Beating the Heat

[Anchor Lead]

Complaints regarding air conditioners have been on the rise in recent years. Service centers are being bombarded with repair requests from customers trying to beat the heat.

[Pkg]

This household is getting through the heat with the help of a large electric fan instead of an air conditioner. Although there is an air conditioner in the apartment, it only emits hot air and the indoor temperature does not fall below 29 degrees Celsius. The family installed the air conditioner when they moved into this apartment last month. But they cannot use it because its outdoor unit was installed too low. The family paid 260,000 won to the installation firm. When the family requested that the problem be fixed, the firm said that would cost 120,000 won more.

[Soundbite] (Customer (Voice Modified)) : "They say they cannot do anything because of the wall down here, which makes the hot air move back into the apartment."

This family from Ansan, Gyeonggi-do Province, is also experiencing inconvenience because their air conditioner is not working. It stopped working back in May after a free checkup, but the firm that conducted the checkup refuses to repair the air conditioner free of charge. Complaints regarding air conditioners surged from about 120 cases in 2015 to more than 320 last year, and continue to rise every year. Customers have to wait for weeks to have their air conditioners fixed, as requests for repair services have doubled this summer due to the record-breaking heat.