Cases of Overpayment Due to Duplicate Payments
More Than 40 Consumer Counseling Cases in 3 Years
A story has emerged about a customer who was accused of theft due to a payment error while using an unmanned ice cream store.
On the 28th, JTBC's 'Newsroom' highlighted a recent incident at an unmanned store. Customer A, who purchased three ice creams at the store, reportedly had one item not processed due to a payment error. After learning this, the store owner mistakenly identified A as a thief and demanded compensation amounting to 30 times the price of the ice cream.
There was also a case where a customer did not receive a refund despite being charged twice for ice cream. Victim B said on the broadcast, "After buying the ice cream, I checked my card statement the next day and saw a double charge," adding, "I called the store owner to confirm, but they refused to refund me," expressing frustration.
As unmanned stores continue to expand, consumer cases experiencing inconvenience related to payment and refunds are rapidly increasing, raising concerns. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency targeting 900 elementary, middle, and high school students who have used unmanned ice cream stores, the satisfaction score for payment and refund was 3.7 out of 5, indicating a failing grade.
Over the past three years, there have been a total of 45 consumer consultations related to unmanned ice cream stores. The consultation cases included ▲ kiosk errors preventing payment ▲ failure to refund change ▲ products past their expiration date ▲ insufficient security for entry, among others.
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