How to Avoid Being Sent to a Black Box Service Center?... Story of Buying a 300,000 Won Black Box and Getting Overcharged 2,650,000 Won

Mr. A Visited Service Center in July to Buy Black Box, Ended Up Accepting Installment Plan for 4-Way Black Box Trend...Also Pressured to Buy Semi-Permanent Black Box Battery Claiming Vehicle Battery Drains During Installation; Total Cost 2.65 Million KRW, Over 100,000 KRW Monthly for 2 Years?Regrets Falling for It...Mr. A Advises "Buy a Well-Known Black Box at Once...Never Be Swayed by Service Staff"

Mr. A searched online for a black box service center after his car's black box stopped working last July.

Upon arrival, he requested the staff to install the black box he had previously used. The price was in the 300,000 KRW range.

However, the staff recommended a product that records in four directions (front, back, left, right), saying it was the current trend, and he accepted. The price was about 900,000 KRW on installment.

In particular, the product recommended by the staff was relatively unknown to him and about three times more expensive than the product he had originally sought, but he accepted it because it was said to record the sides of the vehicle in case of an accident.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was expensive, but he decided to install the product.

Black Box

During the installation of the black box, the staff made another suggestion. They argued that a regular black box records through the car battery when the vehicle is stopped, which shortens the car battery's lifespan?a plausible explanation.

That also sounded reasonable. The staff then proposed installing a semi-permanent battery specifically for the black box.

Mr. A found this explanation convincing as well. The problem was that the total amount for the black box and battery on installment came to about 2,650,000 KRW. With a two-year installment plan, the monthly payment exceeded 100,000 KRW.

Although he felt somewhat deceived at the time, he accepted it, judging that it could prevent significant losses if the system worked well in a crisis.

The problem arose this month, three months later, when he did not drive the car for two days and found that the black box did not operate when he tried to start the car to go to work.

Angry, Mr. A visited the service center that afternoon to complain. He criticized, "I feel wronged for being made to buy various things when I could have bought a black box for 300,000 KRW, paying 2,650,000 KRW in total, and now the black box is not working properly. What is going on?"

The staff responded that "the power line was disconnected," and partially repaired it.

The problem was that again, after parking the car in the afternoon and starting it the next morning, the black box, which used to flash and record even when parked for 1-2 months, did not operate until the car was started.

Because of this, Mr. A, feeling deceived by the service center staff, advised others not to be fooled by them, saying, "Ultimately, purchasing the black box as a single item seems to be the wisest choice."