Fewer disputes over fabric and cleaning issues attributed to lesser clothing purchases

The dwindling purchases of clothes due to the pandemic has also reduced the number of disputes over fabric materials and cleaning services by 11.5 percent on year last year.

The Korea Consumer Agency, a consumer advocacy, reported 3071 cases about fabric products last year.

There were 1,841 complaints about quality, which was 10.5 percent less than the previous year, and 1,230 complaints about cleaning, which was 12.8 percent less than the previous year.

Manufacturers and sellers were found responsible in 43 percent of the cases, with cleaning businesses in 11.6 percent, and consumers in 9.5 percent.

Businesses bore responsibility for fewer cases last year, from 60.9 percent in 2020 to 54.6 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, consumer fault jumped from 7.2 percent to 9.5 percent over the same period.

The drop in the number of disputes was attributed to the diversification of home appliances and their features, letting more consumers take care of their fabric materials.

Data revealed that 80.1 percent of consumer faults were due to deviation from instructions on storage, management, and cleaning of fabric materials.

Slightly over one-third of cases where manufacturers and sellers were responsible involved defects in manufacturing and poor durability. Most of the cases where the cleaning businesses were responsible involved incorrect methods.