"More on the apology than the wine switch" ... Public outrage grows over Sung Anh's Mosu statement

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[The Financial News] Mosu Seoul, the Michelin restaurant run by chef Sung Anh, apologized over a recent controversy involving a "wine switch." But rather than calming the backlash, the terse apology appears to have fueled even more criticism.
On the 23rd, Mosu posted a statement on its Instagram account addressing the wine-switching controversy.
Mosu said, "We bow our heads in apology for the recent issue. On the 19th, during the wine pairing service, we failed to provide the customer with accurate information, causing confusion. We also did not offer a sufficient explanation during the subsequent response process, which caused great disappointment." It added, "After the incident, we apologized to the customer separately, and the apology was graciously accepted. However, in light of the expectations placed on our restaurant, that process was still not sufficient."
It also stressed, "Chef Sung Anh and everyone on the Mosu team take this matter very seriously. We will review the entire service process and promise to prevent a recurrence."
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The more than 250 comments on the apology post were far from calm. Most users said the statement was inappropriate.
One user numbered the problems in the apology. The user pointed to "1. What exactly was done wrong, 2. Why the incident happened, and 3. Measures to prevent it from happening again," and said the apology was "too empty."
Another user said, "They need to rewrite the apology. What does it mean that they served a different wine and failed to provide accurate information, causing confusion? Who even wrote this apology? They should state the facts about what the problem was and what they did wrong, then apologize. It's disappointing that they are trying to dodge the issue," and asked readers to look again at Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's past apology.
Many also criticized Mosu's attitude in the apology itself.
"Last year's KT call-forwarding incident was blamed on an employee, and this vintage-switching incident is being blamed on the sommelier. If you're just going to pin everything on employees, why does Paik Jong-won get criticized?" one comment read. Others wrote, "It wasn't a switch, it was a guidance mistake. They accepted the apology graciously, so why are they acting like this? Is that really an apology?" and "Do places like Mosu also scam customers?"
Earlier, on the 21st, a post appeared on an online community claiming that "the wine vintage was switched at Mosu." The customer said a 2000 vintage wine worth about 800,000 won was originally supposed to be served with a Hanwoo dish, but the sommelier mistakenly served a 2005 vintage wine that was 100,000 won cheaper, sparking the controversy.
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Additional allegations from people who had previously visited Mosu also followed.
One user who said they had a similar experience wrote, "On July 8 last year, my wife had just given birth, so four of us, including my mother-in-law, visited. Only two of us ordered the wine pairing, but Dom Pérignon was left out in the middle."
The user added, "I don't really know much about wine, so that was the only pairing wine I recognized, and I kept waiting for when Dom Pérignon would be served. When it was skipped and the next wine came out, I said they hadn't served it, and they were flustered before bringing it later." The user continued, "I couldn't say anything unpleasant in front of my mother-in-law, so I laughed it off. The atmosphere and food were good, so I gave them five stars on the reservation app, but if this happens often, it's a problem."
Another user who said they had an unpleasant experience at Mosu also criticized the restaurant's response.
The user wrote, "I am someone who had an unpleasant experience at Mosu. The most puzzling part of Mosu's service was that even after I pointed out the problem on the spot, there was no apology, and they asked the customer whether they would resolve it or not." The user added, "The most important part missing from this apology seems to be the cause of the incident."
Chef Sung Anh, who runs Mosu, is well known as a judge on Netflix's "Culinary Class Wars." In March, Mosu also announced on Instagram that it had earned two MICHELIN stars.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter