Bandai Namco Japan announced on the evening of August 23rd that its officially operated 'Ichiban Kuji' Official Specialty Store in Osaka Nihonbashi would cease operations immediately. This decision was made to protect the company's reputation after the store was reported for fraudulent sales practices, which were subsequently confirmed. Bandai Namco also extended its apologies to the store's customers.
According to revelations by Japanese YOUTUBER Oort Tencho, the egregious behavior at the Osaka Nihonbashi store was discovered on July 17th of this year. At 9 PM, the store began selling a brand new set of "Dragon Ball EX Androids' Terror." This product, featuring numerous Android character figures, was extremely popular, especially the D Prize Android 19 and E Prize Android 20, which each had only one ticket out of the full set of 80 draws. These prizes were being resold at high prices on auction sites, and many customers came specifically to try their luck for these two tickets.
On the evening of the launch, the Osaka Nihonbashi store limited each person to 20 draws. There were 5 people queuing to draw, and everyone except one person who gave up drew the full 20 tickets. When the third person finished drawing, there should have been 20 tickets remaining in the set. However, it was discovered that there were a full 52 tickets, immediately exposing the store's malicious act of mixing tickets. Upon further questioning, the store admitted that they had mixed leftover minor prizes from a previous set into the new product to deceive customers. After an investigation by senior management, it was even discovered that the LASTONE Prize had been privately misappropriated by employees and resold for improper gains, a practice that had been ongoing for years. Such practices are not permitted under Bandai Namco's sales regulations and constitute fraudulent behavior that misrepresents the actual winning probabilities to consumers.
Although the store offered full refunds to the two dissatisfied customers after being caught, the entire process had been recorded. After multiple whistleblowers came forward, this unfair incident was brought to light. Subsequently, Bandai Namco initiated an investigation into the Osaka Nihonbashi store, leading to the current announcement of its closure. While the internal disciplinary actions against the employees are unclear, the fact that an official direct store, under corporate supervision, engaged in such absurd behavior – typically seen in small, independent shops in the past – has undoubtedly eroded consumer trust.
In its statement, Bandai Namco not only apologized to consumers again but also explained that following this incident, it has investigated all stores selling "Ichiban Kuji" and has not found any other stores engaging in similar不正行為 (improper conduct). To protect the rights and interests of customers of the affected store, anyone with proof of purchase from namco Osaka Nihonbashi store & Ichiban Kuji Official Specialty Store Osaka Nihonbashi (receipts, credit card statements, mobile payment proofs, etc.) can unconditionally return Ichiban Kuji prizes for a full refund.
▼ Full text of Bandai Namco's statement (Updated 08/24)
via： BANDAI NAMCO オールト店長