why would any shop in Aeon Mall straight steal 50k from someone? Simply not worth it.
Did you get a receipt and registration?
Ah sorry you got the receipt. Are you sure they are scamming you and not that you don’t understand japanese? Maybe they need to fix the bike first or something?
What on earth are you talking about?
Are you sure they aren’t just making some adjustments to the bicycle before handing it over to you? Perhaps the green tag is for you to bring back and retrieve the bicycle. If you’re Japanese isn’t good then maybe you are missing a major thing.
Is there a native speaker who can go with you or who can phone the store and clear things up? I just don’t feel like a store wouls take 50,000 from you.
I’d assume they’re going to fix it/replace it before giving it to you. Did you pick up on any discussion of time (‘later’ ‘tomorrow’ etc) in the refusals?
Do you have Google Translate in your phone?
It’s a great tool, and it’s free. I’ve used it to communicate all sorts of the things from lost luggage to asking questions about menu items.
The voice function is especially useful…
they 99% have to do a safety check before you can ride it.
this is a consequence of the product liability law.
calm down and go back with google translate app and find out when they will be finished.
That sounds like a big misunderstanding
Could it be a bike registration issue, did you present proof of residence?
I say that because my wife had to go through all this crazy paperwork at Donki for a cheap bike for me, and even then the guy was really weird about making me swear it was my wife’s bike if I was ever stopped
Try going back with your residency card and proof of bike ownership if possible, or other works
Is this a troll?
Does the green tag have a number on it?
You don’t take the bike off the rack and ride off.
They’re gonna add the flat preventer, oil the chains, add the lock if you’d have handed it over and any other parts you may have requested.
They should have told you to come back after such and such time to pick it up.
It sounds like a misunderstanding, they are probably getting the bike ready for you. Learning Japanese will help you avoid issues like this in the future.
They are preparing the bike for you – the one you bought is probably in a box, either in the back of the shop or they need to get it delivered to the store. In any case, the shop will need to build and/or service the bike before they can hand it over. Go back there tomorrow.
Jfc. I often wonder on this sub how some of you guys made it beyond customs at the airport.
They need to make the bike ready. Takes at least an hour, if they are not busy. I bought a brand new bike like that before. Just calm down.
Where exactly are you? Do you not have any friends or colleagues who can help you?
Seriously just download the deepL or google translate app and bring it with you and just type to communicate with the people at the store. You don’t need a human “translator” to help you out on a 10 minute conversation to clear up a misunderstanding.
Maybe ask someone at your work or something to call the store an explain the situation and see if they can clear things up, most likely a misunderstanding of some sort. A bike shop in a brick and mortar store wouldn’t risk their livelihood to steal like $300.
AEON is a massive mall, and any shop in the mall has no valid reason to scam you. 50,000 yen might be a lot for individuals, but it’s almost negligible for any shop, even a small bicycle shop. It must be a mere translation error.
I’m not saying this to kick you when you’re down but a little bit of humility (fewer assumptions) will go a long way both for your mental health living in a foreign country/culture and also for your relationships with others across the language barrier.
By your own admission, you do not speak the language. You do not have a translator app on your phone (what year is this?). You are skeptical of the very clear advice from other people who have bought bikes here before. And somehow you are entirely convinced that a store in a chain shopping mall has done the extreme and completely ripped you off, even though you have a paper trail in the form of a receipt (that you haven’t posted) which presumably says otherwise.
If this isn’t a troll, then for your sanity I hope you reread the advice of others and try to calm down.
Sounds like you are stressed out from running into these types of complications while trying to do basic tasks due to language issues. Most people experience it at some point (for me it was my first time collecting a parcel from the post office), but try to keep a level head. This is not some dodgy clip joint in Kabukicho, this is a bike shop in a major mall. The idea of a shop assistant taking a customers money, providing a receipt, but not giving the customer the bike they paid for is absurd. What is more likely here, that you fell victim to a scam or that you missed something due to a language barrier?
It doesn’t matter if you *think* the bike was in perfect working condition or you *think* you declined a service (the word ‘service’ can mean different things btw). You missed something due to a misunderstanding. You are not a victim in this situation, and the sooner you accept that and acknowledge that you misunderstood the situation, the sooner you will get more comfortable living in Japan.
Get DeepL or Google Translate on your phone and ask the assistant to explain what is happening. Please don’t go to the police unless you want an embarrassing story to tell your friends later.
Bring a Japanese friend with you. If your Japanese is that bad, you need to have someone there. Calling the police isn’t going to do anything if you can’t even have a conversation with the shop staff where both sides understand what is going on.
Download Japanese (90Mb) for Google Translate and you can use it offline.
Bottle of pills…calm down with the melodrama, life has *a lot* worse in store for you.
A perfect example of why learning Japanese and living in Japan go hand in hand. I can almost guarantee you just didn’t understand what they are saying and you had an adult temper tantrum.
You paid $500, didn’t understand what the people were saying, stormed out, claimed they are scammers, and are debating getting the police involved. If this is real you should re-evaluate if it’s realistic for you to live in environments you are unfamiliar with. I feel bad for the shop people… go get your bike when they’re finished checking it..
Is this a troll? I seriously can’t tell
I just called up my local Aeon Mall’s “Aeon Bike” store and asked if I were to buy a bike right now at the store, would I be able to take it home immediately?
The lady told me the following:
1. Once you have paid for the bike, it will be lined up for final checks.
2. Final checks are required by law, and it usually takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
3. If they are busy, it can take multiple hours.
4. There is no need to wait at the store, so we will give you a green number card. Bring this number card back to the store at the estimated time given to you (by word of mouth) from the clerk, and you will get your bicycle if the checks are done.
So the conclusion:
1. You didn’t understand the time they expected you to return. Since over 2 hours have passed, I would assume it’s done by now.
2. You still have the green number card.
3. Take this and your receipt and go back to the store. They will most likely give you your bike. (I highly doubt it will take more than 2 hours to do the checks unless it’s super crowded)
When you do. Please don’t be angry with them. They’re just doing their job and did their best to try and communicate with you.
You are not ready to live in a different country honey