"Beware of Consumer Damage in Air Tickets, Parcel Delivery, and Health Foods During Seol Holiday"

Consumer Agency and Fair Trade Commission Issue Holiday Demand Damage Alert
Steady Increase in Damage Relief Requests Over the Past Three Years

Mr. A purchased three round-trip airline tickets from Cheongju to Da Nang, Vietnam, departing the following month, for about 2.5 million KRW through a domestic airline's website in January last year. Due to personal reasons, he requested to cancel the tickets three days later but learned that a cancellation fee of 300,000 KRW would be charged. Considering this excessive, he filed a consumer damage relief request.

Parcels and delivery packages are piled up ahead of the holiday. Yonhap News

Another consumer, Mr. B, requested delivery of apple mangoes worth 76,000 KRW through a courier service ahead of last year's Lunar New Year holiday but found the mangoes spoiled upon receipt. He raised an objection to the courier company, but the company refused compensation, causing him damage.

The Korea Consumer Agency and the Fair Trade Commission announced on the 19th that consumer damages are continuously increasing in areas with rising demand around holidays, such as airline tickets, courier services, and health supplements, requiring special caution.

According to the Consumer Agency, a total of 5,361 consumer damage relief requests related to airline tickets were received over the past three years since 2022, with 728 cases (13.6%) submitted during January and February, which include the Lunar New Year holiday. The most common reason for relief requests was "contract cancellation-related issues" at 55.6% (2,980 cases), followed by "contract non-fulfillment" such as flight delays or cancellations at 28.9% (1,551 cases), and "unfair practices" at 4.9% (264 cases).

During the same period, there were 961 courier-related damage relief requests, with 164 cases (17.1%) filed in January and February. The primary reasons were "damage or deterioration of transported goods" at 44.3% (426 cases), "loss" at 33.2% (319 cases), and "contract non-fulfillment" such as delays or misdeliveries at 12.2% (117 cases).

Additionally, there were 974 health supplement-related damage relief requests. Of these, 166 cases (17.0%) were submitted during January and February. Notably, consumers aged 60 and over accounted for 324 cases (33.3%) of the total 974.

The main reasons for relief requests were "contract cancellation-related issues" at 43.0% (419 cases), followed by "contract non-fulfillment" such as non-delivery or delayed delivery at 23.1% (225 cases), and "quality and after-sales service" issues such as insufficient effects or side effects at 18.5% (180 cases).

The Consumer Agency and the Fair Trade Commission urged consumers to carefully check for occurrences of natural disasters or social issues at travel destinations and to thoroughly review the cancellation and change policies of the airline ticket sellers (travel agencies or airlines) before purchasing tickets. Regarding courier services, they emphasized that due to the surge in volume around holidays, delivery delays or damage to goods may occur, so consumers should allow sufficient time when requesting delivery. They also advised that upon receiving transported goods, consumers should check for damage or deterioration and immediately notify the business operator if any issues are found (no later than 14 days from the date of receipt).

For health supplements, it is important to carefully review contract terms because companies may refuse refunds or charge penalties for contract cancellations after free trials due to various reasons (such as expiration of the trial period or damage to the main product). Additionally, if consumers do not intend to purchase or consume the product after ordering, they must request withdrawal of the subscription within 7 days for telecommunication sales (e-commerce, etc.) or within 14 days for in-person or telephone solicitation sales, based on the actual date of receipt of the goods.

The Consumer Agency and the Fair Trade Commission provided these damage cases and precautions to consumers and urged them to be cautious to avoid similar damages. If damages occur, consumers can seek consultation or file damage relief requests through Consumer24 or the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center.

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