Why is Haidilao Hot Pot offering refunds to its diners? Details about restaurant controversy going viral online

Haidilao, a popular Chinese restaurant, located in Shanghai is facing huge backlash over a weird and disturbing event that happened in the late of February, 2025. Two teenage customers were spotted urinating into a hotpot cooking utensil in a private dining room at the restaurant.

It was all recorded in a video that quickly went viral. In the video, one of the two teenagers was standing on the table, committing the weird act while his friend was cheering for him.

As soon as the clip went viral, netizens were disgusted and quite angry. Whatever happened in the video was quite disturbing for the public to accept, as it poses serious concerns about food safety. That too, it happened in Haidilao, which is one of the most famous restaurants in China.

It was unclear if the restaurant staff sanitized the area and disinfected the utensils before serving other customers. This only added fuel to the fire.

Haidilao's Apology and Compensation

Haidilao's response was quite quick. The restaurant issued a public apology and acknowledged their fault. They said it was highly unethical, and they should have trained their staff better. Their employees should have addressed the issue better and reported the misconduct.

To ensure it never happens again and show their apology, the restaurant offered compensation to over 4,000 customers who visited their Shanghai branch between February 24 and March 8. The compensation included a full refund of their meal expenses along with an additional amount of 10 times the original bill.

This compensation was well received by the public, and they understood that the company is truly aware of their mistakes and they are trying their best to rectify it.

They posted on social media saying,

"As management had never made contingency plans or given training for dealing with this type of incident, staff at our branch were unable to detect any abnormalities at the scene or uphold the safety of the dining environment."

They acknowledged it and promised to give better training to their staff. They also said if something like this ever happens again, it will not remain undetected for such a long period of time. The restaurant claimed that they had no idea of this incident up until the video went viral.

Legal Actions and Public Reactions

The two customers, reportedly 17 years old with last names Tang and Wu, were arrested by the police after the video went viral. The company also filed a civil lawsuit against them. The two convicts were supposedly drunk while committing the misconduct.

Despite the company's efforts to handle the situation, it is spreading like wildfire and leading to public outrage. Netizens are constantly commenting and stating their concerns. They are saying, how can such a big incident remain undetected at such a big restaurant like Haidilao?

This incident has led the public to talk about food safety concerns and express their hesitation to dine at Haidilao in the future.