What Should a Coffee Enthusiast Take From the Chahuanong Case?

A consumer in Jiangsu says the Chahuanong milk tea she bought was only half a cup, and after she contacted the store about a replacement she received a wave of harassing text messages. Chahuanong issued two statements on July 28, first apologizing and then denying it hired anyone, and says police are investigating. The store's explanation was that hot drinks lose milk foam quickly, so the cup only looked half full.

Commenters largely rejected that reasoning, arguing the shortfill came first and that customer information may have leaked. For anyone following coffee beverage development, the episode touches the same ground: portion standards, complaint handling, and data protection. With police involved and no store apology reported, the case remains unresolved.

Recently, a consumer in Jiangsu discovered that the milk tea she bought at Chahuanong contained only half a cup. When she gave feedback to the merchant, not only was the issue not properly resolved, but she also seemingly encountered SMS bombing and harassment by online water army. After the incident attracted widespread attention, Chahuanong officially issued two statements on July 28, first apologizing and then denying hiring water army, stating that the police have intervened in the investigation. However, netizens in the comment section generally did not approve of the brand's handling, believing that the store's underfilled product came first, and it was also suspected of leaking customer information. A mere "full cooperation" is hard to satisfy the public. As coffee enthusiasts, we also pay attention to issues of beverage industry product standards and consumer rights protection, and Front Street will continue to monitor the development of the situation.

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Recently, a consumer exposed on social media that a cup of milk tea she bought at Chahuanong was only half a cup when she received it. After communicating with the store, the problem was not only not properly handled, but instead attracted a large number of harassing text messages and water army attacks, making people suspect deliberate retaliation by the merchant.

It is understood that a netizen from Jiangsu posted a complaint stating that the milk tea she bought at Chahuanong was only half a cup, and she @ed the official account. Reminded by enthusiastic netizens, she proactively contacted the merchant to negotiate, hoping to have a new cup made. However, the other party explained that because she ordered a hot drink, the milk foam dissipated quickly, so it "looked like only half a cup." When she further asked whether "half a cup is normal output," the store only replied that everything was done according to standard operations.

The netizen revealed that shortly after communicating with the merchant, her phone received a barrage of harassing text messages, suspected retaliation, and she ultimately chose to call the police. The netizen also mentioned that although the brand later called to say they would provide compensation, the water army harassing her never stopped, and the store responsible for the output did not apologize, even accusing her of "deliberately stirring up trouble."

On the afternoon of July 28, Chahuanong's official account issued an apology statement, explaining that the consumer ordered a drink at the store on the evening of July 24, and after pickup it indeed did not meet output standards, while the store failed to follow up further, exposing the company's shortcomings in store product standardization and service.

Regarding netizens' reports that the store purchased "water army" and carried out SMS bombing, Chahuanong responded that the issue is serious in nature, the brand has actively intervened in the investigation, the company will never tolerate it, will severely punish and rectify it, and will continue to follow up, striving to give the public a satisfactory answer.

Four hours later, that evening Chahuanong spoke out again, emphasizing that the brand has never hired any water army to attack consumers. Regarding the claim of "using harassment software to retaliate against customers," the police have now intervened in the investigation, and the brand will fully cooperate to restore the truth.

In addition, the company expresses deep apologies for the poor experience caused by the milk tea output, and acknowledges that the store made excuses regarding product quality. If consumers are dissatisfied with the drink in any way, they can have it replaced free of charge. Subsequently, the company will strengthen store output quality requirements and management, and impose penalties and rectification on that store.

However, in the face of Chahuanong's official account apology and reply, netizens in the comment section seemed not ready to "buy it."

Many netizens believe that the brand's handling of this incident was indeed inappropriate. The store under its umbrella underfilled the product in the first place, and it also involved leaking the customer's personal information. It should first apologize and compensate the consumer, and shut down the involved store for handling, rather than simply saying "full cooperation" and being done with it.

According to public information, Chahuanong is a Xi'an tea beverage brand under Xi'an Bamutian Catering Management Co., Ltd. It was founded in November 2016 and opened its first store in Xi'an in December of the same year. At present, the brand has more than 600 stores nationwide.

Image source: Oriental Finance, online screenshots

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.