"Wore It Once, Then This? White Spots All Over 4.15 Million Won Prada Jacket... 'Full Refund Ordered'"

Dozens of White Spots Appeared Immediately After Wearing
Prada’s 60 Percent Refund Offer Was Rejected
Korea Consumer Agency: "Product Defect Recognized"

After repeated occurrences of white spots appearing on a luxury padded jacket priced at over 4 million won immediately after wearing, the Korea Consumer Agency decided that Prada, the manufacturer, must provide a full refund to the purchaser.

Prada padding jacket with white spots. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 20th, Yonhap News reported that the Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee of the Korea Consumer Agency made this decision regarding a case filed by consumer A, who requested a refund after white spots appeared on a Prada padded jacket.

Consumer A purchased the padded jacket for 4.15 million won at a Prada store inside a department store in Seoul in November 2023. However, they claimed that dozens of white spots appeared all over the product after wearing it just once.

Over the following year, A requested after-sales service from Prada four to five times, but the issue was not resolved. According to A, Prada responded that the cause was "unknown," that there were "no defects," and refused to take responsibility, saying, "We cannot be held liable if the issue occurs again," and declined further support.

When negotiations for a refund or compensation made no progress, A applied for a review by the Korea Consumer Agency in January 2024. Subsequently, in January of last year, A also requested another review from the Korea Consumer Agency’s Textile Product Review Committee.

The Textile Product Review Committee concluded that "the issue appears to be a defect due to poor product quality, and since the responsibility for negligence lies with the seller, appropriate compensation in line with consumer dispute resolution standards is recommended."

Prada stated it could not trust the findings of the Textile Product Review Committee but reportedly offered to refund only 2.49 million won, which is 60% of the purchase price, in consideration of the period of use for the sake of amicable dispute resolution.

However, A rejected this offer, arguing that problems arose immediately after purchase and that they had not been able to properly use the product at all, and subsequently formally applied for mediation with the Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee.

The committee determined that the product defect was recognized based on the fact that the consumer had made multiple attempts to resolve the issue but the same problem recurred. It also concluded that it was difficult to consider the product as having been used normally, and ordered Prada to refund the full purchase price of 4.15 million won. This decision came approximately two years and six months after A purchased the product.

However, it has not yet been confirmed whether Prada has accepted this mediation proposal. An official from the Korea Consumer Agency stated, "We are currently in the period of confirming whether the business operator will accept the mediation decision, so it is not yet known whether an agreement has been reached." Regarding this matter, Prada responded to an inquiry from Yonhap News by saying, "Your inquiry and its contents have been forwarded to the relevant department."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.