Consumer Disputes Decrease as Clothing Consumption Drops Due to COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the time spent at home has increased, leading to a decrease in clothing consumption and a declining trend in disputes related to textile products and laundry services.

On the 29th, the Korea Consumer Agency analyzed 3,071 consumer disputes reviewed by the Textile Product Deliberation Committee last year. Of these, 1,678 cases (54.6%) were the responsibility of the business operators, while 292 cases (9.5%) were the responsibility of consumers. Business operator responsibility slightly decreased compared to the previous year (60.9%), whereas consumer responsibility slightly increased compared to the previous year (7.2%).

Among the cases judged as business operator responsibility, 1,322 were attributed to manufacturers and sellers, and 356 to laundry service providers. By defect type, ‘manufacturing defects’ accounted for the largest share at 34.8% (460 cases), followed by ‘durability defects’ at 33.5% (443 cases), ‘colorfastness defects’ at 20.3% (269 cases), and ‘washability defects’ at 11.3% (150 cases).

Consumer responsibility cases were mostly due to ‘carelessness in handling.’ This appears to be influenced by an increase in consumers managing and washing clothing and textile products themselves. For example, Mr. A, who purchased pants in May 2021, discovered stains all over the pants after hand washing them at home. He raised an objection to the manufacturer, but the manufacturer refused compensation, claiming it was consumer washing negligence. The Korea Consumer Agency judged that Mr. A used a mildly alkaline detergent without checking the care label indicating ‘use of neutral detergent’ during the washing process.

By type, consumer carelessness such as ‘negligence in storage and management,’ ‘failure to follow handling precautions during washing,’ and ‘damage caused by external substances or forces during wear’ accounted for 80.1% (234 cases) of the total.

The Korea Consumer Agency urged consumers to prevent damage by ▲checking product quality labels and handling precautions ▲understanding product usage when managing or washing with home appliances ▲using detergents according to the prescribed method and amount and following drying instructions ▲checking product condition before requesting laundry services and receiving a receipt ▲immediately inspecting the finished laundry for defects.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.