Q&F Group Zuhai, China - Anyone done business?

Cellar Rats (ITB)
22

Good morning,

I would like to share my experience. I should start by saying that my company does not sell wine, but chocolate snacks. However, I believe it’s worth sharing what happened, as the dynamics seem to be quite similar.

I was contacted by them in July 2024 through an account named Anna, who expressed interest in our products and requested our price list, discount policies, and samples. After sending everything and receiving very positive feedback, a new contact named Kenny reached out, asking for further details and proposing a video call via Teams to finalize a few points.

During the meeting, I presented our products, which he stated were highly appreciated. Shortly after, I was invited to their headquarters in China to sign the agreement and move forward with the distribution of our products.

So, in October 2024, I traveled to China. I stayed in the Continental Hotel in Zhuhai, and the following day, Kenny and a driver picked me up and took me to their office. There, I met the supposed owner, we discussed all the terms in a very positive and professional way, and we closed the meeting with a firm handshake—completely unaware of what would happen next.

Upon my return, we immediately sent the proforma invoice for the order (which was quite substantial). That’s when the first warning signs appeared: they began asking us to pay for trademark registration, product notifications, etc., for a total of around €3,500.

When they sent the last invoice, I refused to pay, stating clearly that I would only proceed with those payments after receiving the agreed-upon deposit from their side. From that moment on, they completely vanished—no more replies, or vague responses at best.

I won’t go into further detail to avoid being too lengthy, but let me be absolutely clear: THIS IS A SCAM. Please be cautious and do not pay these individuals unless they pay you first. And do not even consider traveling to China, no matter how attractive their order requests may seem.

To those in this group who have been affected, I suggest we unite and form a coalition to try and recover the money we have lost, as well as seek compensation for the emotional and professional damage caused.

If anyone would like more details, I’m fully available to support you.

3 Likes
23

Hello, I own a cosmetics brand, and Q&F wanted to order a large quantity based on an exclusive contract agreement. I flew to China to meet with them and sign the contract in person at their office in Zhuhai. The meeting took place in July 2024 with Tammy, Alice, and their boss, Mick. We made sure we had a strong contract in place, which we drafted and to which they added a few clauses, with the first proforma also in place before the trip.

Due to the nature of cosmetics regulations, we needed to make small formula tweaks to meet Chinese standards. This perhaps helped, as we decided to manage and pay for the testing and filing, as well as the trademark registration in China.

They asked me to send them certificates once everything was in place. However, I am discouraged from sending anything, as email contact was intense initially, but recently it’s almost impossible to receive an email reply.

I don’t know if they’re running a scam. If they are, then I am dumbfounded why they’d spend so much time, as they’re unlikely to receive that much money from brands… unless they’re logging all ‘exclusive brands’ in a portfolio in exchange for some sort of investment? Their website looks different now compared to what we saw in summer 2024; it seems to be more about consulting, whereas they pitched their company as B2B gifting for corporate clients.

I’d appreciate any update from anyone here if they concluded a sale or discovered anything else that adds context. Please get in touch, and I’m happy to talk directly.

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Hello SamT, I’d be glad to connect directly, and exchange information. Do let me know if you’d be available via email?

25

The HK legal system is still pretty robust for commercial fraud. So if a HK legal entity is involved (although HK being a free port I’m not aware of “Trade Licence” as a HK thing, so you would need to validate that) I strongly recommend that everyone who feels scammed here registers their complaint with the HK Police.

This can be done online.

26

Hi Sam

I wanted to respond to your post as I too have been played around by this company, it seems they are repeating this cycle with all of us, I first had Lyne reach out to me for the same information then I sent across two samples for them to ‘test’ they came back with ’ we are very happy with the quality, and we then proceeded to draft the contract, however they came back with all sorts of strange requests in the amended contract, one which really threw me off was ’ only a 30% payment for the goods and the remaining 70% after 50 days of arrival, which no one int heir right mind would accept such a risk, I responded to them over 2 weeks ago now and the last response was ‘management is reviewing the contract’ weeks past so I sent another email and absolute crickets… this company is highly unprofessional and completely wasted my time and energy, for them requesting to have you party for the trademark is a red flag for me, and i’m glad you didn’t. happy to unite together if we can, please reply.

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Hello ScarlettG. Sure, write me on samuele@wanasweets.com and then we will able to talk.
See you soon

1 Like
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Hello Anna, thanks for sharing your experience, much appreciated.
Please reach me out at samuele@wanasweets.com and we will talk.
Samuele

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A quick look at the HK databases shows that Q&F Group is a company registered in HK. However, if you google the address that it is registered at you find a very large number of other companies registered to the same small unit. Sometimes these “company hosting” addresses can be for legitimate businesses, but in my experience when that many companies are registered at the same very small unit then something dodgy is almost certainly going on.

I live in HK and I have plenty of free time, so if anyone would like any assistance either with local online sources, or even to go and visit a site here then please send me a private message.

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Hello Anna_K, I’d be glad to talk, if you’d be open to connect via email?

31

Hi Scarlett

Yes I’d like to, please feel free to connect with me at aatesh90@hotmail.com

1 Like
32

Hi Samuele

Would like to connect however it won’t allow me to email you with that format, is there a letter missing in the email?

I’m on aatesh90@hotmail.com if you’d like to reach out

Look forward to connecting

33

Hi Sam

Your story sounds very familiar to all of us and I am sorry this happened to you. I am in Cosmetics but also wanted to fill people in on what I found out. I was first contacted by Anna in May 24 who wanted further discount for the volume. I stupidly gave a little more off but would not change the terms of 50% deposit and the balance before sending. During this time, I had our local govt dept check with their Chinese office that they existed, which they did, but there was not a lot of information on them. I google searched and came across this forum ages ago as like most of us here, our spidey senses were picking up on something off.

I had a contact for a local accountant there in China who said that the Fulicloud, Q&F were a shell company for something larger in mainland China. He said that if I was to sign this contract to ask for their financials and he would investigate for a cost.

I was asked to send products and I figured for $50 if it’s a scam, I am not losing that much. My products were accepted and then I was moved onto Kenny. Kenny then wanted things changed in our contract like the jurisdiction to be HK but I said no. Emails then slowed down and I then heard back from them that they wanted me to travel to China to sign said contract (this was December). I refused and only just heard back the other day from Kenny that they had been moved to the Shenzhen branch and that they hope the previous cooperation can be resumed at an appropriate time in the future.

It seems a lot of time and work for a scam, but it is so odd. I don’t know if they are legitimate but there is no way I am paying for any testing. I applied for a TM in China, which was rejected for some odd reason, but it only cost $600AUD so anything more than that is a scam. People should not pay any money to them for testing, this is what they need to cover as their cost of doing business. I was also told by my mentor who exported cosmetics to China that going through HK negates a lot of testing required in China but she did say they do do animal testing at their expense. She thought it was odd when I told her some people had been asked to pay.

I really hope that someone gets paid or discovers what their true motive is, as it is just so weird and long winded for a scam!

1 Like
34

Hello MarieM, I also own a cosmetics brand and have signed contract with Q&F. I’d be glad to talk, if you’d be open to connect via email?

35

Hey Scarlett

Sure happy to chat, let me know your email and I will reach out. Are you based in Australia?

36

Hi MarieM, I am based in the UK. Please email me at greenscarlett@mail.com ; thanks so much.

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Just sent you an email from my gmail.

1 Like
38

If there is a way all of us can prepare a joint complaint in a etter addressed to Hong Trade Council could be one way of addressing the issue from a legal standpoint.

39

Hi SamT,

I am just going through your message, I will reach out to you and discuss possible way to collaborate.

Sid
Siddharth@orange-link.com

40

Hi everyone, a number of us have formed an email group to exchange ideas on how to handle this Q&F situation. Let me know if you’d like to be included, email me at greenscarlett@mail.com