Due to the “urine gate” incident, Haidilao pre-compensates over ten million.

Recently, the well-known Chinese hotpot chain brand “Haidilao” was involved in a scandal where customers urinated in the hotpot. Following the incident, Haidilao publicly apologized and offered full refunds to 4,109 affected customers, along with an additional cash refund ten times the amount. It is estimated that the compensation amount will exceed 10 million yuan.

This incident was caused by two 17-year-old teenagers, raising concerns about the education system for Chinese children.

On March 12, Haidilao made a statement on their official Weibo account, announcing that customers who dined at their Shanghai Waitan branch from February 24 to March 8 would receive a full refund of their dining expenses on those dates, along with a tenfold cash compensation.

Based on the calculation of 300 yuan per order, Haidilao is expected to compensate over ten million yuan. The statement from Haidilao mentioned that due to the lack of procedures and training to handle such behavior, the on-duty team at the store failed to detect the abnormality in time, deeply regretting the breach of consumer trust.

Earlier, on March 6, a video circulated on Chinese social media showing a man standing on a table, allegedly urinating into a four-grid hotpot, accompanied by laughter. Many details in the video pointed to the Chinese hotpot chain brand “Haidilao.” Haidilao responded that they had reported the incident and fully cooperated with the authorities to investigate the matter, ultimately confirming that the incident occurred in Shanghai.

According to Haidilao, the incident took place in the early hours of February 24 when two 17-year-old boys, Tang and Wu, dined in a private room at the Haidilao Shanghai Waitan branch. After the meal, they urinated in the hotpot and shared the video online as a boast. The on-duty store employee at Haidilao failed to notice the situation promptly.

The video went viral, causing a huge uproar. Haidilao subsequently conducted environmental disinfection and replaced utensils. However, consumers expressed concerns that many might have already used contaminated utensils, leaving a lasting psychological impact.

The two boys responsible for the incident have been administratively detained by the police. On March 10, Haidilao filed a civil lawsuit with the court to hold the two boys accountable.

Some netizens joked that the “mischievous kids’ act of urination cost Haidilao millions.”

In recent years, juvenile delinquency and inappropriate behavior among underage individuals in China have been on the rise.

Commentator Lan Shu told NTD Television, “This phenomenon is one of the manifestations of the total collapse of Chinese society and culture. The reason for this comprehensive collapse is that the Chinese Communist Party, after seizing power in mainland China, has thoroughly destroyed China’s traditional culture, leaving the society without any behavioral guidelines.”

Zhang Junjie, a Chinese student studying in the United States, remarked that China’s education system in schools and families, as well as the cultural environment, has failed. These children neither receive support from society, nor care from schools, and are lacking the attention and nurturing from their original families. Hence, various abnormalities are observed in Chinese society.