Customer Who Claimed 'Free Popcorn' Was Spoiled... Suddenly Formed Legal Team 37 Days Later

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A self-employed business owner’s story has come to light, claiming that a customer demanded treatment costs such as implants after breaking a molar due to popcorn received as a complimentary service.

On the 23rd, a post titled "Customer breaking a molar while eating popcorn and demanding an implant" was uploaded on an online community, drawing attention. Mr. A, who identified himself as a self-employed person running a bar in Busan, began by saying, "There has been an issue troubling me for a year now, and I want to share it with you all."

Mr. A explained the situation: "The customer who raised the issue visited our store with friends on January 12 last year. At that time, they bit into an undercooked corn kernel from the complimentary popcorn, which caused a molar fracture, and later contacted us saying they needed an implant. They demanded treatment costs."

He continued, "I was contacted again on February 17, more than a month after the visit. They reached out 37 days later without any prior contact. Because of this delay, the CCTV retention period had expired, and the footage was no longer accessible." He added that he inquired with the security company about recovering the footage but was told it was impossible. Mr. A expressed suspicion, saying, "I even wondered if they were waiting for the CCTV retention period to expire."

Mr. A lamented, "If we could have visually confirmed the scene of biting the corn kernel on CCTV, I wouldn’t feel so wronged. I asked the staff, but none had seen or received complaints about such an incident. They didn’t even remember the situation." He added, "The customer was born in 1965, so I think their teeth could have been weakened due to age."

Mr. A shared his frustration: "At the time, I was visiting a hospital for in vitro fertilization treatment, so I asked my husband to handle the matter. The customer met with my husband and initially planned to cover the treatment themselves, but a lawyer friend advised that they could claim about 10 million KRW in compensation, so they contacted the store." He continued, "Eventually, when told the treatment would cost about 2 million KRW, they tried to settle for 1 million KRW, but I was too upset to send the money."

Image unrelated to the article content. [Photo by Getty Images]

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Mr. A and his spouse applied for mediation through the Consumer Agency. However, the complaint received in May last year stated that Mr. A’s side must pay about 5.11 million KRW in compensation. The complaint named as many as five lawyers.

Mr. A said, "I immediately hired a lawyer and waited for a settlement. But the other party boldly hired lawyers from a major law firm." He added, "The law firm advised against the lawsuit, saying the lawyer’s fee and the lawsuit amount were comparable. But I dragged this out not because I was reluctant to pay, but because if even part of the plaintiff’s claim is recognized and a partial compensation ruling is made, I’m terrified of how many black consumers will be created based on this precedent."

He continued, "I don’t understand why self-employed people always have to be disadvantaged and wronged in the position of the weaker party. Last year, I was so stressed by this issue that my in vitro fertilization didn’t seem to work well, so I postponed it. I have too many thoughts and feel very wronged."

Netizens who read the story responded with comments such as, "I hope a fair judgment comes out," "If such black consumers disappear, genuine victims can be compensated in the future," and "It must be very unfair and difficult for you."

Meanwhile, in 2021, Im Oh-kyung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed amendments to the Consumer Basic Act redefining consumer responsibilities and the Information and Communications Network Act to establish grounds for punishing unfair consumption behaviors by black consumers. According to data received by Im from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, there were 1,306 complaints related to black consumers from 2017 to 2021. Im prohibited acts that interfere with goods or services sold or provided by others through false information and added "fair market order" to consumer responsibilities.

The Korea Communications Commission is also preparing guidelines to improve review and rating systems. For example, Baedal Minjok blinds reviews reported for defamation for 30 days and operates a "write reviews visible only to the owner" service. Coupang Eats blocks reviews containing profanity, verbal abuse, or sexual harassment and announced that rating attacks will not be reflected in store rating statistics.

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