[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The Korea Consumer Agency warned on the 8th that consumer complaints related to Webtress, a U.S. online shopping mall selling mattresses and other bedding products, have been increasing. Webtress supports Korean language on its website in addition to English and separately posts a Korean-language customer service phone number, effectively targeting Korean consumers as a major customer base.
The Korea Consumer Agency received 15 consumer complaints related to Webtress from the second half of last year through this month, with 12 of these complaints concentrated in February and March. All cases involved the business failing to deliver mattress products and losing contact with consumers. The purchase prices ranged from $855 to $4,412 (approximately 950,000 to 4,920,000 KRW), and the total amount of damages for the 12 cases reached $32,063 (approximately 35,790,000 KRW).
In one case, victim A purchased a mattress from Webtress in November last year but has yet to receive it, and there has been no response to inquiry emails or phone calls.
The Korea Consumer Agency has communicated consumer damage cases to Webtress and requested problem resolution to prevent further damage, but has not received any response to date. It is very difficult to resolve issues with overseas businesses that do not fulfill contracts with consumers and are unreachable.
A representative from the Korea Consumer Agency advised, "When shopping directly from overseas, it is better to pay by credit card rather than cash, and if the business does not fulfill the contract, actively use the chargeback service to request cancellation of approved transactions through the card company."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
