"Dior Faces Controversy Over Subcontracted Repairs After Claiming Bag Was Sent to Paris Headquarters"

Dior Sued Over Alleged False Repair of Limited-Edition Luxury Bag

"Guiding Customers to Headquarters, Then Outsourcing to Private Firms Is Clear Deception"

This Incident Luxury Bag. Yonhap News

The French luxury brand Dior has become embroiled in a legal dispute after it was revealed that, although the company had told a customer that her limited edition bag would be repaired at its headquarters in France, the actual repair was outsourced to a domestic repair company in Korea. The customer has filed a complaint with the police against the head of Dior Korea, store employees, and the repair company, and has also reported the matter to the Fair Trade Commission.

On May 20, the law firm Pyeongjeong announced that, on behalf of the customer, identified as Ms. A, it had filed a police complaint at Yongin Dongbu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, charging the CEO of Christian Dior Couture Korea, employees at a Dior boutique in Gangnam, Seoul, and staff at a domestic repair company with property damage and fraud.

According to the complaint, after receiving a repair request for a limited edition luxury bag from Ms. A in December 2024, the Dior store employee is accused of misleading the customer by promising repair at the Paris headquarters but actually outsourcing the repair to a domestic company.

In addition, staff at the repair company are accused of damaging the product by conducting unauthorized repairs, such as reattaching external decorations (beads) on the bag without the customer's consent.

Apology message from Dior. Yonhap News

Previously, in 2016, Ms. A had purchased this bag—which was said to be the only one of its kind brought into Korea—for approximately 7 million won, and after using it for around eight years, she took it to a Dior boutique for repair when two or three beads fell off.

Ms. A expected the repair would take only a few months, but when it was not completed even after more than a year, she inquired about the status at the Dior boutique on February 24, 2026. The following day, the store informed her that the repair was complete and returned the bag to her.

Exposed Through Domestic Repair Company's SNS

About a month later, on March 23, Ms. A was shocked to discover a video on a domestic repair company’s social media account showing her bag being repaired. She repeatedly raised the issue with Dior, and it was eventually revealed that, contrary to the claim that the bag had been repaired in Paris, it was actually repaired by a private company in Korea.

SNS video of a domestic repair company. Photo by Yonhap News.

Ms. A's legal representatives plan to use the police investigation to determine where and how the bag was stored during the 14-month repair period, and have stated that they will file additional complaints if other violations are discovered.

Violation of Advance Notice Obligation for After-Sales Service ...Potential Fines for False Advertising

In addition, Pyeongjeong has reported Dior to the Fair Trade Commission for allegedly violating the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising, on behalf of Ms. A. Under Dior's after-sales service (AS) policy, when a customer requests AS, the company must have experts inspect the product, determine if there are defects, notify whether those defects are covered by warranty, and provide information about the feasibility, estimated cost, and duration of the repair.

Repairs are only to be conducted with the customer's consent, but according to Pyeongjeong, the Dior store employee did not follow these procedures and unilaterally informed the customer that the bag would be sent to the Paris headquarters for repair. If the Fair Trade Commission finds that Dior violated the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising, the company may face fines.

A Pyeongjeong representative stated, "In addition to the police complaint and the report to the Fair Trade Commission, we will continue to take follow-up actions, such as sending a formal notice to Dior's headquarters in Paris to inform them of the seriousness of this incident."

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