The value of the "Sudme" that I couldn't lock in? Get rid of the cost of a wedding in the back of your head, extra trickery.

■ Broadcast: YTN Radio FM 94.5 (09:00-10:00)
■ Host: Reporter Cho Tae-hyun
■ Air date: December 18, 2024 (Wednesday)
■ Talk: Director of Special Transactions Department of the Fair Trade Commission's Credit Terms and Conditions

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆ Reporter Cho Tae-hyun (hereinafter referred to as Cho Tae-hyun): When you prepare for marriage, you often use so-called 'studio shoot, dress, and makeup agencies. It is said that the burden on prospective newlyweds is high due to black surcharges and excessive penalties. As a result, the government has decided to extensively damage unfair terms and conditions. Let's talk in detail with Shin Yong-ho, director of the Fair Trade Commission's Terms and Conditions Special Transactions Division, about how consumers can be protected in various situations that occur during the marriage preparation process. Mr. Shin Yong-ho, how are you?

◇ Fair Trade Commission's Director of Special Transactions in Terms and Conditions (hereinafter referred to as Shin Yong-ho): Yes, hello? I'm Shin Yong-ho, Director of Special Transactions in Terms and Conditions of the Fair Trade Commission.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: On November 12th, the Fair Trade Commission corrected the unfair terms and conditions of the wedding preparation agency, that is, the wedding planner, what is the background of reviewing the marriage preparation agency?

◇ Shin Yong-ho: The so-called "Sudme," such as studio shooting, dress rental, and makeup, has become an essential service for prospective couples in their wedding preparations today. As a result, marriage preparation agencies, which combine Sud-me services and provide them to consumers, have emerged since the 1990s and have a great influence on the wedding market. It is estimated that more than half of prospective couples now use marriage preparation agencies for Sud-me services. As these wedding preparation agencies partner with individual smartphone companies such as filming studios, dress shops, and hair salons, and provide information to consumers through their wedding planners, prospective couples rely heavily on marriage preparation agencies. The problem is that consumers often sign "blind contracts" without knowing the exact price of individual services while trading with marriage preparation agencies in the form of packages, so we look into the terms and conditions of marriage preparation agencies at the center of the problem.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: It is said that the burden of additional fees in the preparation process for marriage is also high. Specifically, please let me know in which areas you had a lot of consumer complaints.

◇ Credit: Consumers usually pay up to 3 million won these days to prepare for marriage services. However, additional fees are being charged in the form of "options," and according to our survey, prospective couples are paying an average of 1.44 million won more than originally planned. Therefore, there are words among prospective couples that marriage preparation is an "extra hell" these days. Among them, some options are actually essential items, even though they are essential to access full Sudme service, but they often have to pay extra, which has caused significant complaints from consumers. According to the survey, 74.2 percent of respondents said it would be inappropriate to charge extra when using the marriage preparation agency service.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: It is expected that the burden of prospective couples preparing for a one-time wedding must have been high, but there must have been a problem with additional fees in the terms and conditions of the wedding preparation agencies?

◇ Shin Yong-ho: Yes, that's right. This time, we looked at the terms and conditions of the top 18 marriage preparation agencies that had a lot of consumer use and frequent damage cases. All of these companies included essential options (such as photo file purchase, dress fitting, makeup early start) as separate items in the terms and conditions, and did not clearly indicate the price (additional fee) or penalty criteria for the option.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: It seems quite problematic to receive separate fees for purchasing photo files, fitting dresses, and makeup early start fees. Please go into detail about this.

◇ Credit: Yes, essential options such as the purchase cost of photo file (original/redacted), dress fitting cost, makeup early start cost, etc. are very closely related to or inextricably related to the basic Sudme. For example, if you want to keep hundreds of wedding photos taken in the studio without throwing them away or use them for mobile wedding invitations, it's almost impossible to choose a wedding dress that you don't usually have a chance to wear. Also, makeup early start fee is the most common lunchtime ceremony, and you have to arrive at the hair salon at 7 o'clock, but since makeup starts before 9 o'clock, it is bound to be an early start unconditionally. According to the survey, most consumers recognized these three options as basic services, and even businesses acknowledged themselves as essential, such as labeling them as "essential purchases." Nevertheless, marriage preparation agencies have been attracting consumers by artificially removing these items from the basic items, lowering the price of the basic package.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: It is said that the FTC has revised the terms and conditions for this dual rate system, so please explain how it has changed in detail.

◇ Credit: Considering that such a dual rate system is included in the terms and conditions of marriage preparation agencies without exception, that essential options are not subject to price competition and are passed on to consumers as a stable source of revenue, it is difficult for consumers to accurately recognize and compare the overall cost before signing a contract, and that consumers are likely to trade under unfavorable conditions, these provisions are unfairly disadvantageous to customers. In response, the FTC ordered marriage preparation agencies to correct the terms and conditions by excluding photo file purchases, dress fitting fees, and makeup early start fees from the items that are separately charged and included in the basic service.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: It is said that the details of the option's price (additional fee) and penalty will also be corrected. Please go into detail about this.

◇ Credit: Yes, the terms and conditions of the marriage preparation agency did not clearly indicate how much the option would cost or what the penalty would be when consumers terminated their contracts in the middle. There are two to 30 additional Sudme option services that are charged, and the approximate range of these options is often not indicated, which puts consumers in a situation where they have to sign contracts without knowing how much they have to pay. On the other hand, marriage preparation agencies know both the prices of individual Sudme companies affiliated with them and their commission levels and present the terms and conditions to consumers, so under this information asymmetry, they have the ability and incentive to selectively provide additional fee information to favor them and against consumers. In the case of the penalty, it was only stated as "a penalty will be incurred for each smartphone company," but there was no indication on the specific penalty standard. Penalties are basically scheduled for damages and are information that can greatly affect consumers' rights and obligations, and in particular, they often have to change schedules or cancel transactions due to various variables during long-term marriage preparation periods, so the standards should be clearly informed to consumers. In response, marriage preparation agencies have revised their terms and conditions to specify the range of option prices and the average penalty criteria, and to definitively notify customers of specific option prices and penalty criteria once they choose a particular Sudme company.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: It is said that they have also corrected the provisions for excessive penalties required for termination of the contract, how has it changed?

◇ Credit: Yes, some marriage preparation agencies had terms and conditions that excessively charged penalties if consumers terminated their contracts. Specifically, there were provisions that made 20% of the total price of the Sudme package a penalty and did not return any down payment without considering the actual service start or attributable reasons when the contract was terminated, and that the down payment could only be refunded for a shorter period than the legal subscription withdrawal period. In response, marriage preparation agencies rationalized the penalty standard by separating before and after the start of the service after the contract was signed, and revised the terms and conditions to ensure that the subscription withdrawal period was in accordance with the law.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: If there are any other corrections that prospective couples preparing for marriage should know, please point them out.

◇ Credit: Yes, and some other wedding preparation agencies were excluding themselves from all responsibility for transactions between customers and individual smartphone companies. Now, we have corrected the marriage preparation agency to take responsibility within the scope of intentional negligence in transactions between customers and Sudme companies and actively act as an arbitrator for smooth settlement in the event of a dispute. In addition, the provisions that could not transfer the status of the marriage preparation service to others were deleted, and the jurisdiction over disputes in the contract was corrected to be the jurisdiction court by agreement.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: I think this correction will ease the burden on prospective couples preparing for marriage, what effect do you think it will have?

◇ Credit: I think this measure is meaningful in that it was the first to correct the terms and conditions related to the composition of additional charges, which were the basis for the formation of unfair and unreasonable trading practices, for about 400,000 prospective couples every year complaining about the biggest inconvenience in the Sudme field. In particular, by including virtually essential services such as photo file purchase and dress fitting in the basic service, it is expected that consumers who use marriage preparation services will be able to recognize and compare prices by reducing the cost burden on Sobaza in the long run and displaying important information such as surcharges and penalties more transparently. In addition, since the ever-low marriage rate is directly related to the issue of low birth rate, the correction of the terms and conditions has also been promoted as part of the pan-government measures for low birth rate, and as a result, we expect that consumers' difficulties will be quickly resolved as we have been reviewing them at a rapid pace since the start of the investigation in August.

◆ Cho Tae-hyun: It seems that the FTC is making a lot of effort for consumers in addition to correcting the terms and conditions. Is there anything you would like to say to your listeners in this regard?

◇ Credit: Yes, the FTC will first thoroughly check the implementation of the revised terms and conditions through additional communication with the marriage preparation agency industry. In fact, after this announcement, many consumers have been inquiring about our department, and I know that they are very interested in net. Therefore, we will faithfully follow-up measures so that the purpose of this correction can be fully communicated to the market. In addition, we plan to support the smart consumption life of marriage-ready consumers from various angles by combining various soft policy measures such as enacting standard terms and conditions and strengthening price information disclosure. I would appreciate it if you could keep an interest in it.

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