Dyson, often called the “luxury brand” in the home appliance industry, has seen a significant increase in consumer complaints in Korea this year.
Dyson products | Dyson
According to The Voice of Consumers on November 15, 864 complaints related to Dyson were received at the “1372 Consumer Counseling Center” so far this year. At the same time last year, there were 518 complaints about Dyson, which means there was a 66.8% increase compared to the previous year. There were 628 complaints about Dyson last year, and this year’s number has already surpassed that.
| MBCNEWS/YouTube
Most complaints were related to after-sales services (AS), which refers to warranty service. There were many cases of repairs taking a long time due to a lack of supply and demand of parts, even though the item was as new as only a few months to two to three years old.
For example, consumer A, who purchased a Dyson Airwrap styler for around ₩700,000 KRW (about $542 USD) four years ago, shared that when requesting warranty service, she was informed that she would be sent a refurbished product. However, it never arrived.
Dyson Airwrap | Renee Rodriguez/POPSUGAR
When A asked when she could receive the refurbished product, Dyson told her they did not know. Ultimately, she gave up on trying to fix the product after being told to buy a new item for a discounted price.
Both Korean Dyson and England Dyson sell expensive items to our country, and these people don’t care about warranty service at all. They must view Koreans as fools.
— Consumer A
| MBCNEWS/YouTube
Consumer B had a similar experience. She bought a Dyson Supersonic hairdryer for around ₩500,000 KRW (about $387 USD) four years ago, and when it stopped working, she contacted Dyson for warranty service. Dyson stated that a repair was impossible, but a refurbished item would be given to her. However, she never heard news about the refurbished product again.
Dyson Supersonic hair dryer | Lisa Fennessy/The New Knew
Suddenly, Dyson stated that they couldn’t find a refurbished item for her and gave her a ₩100,000 KRW (about $77.40 USD) coupon, changing their words and telling her to buy a new product.
They said that there is no engineer stationed in Korea for Dyson. I’m most dumbfounded that they don’t even have a proper AS system, but they’re still selling their products.
— Consumer B
| MBCNEWS/YouTube
Consumer C, who purchased a Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner in May, complained that they were informed that no parts were available when requesting warranty service. The wait time was uncertain due to the high number of waiting consumers.
In several other instances, Dyson responded to warranty service requests by making consumers wait for months, changing warranty service policies to offer discount coupons, or providing small compensation.
Dyson vacuum cleaners | Dyson
In response to these changes in warranty service policies, the Voice of Consumers stated that Dyson is not adhering to the rules.
While the current Consumer Basic Act enforcement decree Article 8, Paragraph 2 states that if a consumer does not receive the product after one month from the date of the repair request within the quality guarantee period, the company must exchange it with the same kind of item or provide a refund, Dyson is not adhering to this.
— The Voice of Consumers
The Voice of Consumer further emphasized that Dyson should actively embrace domestic consumer policies according to its brand awareness and promptly address consumer complaints as a global company.
They’re not only expensive—they’re unfixable, too.