"We were informed to gather at Sihui at 7 am, but nobody came for us until 7 pm." 

A man surnamed Meng explains how he was among hundreds hired by an agency to act as customers at a promotional event organized by cleaning product giant Safeguard at the Chaoyang Sports Center on Sunday. Meng reported the farce to the police after he and others were told by the company they hadn't actually been hired. Safeguard claimed they only asked the acting agency for 550 actors, but the agency provided 1,300 in total. Safeguard paid the agency 70 yuan ($11) for each actor, although only partially paid the actors. The agency, which is run by two people, pocketed the rest and has since shut down.