Foreign shoppers in Beijing say they feel left in the dark when it comes to consumer rights.

"You don't know what your rights are. You don't know where you stand," said Justin Richardson, director of Jardson International Education and a China resident for 13 years.

The Australian can list several instances when products he has bought in the capital have not meet his expectations, yet he has no idea how to complain about it.

He said there is a basic lack of information for foreigners.

In Australia, he said, consumer rights groups provide hotlines for shoppers who feel cheated.

"If you feel you're being sold a shoddy service, you can just call," he added. "Here, they don't have that."

While a lack of information may be one barrier, language is another.

"Even if I knew where to make a complaint, I wouldn't be able to," said Liora Pearlman, an American mother of two who has lived in Beijing for five years.

Communicating a complaint often requires more time and effort than returning the product is worth.

"I've learned to just let these things go," she said.

Although a growing number of Western brands are beginning to offer English language help lines, Cindy Carter, an American translator for the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, told METRO that some of the best customer service she has witnessed has been in small family-run shops where hotlines are not an option.

"When you have places that are smaller, they feel more responsibility and are more likely to help you," she said, adding that dealing with problems face to face is much easier than trying to deal with an automated customer service center.

Yet, for those who cannot speak Mandarin, it is only a matter of time.

Carter, who has lived in China for more than 14 years, said there has been a huge expansion in businesses catering to the capital's expat population that offer English hotlines over the last decade.

"I think we'll continue seeing more multilingual services because there's a lot more expatriates living in Beijing," she said.