Company Side "Feeling Deceived..." Absurd Explanation
At a Pilates academy, it was revealed that a customer who canceled their enrollment was labeled as 'hwanbulbyeongX' (a derogatory term) in the system, sparking outrage among netizens.
On the 13th, several photos were posted on an online community under the title "After refunding Pilates, I became 'hwanbulbyeongX'."
The author, Mr. A, visited the Pilates academy on the 12th and paid for classes starting on the 14th. However, due to personal reasons, he requested a refund the next day. The academy then told Mr. A to pay a 10% penalty fee or, if he could not pay, to report the matter to the Consumer Agency.
Mr. A complained, "If I had attended even one day of class or had been informed about this during the consultation, I could have understood the 10% penalty fee. But since I neither attended any class nor was informed during the consultation, it was hard to accept being told to pay the penalty fee first in order to get a refund."
After an argument, the academy promised to refund him. Thinking the matter was settled, Mr. A was shocked when he saw a notification on his phone. The academy had registered his name as 'hwanbulbyeongX.' Upon seeing this, Mr. A immediately filed a complaint with the Consumer Agency.
After learning about the report, the academy contacted Mr. A and explained, "I received a call from the Consumer Agency asking about 'hwanbulbyeongX.' Usually, we save names as 'hwanbul OOO.' It seems someone else requested registration and cancellation on our behalf, so I deleted the member. I didn’t intentionally label it as 'hwanbulbyeongX.' I don’t know the details. I deleted the member, so I don’t know why it was saved like that." They also apologized, saying, "We didn’t intentionally send that. We apologize for that part. It was not deliberate," and added, "If you felt bad, I apologize."
They continued, "We also had bad feelings and temporarily wrote that before deleting it. As you know, the cancellation was the very next day, so we felt somewhat deceived by the business, which is why it was written and then deleted immediately." They added, "It feels different, but sometimes people intentionally do this after requesting services, so we were suspicious, which caused this situation," offering a bewildering excuse.
In response, Mr. A said, "They suspected me of being a spy sent by another company and acted with bad feelings." He added, "Of course, as someone running a business, refunding customers is not pleasant, but I don’t think I did anything to deserve such insults."
He concluded, "As a former store owner myself, I find this situation hard to accept and am posting this to seek advice on how to handle it wisely."
Netizens who read the story expressed anger with comments such as, "What kind of loss is there from refunding the next day?", "Accusing someone of being a spy without evidence," "The apology 'If you felt bad' is the most annoying," "Please share which company this is," "Post this on the local mom cafe," and "The apology message is the most infuriating."
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