"Self Photo Studio Service, Payment System, and Other Improvements Needed"

Balance Not Returned When Using Cash
Hard to Know Number of Photos Before Payment

It has been revealed that a significant number of self-photo studio stores, which have recently gained popularity among the younger generation, do not refund the remaining balance of usage fees or provide product-related information such as the number of photo sessions before payment.

The Korea Consumer Agency announced on the 23rd that this was confirmed as a result of a one-month field survey of self-photo studio stores conducted since August. The survey targeted 30 stores of the top 10 companies with the most registered franchises, such as Insaengnecut and Photoism Box, located in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

This investigation was prompted by an increase in reports of damages related to self-photo studios. According to the Consumer Agency, from 2019 to July of this year, there were 31 related complaint reports, with machine malfunctions accounting for the highest number at 17 cases. This was followed by 5 cases of duplicate payments, and 3 cases of non-refunded balances and inability to cancel payments.

The Consumer Agency's investigation found that none of the stores refunded the remaining balance when paying in cash. Nevertheless, only three companies (8 stores) displayed notices about non-refund of balances on both the payment screen and the photo machine. Two companies (3 stores) had no related notices anywhere.

At seven companies (21 stores), photos could only be printed in even numbers. Therefore, if three people took photos together and wanted to print four copies, they had to pay up to an additional 3,000 KRW. It was a common phenomenon across all stores that the number of photo sessions was only indicated on the screen after payment.

Additionally, two companies (4 stores) caused confusion by displaying information such as whether retakes were possible or the number of photo sessions differently from the actual service. Furthermore, some companies provided photos and videos taken via QR codes as files without consumer consent or failed to delete photo files after the indicated storage period, revealing other issues.

Based on the results of this investigation, the Consumer Agency plans to recommend that the surveyed businesses refund remaining balances and improve incorrect labeling of important service information.

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