"Claim Filed at Laundry Marked as 'Troublemaker'... When Complained, They Say It's 'Attention'"

Winter Clothes Discolored After Leaving Them at Laundry Service
Requested Stain Removal Three Times...
Received Clothes' Tag Reads 'Difficult Customer'

A woman who entrusted her winter clothes to a laundry service received a laundry tag labeled 'difficult customer,' sparking controversy.

A laundry service marked a customer's laundry with writing that could be interpreted as labeling the customer a 'problematic customer.' The laundry service explained that it was meant to say 'customer of interest.' [Photo by JTBC 'Sageonbanjang']

On the 2nd, JTBC's 'Sageon Banjang' reported the story of a woman, Ms. A, who had this experience. About a month ago, Ms. A left her winter clothes at a laundry service. After receiving the clothes back, she noticed dye stains on them and requested the service to wash them again. However, the stains remained even after the second wash.

Ms. A contacted the laundry service about the dye issue approximately three times. Later, while checking the clothes she received again, she discovered a tag that read 'difficult customer.' According to the photo Ms. A shared, the laundry tag attached to the end of the clothes had a hastily written message that could be interpreted as 'overall dye stain / difficult customer.'

Angered, Ms. A immediately protested to the laundry service. However, what was even more absurd was the response from the laundry service owner. They claimed that the tag did not say 'difficult customer' but 'interested customer.' When Ms. A's anger did not subside despite this explanation, the owner changed their story, saying, "A young employee wrote it alone."

Netizens who came across this story reacted with comments such as, "If she complained about dye stains, that's a legitimate request, so it's surprising they have such a service mindset," "It seems like they're trying to escape responsibility by blaming the staff," "She didn't even act like a difficult customer, seems like they're overreacting," "I'm scared to even contact them because of the dye issue," and "What kind of difficult customer behavior is that? They probably haven't met a real difficult customer."

Meanwhile, among the 23,374 cases of consumer damage relief filed with the Korea Consumer Agency in 2010, textile personal items and laundry services (excluding repair services) accounted for 6,796 cases, representing 29.1% of the total. The most frequent claims were for casual wear (sweaters, casual pants, etc., 37.4%), followed by ▲footwear (23.1%) ▲suits (20.8%) ▲bags (7.0%) ▲leather products (3.7%). Regarding responsibility, 28.3% of cases were attributed to manufacturers and sellers, 11.0% to laundry services, 18.0% to consumers, with natural phenomena accounting for 10.1% and others 22.6%.