The investigation revealed that none of the studios provided change for cash payments. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – An individual, referred to only as A, inserted a 50,000 won bill into a machine at a self-photo studio. Later, he discovered a small notice inside the machine stating that no change would be provided. The amount of change owed to the individual was not insignificant, but there was no way to retrieve it.
Recently, numerous reports of issues have been filed concerning self-photo studios, which are gaining popularity among young people.
According to the Korea Consumer Agency, the number of damage reports related to self-photo studios reached 31 cases from 2019 to July 2023. Machine malfunctions accounted for the largest share, at 54.8 percent, or 17 cases, followed by duplicate payments with five cases, and no return of change or payment cancellation failure with three cases.
Many reports also highlighted difficulties contacting operators when problems arose, or in some cases, there was no contact information at all.
Starting from August 28, the Korea Consumer Agency conducted a one-month investigation into 30 self-photo studios run by 10 companies in the greater Seoul area.
The investigation revealed that none of the studios provided change for cash payments. However, the number of companies and studios displaying signs indicating that no change would be provided for cash payments was limited to only three companies (eight studios).
At 21 studios run by seven companies, photo prints were only available in even numbers. Consequently, if three individuals took photos together, they had to print four photos, incurring an additional expense of up to 3,000 won.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
