Haidilao compensates 4,000 diners after hotpot urination saga in Shanghai

Hotpot chain Haidilao has offered to compensate over 4,000 diners who visited one of its restaurants in Shanghai following an incident where two diners urinated into their hotpot broth. According to CNN, a video showing the two men urinating into their hotpot broth in a private dining room at the restaurant went viral online last month.

In a statement on Wednesday (12 March), Haidilao said the incident occurred on 24 February, however, it only became aware of the issue four days later. The chain also noted that it was unable to determine the time and place of the incident initially. 

Haidilao said the company's management had no plans or training procedures for such incidents, which led to the staff's failure to detect the incident. The chain reported the incident to the police for further assistance and later confirmed the location in Shanghai's downtown district on 6 March. 

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According to a statement by Shanghai police, the two men involved, both aged 17, have reportedly been detained. Haidilao has filed a civil lawsuit application against the two. 

Haidilao said the restaurant where the incident occurred has removed its materials on 7 March and replaces all tableware and cookware on the morning of 8 March. The restaurant was also cleaned and disinfected thoroughly. 

For the 4,109 orders from customers who dined in at the affected restaurant between 24 February and 8 March, Haidilao has proposed a full refund of meal expenses, and an additional cash compensation of 10 times the order payment amount. 

If the order and compensation cannot be refunded through the original route due to technical reasons, the chain stated that it will proactively contact the diners to handle the issue. 

"We feel the distress and impact this incident has caused to our customers and will take action to improve our management and services," said Haidilao. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Haidilao for more information. 

According to media intelligence firm CARMA, conversations surrounding Haidilao following the incident have been 24.6% positive and 25.9% negative. Prior to the video from Shanghai going viral, sentiments of conversations were 42.7% positive and 3.5% negative. Nonetheless, the positive sentiments stem from discussions about Haidilao compensating customers after the incident and for their unique customer service. 

Haidilao's word cloud before the incident appeared more positive, including words such as "refreshing", "inspiration" and "happiness". The word cloud also included heart and star emojis. 

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