Consumer Agency Issues Interior Design Advisory Amid Rising Complaints Over Shoddy Work and Contractor Ghosting

Person A signed a 92 million won interior construction contract with a company and paid an intermediate installment, only to discover that materials different from the verbal agreement were being used.

When A protested, the contractor arbitrarily changed the front door password, halted the construction, and became virtually unreachable, leaving A in an absurd situation.

The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) issued a consumer caution advisory on October 7, stating that consumer damages related to interior design, much like A's case, are increasing every year.

A total of 2,243 interior-related damage relief applications have been filed with the KCA from 2023 through the first half of this year.

In the first half of this year alone, 430 applications were filed, marking a sharp 22.2% surge compared to the same period last year.

Dissatisfaction with defect repairs accounted for the largest share of damage relief applications at 56.9%.

This was followed by breach of contract, such as failing to meet construction deadlines or not using agreed-upon materials, at 25.2%, and contract cancellations at 13.2%.

There were also cases where consumers suffered damages after unknowingly contracting with unregistered businesses, even though construction projects worth 15 million won or more can only be performed by contractors registered in the construction industry.

In many instances, even when defects occurred due to shoddy construction by the contractor, the business claimed there were no defects or cut off contact entirely.

In response, the KCA held a meeting with major interior design businesses, requesting that they manage agencies to eradicate unregistered construction and publicly disclose their construction business registration status on their company websites.

The KCA also stated, "When signing a construction contract worth 15 million won or more, consumers should check whether the builder is registered on the Construction Industry Knowledge Information System, and they must write a contract while verifying architectural drawings and material specifications."

(Photo provided by the Korea Consumer Agency, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.