Cases are mounting where businesses refuse to issue refunds by blaming artificial intelligence (AI) errors or fuel consumer grievances by handling customer service exclusively through chatbots during the use of AI services.

The Consumer Trust and AI Innovation Forum, which includes six consumer groups such as Citizens' Alliance for Consumer Sovereignty, released the analysis results today (October 22) for 2,025 cases—excluding duplicate and simple inquiries—out of 2,556 AI-related consultations received by the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center in the first half of this year.

Broken down by consultation type, "non-performance of AI services or dissatisfaction with usage" accounted for the largest share at 589 cases (29.1%).

This was followed by "contract cancellation and refund refusals" with 555 cases (27.4%) and grievances over automated AI chatbot responses with 553 cases (27.3%).

There were also cases where an AI chatbot mistook a simple inquiry for a cancellation request, resulting in a reservation being canceled while the business refused to take responsibility, as well as instances where an AI-based moving estimate was provided only for additional costs to be demanded during the actual moving process.

A case was also reported where a consumer suffered a loss of about 8 million won after an AI investment service provided incorrect financial product information.

In addition, disputes regarding overseas AI subscription service payments and refunds stood at 210 cases (10.4%), while damages from automatic payments and auto-renewals accounted to 118 cases (5.8%).

Notably, the resolution rate for damage relief regarding overseas AI subscription services was investigated at 9.5%, failing to reach even half of domestic AI services (23.7%), prompting the forum to emphasize the need for institutional mechanisms to improve this.

Furthermore, as the service areas utilizing AI expand, they recommended that measures be established to protect consumer rights, such as setting AI-related liability standards and dispute resolution principles, and ensuring that subscription-related guides and notices are consumer-oriented.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)