Consumer Agency: "Complaints Surge Over Excessive Cancellation Penalties at Golf Courses"

Recommendation to Use Standard Terms and Conditions for Golf Courses in Honam Region

The Korea Consumer Agency warned that consumer complaints related to golf courses have recently increased, particularly regarding excessive penalties for reservation cancellations or refusal to refund unused fees.

The Consumer Agency announced on the 24th that 410 consumer complaints related to golf course usage were reported to the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center from January to August this year. The 1372 Consumer Counseling Center is a nationwide integrated consumer counseling call center operated by the Fair Trade Commission, with participation from the Consumer Agency, the Korea Consumer Organization Council, and metropolitan local governments.

Consumer complaints about golf courses have exceeded 400 cases annually, with 485 cases in 2020, 460 in 2021, 464 last year, and 410 cases up to August this year. The most common reason for dissatisfaction when using golf courses was "excessive penalties for reservation cancellations and refusal to refund unused fees," accounting for 33.9% (736 cases).

Most reports involved businesses imposing excessive penalties by citing their own terms and conditions rather than the standard terms when canceling golf reservations. Many cases were also reported where fees were prepaid and not refunded upon cancellation or non-use, or where cancellations were refused even due to bad weather. Other common complaints included contract non-fulfillment at 15.5% (336 cases), unfair or excessive fee charges at 14.8% (321 cases), and refusal or delay in refunding membership fees at 11.4% (247 cases).

By region, complaints about golf courses were highest in Gyeonggi and Incheon at 32.5% (705 cases), followed by Seoul at 24.9% (540 cases), with the metropolitan area accounting for 57.4% of the total. Next were Yeongnam at 17.3% (376 cases), Chungcheong at 9.4% (205 cases), and Honam at 8.9% (194 cases).

In the Honam region, although 96.8% of golf courses used their own terms unfavorable to consumers and had the highest increase rate in consumer complaints nationwide last year, the Consumer Agency emphasized that services have improved as 65 out of 66 non-membership golf courses adopted the standard terms following the agency’s recommendations.

The Consumer Agency advised, "When possible, use golf courses that comply with the standard terms, check in advance the weather conditions under which cancellations are allowed and the penalty clauses, and secure evidence such as video recordings of weather conditions when stopping use for reasons other than user fault during play."