(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of consumer complaints about clothes dryers rose sharply in the first half of this year as sales of the home appliance have shot up in South Korea, a consumer watchdog said Sunday.
A total of 536 complaints were reported to a state call center in the first six months of 2018, shooting up nearly 200 percent from 179 calls tallied a year earlier, according to the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA).
Some 190 cases were about dryers’ functions as consumers complained that the machines damaged clothes or caused them to shrink. There have also been complaints of clothes coming out still damp.
At the same time, the call center received 1,272 complaints about air purifiers in the first half, up 17.9 percent from a year earlier.
Market watchers said a recent increase in sales of such household appliances has led to an increase in instances of consumer dissatisfaction.
The South Korean dryer market is forecast to increase 70 percent on-year to hit 1 million units this year as people seek cleaner ways to do laundry as South Korea has been often struck by high levels of ultrafine particles.
Sales of air purifiers in the country are predicted to reach around 2 million to 2.5 million units this year.
(Yonhap)
