Customer Who Found "Hair" Demands Double Compensation, Refuses All Exchanges and Refunds

"Customer Claims Hair Found in Purchased Cake"
When Offered a Refund... Demands Double the Original Price

A customer who purchased a cake requested a refund of twice the original cake price, claiming "there was a hair" in the cake.

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On the 26th, a post titled "Customer Demanding a Refund for Hair Found in Food" was uploaded to an online community. A, who introduced themselves as a self-employed cafe owner, began, "On the night of the 25th, I received a call from a part-time employee at the store. They said a customer found a hair in the cake they purchased and wanted to speak directly with the store owner."

After receiving the call, A immediately contacted B and apologized. They also added that they would handle the situation according to the customer's preference, whether through an exchange or refund. B then asked, "How much is the cake?" Upon hearing that the cake cost 35,000 won, B insisted on a refund of 70,000 won, double the price.

A said, "I'm sorry, but we cannot send you that amount of money. We can refund the cake price," and added, "Although it may be inconvenient, we can also provide a new cake." However, B refused, saying, "If you don't send me 70,000 won, I won't accept the cake or money, and I will post this online to make it public." When A's husband, C, took the call, B became angry, saying, "I recorded the call. I have someone I know at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety."

When A firmly stated again that a 70,000 won refund was not possible, B said, "Don't hang up the phone. Send me a text saying you will send 35,000 won and give me one more cake," and added, "In cases like this, it's proper to come in person and apologize." Eventually, A complied with B's demands, saying, "Finding hair in food is something we must be very careful about and we admit it was our fault," but also expressed, "I wonder if it really had to go this far. I was surprised that there are people like this who get so worked up."

Netizens who read the post responded with comments such as, "They should have received a photo showing the hair. It's suspicious whether there really was hair," "It seems like they handled it too kindly. If it were me, I would have called the customer to the store to confirm if there really was hair," and "Finding hair is a fault, but demanding more than double the refund seems wrong."

Meanwhile, if foreign substances such as hair are found in purchased food, you can report directly to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety through 1399 to seek relief. For cause investigation, take photos of the food and the foreign substance, then store the foreign substance in a zipper bag or airtight container and submit it to the investigation agency (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety or local government). You will be directly notified of the investigation results. However, if a false report of foreign substance discovery is made, it may result in imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won.