Furious with customer service, Japanese man attacks phone shop robot

A file photo of the humanoid robot 'Pepper'. Toru Yamanaka / AFP Photo

TOKYO // A Japanese man who allegedly attacked a phone shop robot in because he was angry at customer service has been arrested, media said.

Kiichi Ishikawa, 60, was seen on a security camera aiming a kick at the 1.2 metre-tall Pepper, a talking android used by the mobile phone chain SoftBank to gather customer feedback.

Reports suggested Mr Ishikawa, who appeared to have been drinking alcohol, was annoyed at his treatment at the hands of a human member of staff, and took his annoyance out on the automaton.

Pepper, a moon-faced robot on rollers that has what looks like a tablet computer attached to its plastic body, has been billed by its makers as a human companion capable of understanding language and emotion.

The alleged attack on Sunday morning in a store in Kanagawa, near Tokyo, appeared to have slowed the speed of its reactions and dulled its movement, according to Sponichi, a tabloid newspaper.

Kanagawa prefecture police said they were investigating how much it will cost to fix the robot, which is on sale at ¥198,000 (about Dh6,000) plus monthly fees.

SoftBank has hundreds of Pepper robots in its stores nationwide.

As well as being offered for sale as a companion in Japan, Pepper is also being used to sell coffee machines in one chain and greet customers at a Japanese bank.

* Agence France-Presse