Consumer Agency Reports Sharp Increase in Consultations on Ladies' Shoes, Electric Mats, and Dining Out

Last Month, 50,857 Consumer Complaints Received

Top Items with Increased Consumer Inquiries Last Month.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Consumer consultations regarding women's shoes, electric mats, and dining out items significantly increased last month.

On the 16th, according to an analysis of consumer consultations received by the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency and the Korea Consumer Organization Council, last month's consumer consultations totaled 50,857 cases, marking a 2.8% increase compared to the previous month but a 5.4% decrease compared to the previous year.

The items with the highest consultation growth rates were women's shoes such as dress shoes and boots, which increased by 48.8% compared to the previous month, showing the largest growth. This was followed by electric mats (40.7%) and dining out (37.4%). For women's shoes, there were cases where consumers requested refunds due to product defects but the business operators refused. For electric mats, many cases involved requests for after-sales service (A/S) or exchanges due to malfunction. Dining out consultations mostly involved claims for compensation after food caused stomach upset.

Among frequently consulted items, health clubs had the highest number of consultations (1,370 cases), followed by clothing and textiles (1,344 cases), and mobile phone services (1,178 cases). Regarding the reasons for consultations overall, 'quality A/S related' was the most common with 13,002 cases (25.6%), followed by 'contract cancellation and penalty fees' with 10,948 cases (21.5%), and 'contract non-fulfillment' with 9,089 cases (17.9%).

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