Consumer complaints tied to so-called talent academies — agencies that charge fees for acting and modeling training while promising entertainment work — are mounting as more children and teenagers aspire to become child models or K-pop idols. The Korea Consumer Agency issued a consumer alert after a rise in cases where firms secured expensive contracts by telling applicants they had passed auditions, then refused refunds when customers sought to cancel.
A total of 366 requests for redress involving talent academies were filed between 2023 and June of this year, the Korea Consumer Agency said on the 22nd. Filings rose 109.8% to 86 in 2024 from 41 in 2023, then climbed 72.1% to 148 last year. In the first half of this year, 91 cases were filed, up 75.0% from a year earlier.
The damage was concentrated among children and teenagers. Of the contracting parties, 184, or 50.3%, were under the age of 20. Those aged 40 to 64 accounted for 86 cases, or 23.5%, followed by people in their 20s and 30s with 83 cases, or 22.6%. Some firms notified applicants that they had passed on the same day or the day after a camera test, then pressed them to sign, saying the opportunity would disappear if they did not act immediately, according to the agency.
Contract cancellation disputes made up the vast majority at 361 cases, or 98.6%. Within that group, outright refusal to refund was the most common at 179 cases, or 49.6%, followed by delayed refunds at 90 cases, or 24.9%, and excessive penalty charges at 82 cases, or 22.7%.
The agency also found cases in which firms failed to deliver the services they had promised. Of 79 cases of non-performance, 46, or 58.2%, involved a failure to properly provide acting or modeling training, casting or auditions. In another 24 cases, or 30.4%, the actual service differed from what had been advertised or explained beforehand.
In one case, a consumer saw an advertisement recruiting cast members for a web drama in January last year, took a camera test and then signed a one-year contract, paying 3.6 million won (about $2,500). The consumer later asked to cancel, but the firm excluded 2.2 million won in consulting fees from the refund even though it had not carried out the profile photo shoot or image consulting.
Fewer than half of those who filed complaints got their money back. Of all redress requests, 172, or 47.1%, ended in a settlement such as a refund. The agency urged consumers not to be swayed by notices that they had passed an audition, to verify whether a firm is actually capable of supporting entertainment work, to have verbal promises such as guaranteed appearances written into the contract, and to check refund terms for early cancellation closely.