Scam artist, crooks, double-crossing thieves and good-for-nothing scum. When you overhear these words in a conversation in China, it is safe to say someone is talking about their housing agent.

Recently, my apartment lease was up for renewal, so I messaged my agent a few months out to see if we could renew the lease.

"I don't know. Let you know one month before," he said through WeChat.

I applied a little pressure, and, finally, he told me that we could stay, but he was raising our rent by 1,000 yuan ($145) and charging us a 10,400 yuan agency fee to re-sign the lease.

Apparently, this is common practice.

Angry and defeated, I decided if I was going to pay all of that money, I should try to get some repairs done around the apartment and some new couches. He agreed! However, when the couches arrived, they were a far cry from what we used to have and could barely seat my roommates and me. What to do?

It is hard to deal with an agent for many reasons. A big factor for anyone who does not speak Chinese is the language barrier, followed by cultural differences and the fact that they are in it for the money. If you move out, 100 others are waiting to move in.

One tactic I have found that works well is asking them what they would do. When I messaged my agent, I said, "If you lived with three people, would you want these couches?"

It is a much better tactic than just yelling and trying to fight. I also made it clear that I wouldn't back down and helped by providing solutions, such as asking him to send me his budget for the couches and then sending him options within his price range to choose from.

A lot of times, they are just used to saying no, and that's that. So keep trying.

I also try to keep a relationship going with my agent so that when I contact him, I am not just another random tenant.

Also, make sure you keep all your receipts and save the conversations you have so that if a question arises, you have proof of what they said.

It will always be hard and annoying to deal with agents, but if you stand up for yourself in a firm and respectful way, you will find that it is much easier to get what you want, and I've got the couches to prove it.

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.