China's Haidilao Finds Person Who Peed In Hot Pot, Offers 10x Compensation To 4,000 Customers

China's Haidilao Finds Person Who Peed In Hot Pot, Offers 10x Compensation To 4,000 Customers

On March 12, Haidilao, a famous hotpot restaurant brand in China, issued a statement to pursue civil liability for two men involved in the scandal of standing on a table with shoes on and urinating in a hotpot.

Accordingly, on February 24, in a private room at Haidilao's Shanghai Bund restaurant, the friend sitting with him took a photo of what he thought was a funny scene and posted it online, not knowing that his self-proclaimed humorous behavior would become strong evidence for the company to pursue legal responsibility.

Hailidao said that the company had not previously developed a response plan and training procedures for such extreme incidents, so the staff on duty did not promptly detect the abnormality at the scene and could not protect the safety of the dining environment.

It was not until February 28 that the company discovered the related video on the Internet, but could not determine the time and location of the incident. They had to report the incident to the police in Jianyang City, Sichuan Province and other places, and at the same time conduct their own inspections and screenings at more than 1,400 locations in 15 countries.

Due to the large amount of information and limited clues, the progress was quite slow. It was not until the evening of March 6 that the location of the incident was identified, which was Haidilao Shanghai Bund, located on the 5th floor of The Bund Central, No. 123 Nanjing East Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai; the police also confirmed this.

Haidilao's statement stressed that local police have imposed administrative detention on those involved. "We have also checked the consumption records of those involved and confirmed that they did not consume alcohol that day."

In addition, Haidilao filed a civil lawsuit with Shanghai's Huangpu District People's Court on March 10, pursuing legal liability against the two male customers.

To ensure hygiene and safety, the company allocated new pots and materials on March 7, completed the replacement of all hot pots and tableware (including chopsticks) between 2:17 and 3:49 on March 8, and thoroughly disinfected and cleaned.

"We are fully aware that the inconvenience caused by this incident cannot be fully compensated by any compensation. We are willing to take full responsibility and do our best to address the concerns of our guests," the company said in a statement.

Hailidao also revealed compensation measures: All 4,109 food orders at Shanghai Bund that occurred between 0:00 on February 24 and 24:00 on March 8 will be fully refunded and compensated in cash 10 times the amount paid.

Regarding refund and compensation methods, Haidilao said that orders paid by WeChat, Alipay, and UnionPay will be refunded according to the original schedule before 11pm on March 12, and the money is expected to arrive within 7 working days. If the original refund cannot be made or the 10 times compensation cannot be processed due to technical reasons, the company will proactively contact the customer. Customers requesting a refund only need to provide the order receipt and electronic payment records.

Following the incident, Haidilao promised to take action to improve their internal management and service quality.

Haidilao has had its fair share of bad customers before. Sina News reported that three men visited a Beijing branch in March 2024 and claimed to have bitten into a piece of glass in their sesame sauce. As a result, the group got a free meal and received 2,500 yuan ($345) in compensation.

The restaurant reported the matter to the police. An investigation found that the group had committed fraud at five Haidilao branches over a five-month period, defrauding more than 10,000 yuan ($1,382). Three suspects were detained by Beijing police on suspicion of extortion.

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