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Deposits & cancellation

Salon deposits in Korea — what the official rules actually say

Korea has a government dispute standard for salons, and most visitors have never heard of it. It sets a 10% baseline, it isn't a law, and it was written for memberships, not single appointments. Here is what that means for the deposit you're about to pay.

Salon deposits in Korea — what the official rules actually saySalon deposits in Korea — what the official rules actually say — photo 2

Every Korean salon that takes a deposit is working inside one document: the Consumer Dispute Resolution Standards, a notice issued by the Fair Trade Commission and used by the Korea Consumer Agency when a customer and a business disagree. It has a section for beauty — skin, hair, nails and waxing.

It is short, it is old-fashioned, and it decides how a refund argument ends. Seven things worth knowing before you send a deposit to anyone.

  1. 01It's a standard, not a lawThe Standards are a baseline for settling disputes — mediation at the Korea Consumer Agency, negotiation between the two sides. A court is not bound by them, and a salon may write its own terms as long as they are fair. What the Standards do is set the number everyone argues from.
  2. 02The number is 10%If you cancel before the service starts, the Standards say you bear 10% of the total contract amount. If the salon cancels before the start, it refunds your deposit in full and pays you 10% on top. After a service has started, both sides settle the used portion plus that same 10%.
  3. 03It was written for membershipsThe beauty section is framed around continuing contracts — packages and multi-visit courses — which is why it talks about start dates and remaining sessions. A single appointment deposit sits in the same section by analogy, not by name. That gap is where most salon-versus-customer arguments live.
  4. 04A deposit clause is judged on four thingsWhen a salon's own terms are stricter than 10%, the Consumer Agency weighs whether they are unfairly one-sided, whether the deposit is in proportion to the total price, what the salon actually lost, and whether the refund terms were stated clearly before you booked. A rule you only discover when you try to cancel scores badly on the last one.
  5. 05Restaurants got stricter in December 2025. Salons didn'tThe FTC's December 2025 amendment let reservation-based restaurants charge no-show fees of up to 40% and ordinary restaurants up to 20%, alongside new hotel and rental rules. The beauty section was not touched — the salon baseline is still 10%.
  6. 06What millio doesNothing is charged until the salon confirms your time. Cancel by 17:00 KST the day before and the salon's deposit is refunded; the ₩9,900 booking fee is not. After that cutoff, and for no-shows, there is no refund. Rescheduling is free. All of it is shown on the confirmation screen before you send.
  7. 0717:00 KST is earlier than you thinkKorea is UTC+9 and doesn't change clocks. 17:00 in Seoul is 17:00 in Tokyo, 16:00 in Taipei and Shanghai, 09:00 in London and 04:00 in New York during summer time. If your flight lands the day before, decide about the appointment before you board, not after you land.

Sources

Written by millio from the reporting linked below. Follow the links for the originals.

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Pick a place, offer up to three times, and read the cancellation terms before you send. The salon confirms first; you pay after.

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