Beluga arm rings: they burst before the 500N a child's weight asks
Izone's arm rings broke before the 500N load test and the valve kept 65% of buoyancy, not 75%. Korea ordered recall 23 Jul 2026; stop use, exchange or refund.
Read the casemistake.clubA CASESTUDIES.CHAT ARCHIVE
Learn from mistakes.
Preferably not your own.
Business failures, costly decisions and the lessons they leave behind.
The full archive, in the appPublished cases
3,222 PUBLISHED CASES · REGULARLY UPDATEDFrom ¥10B to its first loss: VATS met the baijiu winter
VATS Liquor, China's first listed liquor retailer, reached ¥10.1B in 2023. FY2025: revenue down 37.7%, a first loss of ¥369M, baijiu gross margin 4.9%.
Read the caseTV Shin-Hiroshima billed four ramen shops as 'first in Hiroshima' — they weren't
Ramen Stadium 2024 ads promised 'Hiroshima first' shops on TV, flyers and at the venue. All four had appeared at local events before. CAA measure order.
Read the caseBluestorm life vest: 83.6N of buoyancy where the line is 100N
Marine Planet's BSJ-2920RS vest measured 83.6N against a 100N minimum buoyancy. Korea ordered recall 23 Jul 2026; stop use, exchange or refund.
Read the caseHao Mart's 51-store empire shrinks to six — the premium Eccellente line is gone
Peaked at 51 stores in 2021, now six remain: Hao Mart's FY2025 loss hit S$49.6 million, and the last upscale Eccellente outlet closed in June 2026.
Read the caseGenesis G80: a loose ground bolt that stalls the engine at speed
A loose ignition coil ground bolt can misfire or stall 2027 G80s while driving. Dealers tighten the bolt free of charge (NHTSA 26V493000, Jul 2026).
Read the caseEnergi+'s electricity ads skipped the monthly fee that lived in the fine print
Three products advertised without the DKK 33.34/month 'certification and service contribution'. Second police report for the utility, fined DKK 850k in 2024.
Read the caseCW Sellors expanded for 47 years — the bill arrived in January
Derbyshire jeweller, 10 stores, £28.5m turnover. January 2026: administration, 36 of 86 jobs gone. March: Watchfinder co-founder's group buys it out.
Read the caseA cyberattack stopped ZEGO's machines for six weeks — then came the insolvency
Aschaffenburg textile finisher, ~60 staff. Attack on 29 March 2026 halted production for six weeks; by July the company had filed for insolvency.
Read the caseTemu's 'up to 95% off' was built on crossed-out prices that never were
Hungary's GVH found fake reference prices, unverifiable discounts and pressure-by-urgency on Temu. Result: HUF 437M fine plus HUF 882M paid back to shoppers.
Read the caseKnocked back ten years: Pou Sheng's Nike and Adidas trap
Pou Sheng, the Yue Yuen–spun distributor of Nike and Adidas in Greater China, closed 138 stores in 2025 as profit fell 57% to ¥211M — its worst in a decade.
Read the caseIris Plaza's Qoo10 store called 101 foreign-made goods 'domestic'
Chinese-made pet carriers and daily goods sold as 'domestic' on the Qoo10 marketplace. The CAA and JFTC ordered two Iris-group retailers to publicly correct it.
Read the caseMapletree ends HarbourFront Centre's 48-year run — the 2003 rebirth wasn't enough
Opened in 1978 as the World Trade Centre, HarbourFront Centre closes on July 27, 2026 for demolition — 33 storeys of offices and retail due in 2031.
Read the caseForest River coaches: circuit boards that run hot
OG Luxury Coach and Pause circuit boards may overheat — fire risk in 2026–2027 coaches. Free repair at dealerships (Aug 2026).
Read the caseRescued in 2021, record loss in 2025: Zhengtong's unchanged bet
Zhengtong defaulted in 2020 and was rescued by Xiamen state capital. With 93.6% of sales still in BMW/Audi/Porsche, 2025 brought a record ¥2.674B loss.
Read the casePremium Body Balance promised '-23.3kg in a year' — Saitama's 'No.1' salon had no proof
Before/after photos, '-23.3kg experience', 'results guaranteed'. The salon's slimming claims drew a measure order, then a ¥3.61M surcharge.
Read the caseWorld Cup betting ads on CazéTV hid the odds — CONAR suspended them mid-tournament
June 2026: CONAR suspended KTO, Betnacional and Bet365 merchandising on CazéTV's World Cup broadcasts — live-read offers that hid real winning chances.
Read the caseYongda wrote off ¥5B of luxury 4S stores in a single year
Yongda, Shanghai's luxury-car dealer, lost ¥5.072B in 2025 — a ¥5.007B write-off of 4S stores bought in the combustion era. New-car gross profit fell 96%.
Read the caseP&G's Febreze 'bathroom mold shield' had no proof — its own evidence failed
Febreze's bathroom product promised to prevent black mold 'just by placing it'. P&G submitted substantiation — the CAA rejected it. Measure order followed.
Read the caseOrigin Mattress's countdown timers never led back to the real price
'Boxing Day Mega Savings' rolled straight into 'New Year's Savings'; the struck-through 'was' price bundled free pillows. ASA upheld all three complaints.
Read the case