[Anchor]

Unfair and high-handed contract practices in the wedding industry show little sign of improvement. Businesses are exploiting the consumer sentiment that a wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event. One company that demanded a penalty more than double the standard rate changed its position after we received a tip and began our investigation.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

In April, a person identified as A, who was preparing for a wedding, called off the engagement for personal reasons.

When A notified the wedding venue of the intent to cancel the contract, the company's demand was absurd.

They demanded a total of 7 million won, which included the 2 million won deposit plus a 5 million won penalty fee, equivalent to 30% of the total wedding cost of 16.5 million won.

A separate 300,000 won fee was also charged for the cancellation consultation.

This amounted to 44% of the total cost, more than double the 20% limit recommended by the Fair Trade Commission.

[A: It feels like they are just tacking on costs because it is a once-in-a-lifetime event. I am not the only one who signed this contract; everyone else is doing it too.]

The number of consumer complaints related to wedding services rose from 905 in 2024 to 1,076 last year, an increase of nearly 20%. Of these, 82.4% were related to contract terminations and penalty fee disputes.

The opaque contract structure, which fails to clearly explain penalty standards, refund conditions, and additional costs, is cited as a major cause.

[Jeong Jun-hyeon/Lawyer: The demands made by the wedding venue could be seen as excessive under the Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions or the Framework Act on Consumers.]

When asked by our reporting team about the facts and their position regarding A's case, the wedding company initially refused to answer and indicated that they would resolve the matter legally.

[Representative of the wedding company: We are only going to proceed through litigation, so we have nothing else to say. Do we really have to tell you anything?]

However, two days after SBS began its investigation, the company sent an email to A stating that, in accordance with Fair Trade Commission standards, A would only need to pay a penalty of approximately 1.1 million won, excluding the 2 million won deposit.

Reported by Kang Si-woo | Video by Ahn Yeo-jin | Graphics by Park Tae-young | Produced by SBS Digital News