"Did You Apply Hand Cream? Please Leave"... What Happened at a Famous Cafe in Gangwon Province

Cafe Owner: "Cannot Tolerate Anything That Interferes With the Aroma of Coffee"

Controversy has arisen after a customer claimed she was asked to leave a famous cafe in Gangwon Province simply for applying hand cream. The cafe owner cited the reason that "hand cream interferes with the aroma of coffee," but experts have criticized the action as "excessive."

On the 7th, during JTBC's "Incident Chief," a housewife in her 40s, identified as Ms. A, shared that she recently had an unpleasant experience while visiting a well-known cafe famous for its cafe lattes in Gangwon Province with her husband. She had heard about the cafe's renowned lattes and drove for about three hours to visit.

Hand cream stock photo. Getty Images Bank

After placing her order at the cafe, Ms. A sat down and, due to the dry weather causing static electricity, applied a small amount of hand cream from her bag. While looking around the cafe, she noticed a small sign on one side of a table that read, "Please refrain from using perfume or hand cream."

"Don't Disrupt Our Coffee Aroma"... Asked to Leave for Using 'Hand Cream'

The problem arose immediately afterward. The cafe owner approached her and asked if she had used hand cream, then offered to refund her coffee and essentially requested that she leave. Although Ms. A explained, "I saw the sign too late," the owner firmly insisted, "I cannot tolerate anything that interferes with the aroma of coffee." When Ms. A protested, saying, "Shouldn't you write that customers must leave if they apply hand cream?" the owner reportedly replied, "You keep saying unreasonable things," and again asked her to leave.

Ms. A stated, "I understand that a cafe may value its aroma and atmosphere," but added, "The sign was barely visible and I only used a tiny amount of hand cream. I wonder if it's normal for a cafe to kick out a customer for such a reason."

Experts: "Not a Reasonable Action" and "Questionable Link Between Coffee and Hand Cream"

In response, psychology professor Park Sanghee commented on the broadcast, "No matter how much pride or philosophy one has about coffee, the focus should be on the customer," and pointed out, "It's not reasonable to ask a customer who traveled a long distance to leave just for applying hand cream." Attorney Park Jihoon also remarked, "It's questionable how much direct correlation there is between coffee and hand cream," and added, "The sign only requests customers to refrain from using such products; it would be difficult to justify immediate expulsion on that basis alone."

Netizens who heard the story also reacted, saying, "The owner is being overly sensitive," "If they only sell coffee and not desserts, maybe that's acceptable," "With that level of sensitivity, they should also screen out customers whose hands are washed with fabric softener," "Foreigners often use strong perfume-imagine the chaos," "How can someone like that work in the service industry?" "They should provide unscented hand cream," "There should have been a notice at the entrance," and "No matter how much it's the owner's prerogative, this is too much."