Consumer Agency Reports Increase in Consumer Inquiries on 'Winter Clothing' Last Month

Consultations Related to Coats Up 143.4%... Highest Growth Rate

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Consumer consultations related to winter clothing such as coats, jumpers, and jackets increased last month.

On the 17th, the Korea Consumer Agency and the Korea Consumer Organization Council announced that the total number of consumer consultations received by the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center in November was 53,772, a 17.2% increase compared to the previous month.

Consultations related to coats were 297 cases, a 143.4% increase from 122 cases the previous month, showing the highest growth rate. This was followed by jumpers and jackets and health club-related consultations, which increased by 92.0% and 79.8%, respectively, compared to the previous month.

For coats, many consultations involved business operators refusing withdrawal requests for returns. For jumpers and jackets, including padded items, consultations were mostly about quality defects such as filling loss or clumping. Health club consultations mainly involved complaints about excessive penalty charges due to mid-contract cancellations.

Compared to November of last year, consultations related to new-type gift certificates (156.2%) and various performance viewings (111.4%) showed high growth rates. Most consultations about new-type gift certificates were related to delays in refunds for Merge Point, and many complaints about various performance viewings were due to cancellations caused by the spread of COVID-19.