Store Owner Refunded Spotty Udon Noodles
Insulting Payer Name 'XX Saekkiya'
Photo of udon noodles released by Mr. A (left) and text message confirming the deposit. [Photo by BobaeDream]
A customer who demanded a refund due to the poor condition of udon ordered at a restaurant in Daegu was met with an absurd response from the owner. Although the head office confirmed the refund payment, the depositor's name was filled with profanity instead of the franchisee's name.
On the 16th, an online community, Bobae Dream, posted an article titled "Daegu restaurant's outrageous response. Please help." The author, Mr. A, recently visited a franchise restaurant with a junior colleague from work. The ordered menu at the time was two Tendon and two Udon dishes.
However, Mr. A was shocked upon receiving the food because the udon noodles were in poor condition. According to Mr. A, the udon noodles were blotchy and seemed undercooked and tough. He immediately called a staff member and asked, "Is this udon really a standard product? I checked online, and it doesn't seem like this kind of noodle." The staff then provided freshly boiled udon again, but the condition was similar. Mr. A explained, "At that time, I thought 'maybe this is how it is,' and I left some udon uneaten because it felt unpleasant, but I paid for everything."
After leaving the restaurant, Mr. A thought it was strange and contacted the franchise head office. The customer service team apologized, saying, "We use frozen noodles, and occasionally such defects occur. We will instruct the franchisee to refund the udon cost. We are sorry."
Two days later, Mr. A was once again shocked when he saw the deposit notification. The depositor's name in the message contained the profanity "XX saekkiya" (XX bastard). Mr. A complained, "They changed the depositor's name to 'XX saekkiya.' How can someone think and feel like that to do such a thing? I'm not even angry. I was just very dumbfounded."
He said, "I reported this incident to the head office representative, and the head office decided to send a certified letter warning that a second offense could result in a business suspension. I swear I have never acted like a troublemaker or a black consumer; this was a legitimate inquiry." He added, "This is the first time I've experienced something like this in my life, and I don't know how to handle it. How can you make a merchant with such a mindset come to their senses?" and asked for advice.
Netizens who read the story responded with comments such as, "Go to the store and complain," "People like that should never run a small business," "They might go bankrupt from losing their temper once," "You just got upset for no reason after going to eat udon," "Were the noodles frozen? Why were they in that condition?" "Please reveal which restaurant it is," "It will spread quickly where it is," "Did they send it on purpose for you to see?" and "This is really shocking."
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