Sungsimdang's pregnancy fast-pass stirs controversy as customers fume over queue-jumping

Customers line up in front of Sungsimdang, a well-known bakery in Daejeon, from early in the morning to buy Christmas cakes. Sungsimdang in Jung-gu, Daejeon, Dec. 25, 2024. [Yonhap]

A customer has lashed out at Sungsimdang's pregnancy fast-pass — a priority entry scheme the famous Daejeon bakery introduced to ease hours-long queues — saying she was unhappy about having to "carry around a paper showing my due date." The complaint has sparked a heated debate online.

Posts criticizing Sungsimdang's preferential policy for pregnant customers spread across multiple online communities Tuesday, stirring controversy.

The author, identified only as A, wrote that she was furious about the pregnancy fast-pass. "I stood in line for 80 minutes and finally got in, but pregnant women just walk straight in," she said. She went on to criticize the system with expletives, saying she was bothered that people were carrying their due-date paperwork just to claim every available benefit on top of the many perks they already receive.

A notice at Sungsimdang explaining its pregnancy fast-pass system. [Newsis]

A added that pregnant customers kept streaming in one after another. "There were so many of them I started wondering just how many pregnant women there were," she wrote. "In the five minutes I was waiting at the front of the line, it seemed like more than 20 people walked straight in."

Reactions from other users were split. Many sided against A, with comments such as: "If you're unhappy with the system, complain to the company — why take it out on the people using it?"; "Pregnant women are patriots, cut them some slack"; "It's a private company choosing to accommodate pregnant customers — if you have a problem, take it up with Sungsimdang"; and "If it bothers you that much, just don't buy their bread."

Others sympathized with A, pointing to reports that some people were exploiting the system — including by purchasing bread on behalf of others through secondhand trading sites. Comments in this vein included: "Since when is being pregnant a rank?"; "Pregnant women are moonlighting as errand runners"; and "The problem is the minority who take advantage of the consideration."

Sungsimdang has operated the system since 2024, offering pregnant customers a 5 percent discount on all items as well as immediate entry to the store — along with one accompanying person — without waiting in line.

When the system launched, showing a maternity badge was enough to gain entry. But as the number of people buying badges separately through secondhand trading sites and posing as pregnant customers grew, Sungsimdang tightened its verification process, requiring a pregnancy confirmation certificate or maternal health record book to be checked against a photo ID. Even with fast-pass entry, the priority does not extend to the payment queue inside the store.

jshan@heraldcorp.com