Customer Claims "Refund Was All I Got" After Finding Insect in Franchise Coffee Shop

Headquarters Only Notified Customer of Refund Without Apology
Public Criticism Grows Over Poor Hygiene and Inadequate Response

A customer drinking a beverage at a franchise coffee shop discovered a foreign substance in the cup that appeared to be a cockroach. The controversy grew due to the inadequate response from the headquarters.

In the past five years, among franchise coffee brands, the brand with the highest number of violations of the Food Sanitation Act had a foreign substance presumed to be a cockroach found in its beverage. Instagram

Customer A, who recently posted about the incident on Instagram, visited a franchise store with friends on April 15 and ordered a condensed milk latte priced at 3,900 won. After nearly finishing the drink, A found a black foreign substance inside the cup and, upon fishing it out with a straw, discovered it was a dead insect. A immediately filed a complaint with the headquarters' customer service center, but the only response was a refund notification email and a deposit of 3,900 won. A reported that there was not even a single phone call with an apology, which was what the customer had expected.

A stated, "The issue was not the refund, but the need for at least a sincere apology," and added, "I thought I would at least hear an apology for the disappointing handling of the situation, but there was no response at all."

Afterward, A disclosed the incident on their social networking service (SNS), and only after the post spread did the headquarters contact A again to apologize. However, the staff member requested the post be deleted, and A added that they did not accept the gift certificate offered.

As the controversy escalated, the coffee franchise headquarters explained, "We have sufficiently apologized to the affected customer, and upon inspecting the store in question, we found that this type of insect had never been discovered before." However, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, this company had the highest number of Food Sanitation Act violations among franchise coffee brands in the past five years.

A commented, "The store owner personally called to apologize and promised improved hygiene management, which eased my mind to some extent, but the attitude of the headquarters in handling customer complaints was extremely disappointing."