More Than 1,200 Photo Shoot Dispute Cases Reported in Three Years
Over 85% of Complaints Related to Contract Issues
Recently, there has been a growing number of cases where consumers are lured by offers of free photo shoots through social networking services (SNS) or text messages, only to be charged separately for expensive album or frame production, or for the provision of original photo files. Caution is advised.
The Korea Consumer Agency announced on April 29 that a total of 1,228 requests for dispute resolution related to photo shoots have been received over the past three years. The number of cases has been increasing annually, with 312 cases in 2022, 329 cases in 2023, and 472 cases last year. From January to March this year alone, 115 cases were reported.
Among these, 182 cases were related to free photo shoots, accounting for 14.8% of the total. In detail, cases involving contract cancellation were the most common at 75.3% (137 cases), followed by non-fulfillment of contract at 10.4% (19 cases), and unfair practices at 6.0% (11 cases).
The Consumer Agency explained that, regarding contract cancellations, there are many cases where businesses refuse to refund reservation deposits when a reservation is canceled, or induce additional product purchases and then refuse refunds when those are canceled. Careful judgment is therefore required.
Of the 172 cases where the contract amount was confirmed, contracts under 100,000 won accounted for 43.6% (75 cases), making it the largest group. In contrast, contracts worth 1 million won or more accounted for 36.0% (62 cases), and contracts between 500,000 and 1 million won accounted for 11.1% (19 cases). Notably, 47.1% of cases involved high-value contracts of 500,000 won or more, despite being advertised as free photo shoots. The average contract amount among reported cases was about 750,000 won.
The Consumer Agency stated that, to prevent related damages, it plans to recommend that businesses with a high number of dispute resolution requests clearly inform customers in advance that costs such as original photo file provision and album or frame production may be incurred during advertising or promotion.
Additionally, the agency advised consumers to: ▲check in advance whether costs will be incurred and confirm contract terms before making a reservation or visit; ▲identify any items that may incur additional costs before the shoot and request that important details be specified in the contract; ▲keep reservation messages, contracts, and other relevant documentation after the shoot to prepare for potential disputes.
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