FTC fines baby-product malls

A 35-year-old housewife, who wished to be identified only as Park, once bought diapers from an Internet shopping mall. The diapers in the first package were fine but she was stunned when she opened up a second package 10 days later and the diapers were yellow.

She immediately requested a refund, but the online mall refused her request, saying it only makes refunds within a week of purchase.

However, by law, refunds must be made within 3 months of purchase.

The Fair Trade Commission yesterday fined nine baby-product shopping malls for refusing to make refunds by citing false claims: Zero to Seven.com; Namyang i Mall, run by Namyang Diary; i.Mom Shopping Mall, run by Boryung Medience; Aganet, run by Agabang; Petit Eline Store; Pasteur Mall, run by Lotte Foods, Babytown, run by B&T Company; Huggies Mall, run by Publicis Modem Portfolio; and Ya Sale, run by BM House.

The fair trade agency said four of these websites - Zero to Seven, i.Mom Shopping Mall, Aganet and Babytown - all falsely claimed the products they were selling were the cheapest.

by KANG BYONG-CHOL [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]