The Kids Cafe Owner Who Changed Their Story After Being Told to Compensate for the Toy... Accused of Attempted Fraud

Toy Car Bonded from the Start
Owner: "Child Damaged the Steering Wheel, Please Compensate"
After Dispute, Informant Found Not Responsible

Photo unrelated to the article. [Photo source=Pixabay]

A story has emerged about a business owner who demanded compensation from a guest who came with a child for an item that was never damaged.

JTBC's 'Case Manager' recently revealed the story of a whistleblower who experienced an unfair situation after visiting a kids' cafe with their child. The whistleblower, Mr. A, visited an unmanned kids' cafe located in Busan with his 21-month-old child. At the time, the child was playing by riding a toy car in the cafe and held a black object in his hand, examining it from various angles. When Mr. A approached to check, it was the car's steering wheel that was precariously attached with glue. He said, "Since the glue was so obviously applied, I thought it was broken but the owner just left it like that," adding, "I wondered why they would roughly fix a broken toy and keep using it."

However, that afternoon, Mr. A received a text message from the kids' cafe owner. The owner said, "The next customer said the car was broken, so I went to check and it seems the car was damaged while the previous customer (Mr. A) was using it," adding, "We also reviewed the video of the staff cleaning, and at that time, the steering wheel was being carried without any issues. If it had been broken, the steering wheel would have come off when lifted." The owner continued, "If it were a small accessory, we would repurchase it, but for items like electronics or cars, the person who damaged it must compensate," and held Mr. A responsible, saying, "This is stated in the reservation guidelines, so you must restore it to its original condition."

In response, Mr. A said, "I immediately called and told them from the start that the glue was already applied," and "Then the owner denied it, saying 'That doesn't make sense. We never apply glue in our establishment, and we don't fix things like that.'" He also explained again, "Then please check if a customer who used the cafe the day before damaged it and applied glue, because our child could not have broken it with his strength." Nevertheless, the owner replied, "There was no issue. It was normal." When Mr. A kept mentioning the glue, the owner said, "Then just pay for the glue. We'll try to fix it once," and "If you don't have the means, at least write a liability insurance claim," refusing to change their stance. Unable to accept this, Mr. A suspected, "I wondered if they demanded compensation like this from other parents as well."

When the owner did not properly check the structure of the toy car, Mr. A researched and refuted the claim himself. He explained, "Without the metal rod that should be inside the steering wheel, it cannot function properly even if the steering wheel is placed on top," and "The child found the item already damaged with the metal rod fallen below." Then the owner responded, "We also shook the car the day before and put it back in place, confirming there was no issue," adding, "The staff saw this, and the head office advisor also said, 'If it had been glued, it wouldn't have been possible to lift it by hand.'"

Mr. A said, "In any case, from our perspective, the child touched a defective product and the steering wheel came off," and the owner also lamented, "We told you because the item was damaged. Is this really necessary?" Eventually, Mr. A, who was about to report to the police, was contacted again by the owner. Finally, the owner admitted that it was not Mr. A’s fault, saying, "After reviewing the CCTV again, it seems another customer damaged it," and "The person who came the day before did not mention it separately and was applying adhesive. We never suspected the customer did this behind our back." Angry, Mr. A filed a complaint against the owner for attempted fraud, saying, "Shouldn't the business have properly checked from the moment the item was damaged?"

Netizens responded with comments such as, "It’s suspicious that they habitually blame customers," "It’s worth suing since they were falsely accused," and "The cafe should have properly investigated before contacting."