A video of a Korean man who was seen hammering his $200,000 Mercedes-Benz sports car with a golf club has since gone viral on social media.
The man, identified by various news reports as Yoo Je-Ha, smashed his S-class sedan in front of the Gwangju branch of Shin Sung Motors, Mercedes-Benz’s local dealership in South Korea.
In a report from Korea Herald, Yoo said that he was infuriated when the dealership refused to give him a full refund for the car, claiming that it has stopped three times on the road since he bought it last March.
In the video, Yoo can be seen smashing the headlights, windows and the top of the luxury car while being filmed by a television crew.
Shin Sung Motors filed a charge against Yoo for “obstruction of work” but has since dropped the case after the company faced public backlash.
Yoo’s outburst has prompted South Korea’s Transport Ministry to review plans to give “full refunds or exchange faulty cars when serious defects are found.”
“Car manufacturers rarely admit their responsibility when owners discover their cars are defective. We’re thoroughly reviewing measures to protect consumer rights regarding this matter,” Transport Ministry’s automotive planning department head Kim Yong-seok was quoted as saying. AJH/RAM