Summer Air Conditioner and Fan Consumer Inquiries 'Surge'

Consumer Agency Analyzes 47,005 Consultations from Last Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] As the summer season began in earnest last month, consumer consultations related to air conditioners and fans have significantly increased, according to a recent investigation.

On the 26th, the Korea Consumer Agency and the Korea Consumer Organization Council announced that an analysis of 47,005 consultations received by the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center last month showed that consultations related to air conditioners increased by 112.8% compared to the previous month. This was followed by consultations related to fans (91.9%) and overseas travel (61.3%).

Many air conditioner-related consultations involved requests for exchanges due to insufficient cooling performance that were not fulfilled. For fans, there were many cases where refunds were requested due to dissatisfaction with performance but were refused, and for overseas travel, many cases involved requests to cancel contracts due to the resurgence of COVID-19, but excessive penalties were demanded.

Compared to July last year, the consultation increase rates were high for indemnity insurance (356.4%), overseas travel (225.0%), and air passenger transport services (139.1%). Indemnity insurance consultations mostly involved refusals to pay insurance claims after cataract surgery, and air passenger transport services mostly involved excessive cancellation fees charged when requesting ticket refunds.

By age group, those in their 40s accounted for the most consultations with 12,308 cases (27.9%), followed by those in their 30s with 11,973 cases (27.1%), and those in their 50s with 8,949 cases (20.3%). By reason for consultation, quality/A/S related issues accounted for 13,119 cases (27.9%), contract cancellation/penalties 10,631 cases (22.6%), and contract non-fulfillment 7,162 cases (15.2%).

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