Death of Store Owner Due to 'Shrimp Tempura Power Abuse,' Customer Says "Why Is It My Responsibility?"... Coupang Eats Also 'Ignoring the Issue'

Photo by MBC, screenshot from the 'News Desk' broadcast

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim So-young] The family of a gimbap shop owner who collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage and eventually died after being harassed by a malicious customer demanding a refund for one shrimp tempura and pressured by the delivery app 'Coupang Eats' expressed outrage, saying, "Both the customer and the company are ignoring us."

The deceased owner’s daughter, Ms. A, in her 50s, said in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 23rd, "Coupang Eats didn't say much when my mother said she would take legal action after collapsing, but once it was reported in the media, they suddenly became busy trying to clean up the mess."

She added that a Coupang Eats official recently visited the store, but "we sent them away saying we had nothing to say," and lamented, "(My mother) had already passed away, and it’s an irreversible situation. What can they do now? It was really absurd. If they had handled it well from the start, we wouldn’t have had to go this far." Ms. A explained that her mother’s decision to publicize the issue was because Coupang Eats did not respond properly while she was hospitalized.

Ms. A said, "She had a recent health checkup and was healthy, but after collapsing, she remained unconscious in a brain-dead state at the hospital and passed away three weeks later. It’s frustrating and unfair that she spent her last moments on the phone with Coupang Eats and the customer."

A store owner, who was under pressure from a customer using abusive language demanding a refund for shrimp tempura and the delivery app Coupang Eats, passed away three weeks after collapsing from a cerebral hemorrhage. Photo by MBC 'News Desk' broadcast screen capture

Earlier, on the 8th of last month, the store owner received a refund request from a customer who said that one shrimp tempura left over from the previous day’s order through Coupang Eats was discolored after being stored in the refrigerator. The owner refunded the one shrimp tempura as requested.

During a call with Coupang Eats, the owner reportedly expressed frustration, saying, "(The customer) kept saying, 'Don’t live your life like that, did your parents teach you that way?'" and added, "How old do you think I am? No matter how much I run a business, that’s just not right."

Ms. A said her mother was distressed by such verbal abuse, and "I wasn’t there at the time, but an employee who was working with her said they saw my mother crying in the bathroom."

According to Ms. A, after completing the refund, her mother received calls from Coupang Eats and, while explaining the situation, suddenly grabbed the back of her neck and collapsed, unable to get up. There were three calls from the customer and four from Coupang Eats, with one Coupang Eats call coming after her mother had collapsed.

She also explained that her mother collapsed before even seeing the star rating attack the customer left on the app after receiving the refund. After her mother collapsed, the customer gave the store a 1-star rating out of 5, calling it a "store that has lost its sense," which the family later discovered.

Ms. A continued, "After my mother collapsed, my father personally contacted the customer, but they refused to acknowledge anything. They said, ‘Why are you talking to me like that? It’s your fault she collapsed, so why are you blaming me?’ They just avoided responsibility and didn’t admit anything, saying they felt wronged even by their own standards."

When asked by the host, "Is there any reason to feel wronged after receiving a full refund?" she said, "I don’t know either. I can’t understand what they could possibly be so upset about, more than someone who passed away," expressing her frustration.

She added, "My father worked with my mother at the restaurant, but due to the shock, he can’t work, so I’m the only one running the store now," and said, "We have to keep the store running to make a living."

Members of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy's Livelihood Hope Headquarters, the National Network for the Realization of Economic Democracy, and the National Franchise Owners' Association held a press conference on the morning of the 22nd in front of Coupang's headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, condemning the review and rating system of food delivery apps such as Coupang Eats for fostering black consumers (malicious consumers).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 22nd, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), the National Network for Economic Democratization, the National Franchisee Association, and the Korea Federation of Small Business Owners held a protest in front of Coupang’s headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, demanding, "Coupang Eats’ review and star rating system is neglecting and fostering the abuse of black consumers," and called for "strengthening the rights of self-employed business owners to respond and establishing objective store evaluation criteria and refund regulations."

Heo Seok-jun, co-chairman of the National Franchisee Association, pointed out, "This is not just an issue of an abusive consumer as an individual, but the system of Coupang Eats that evaluates stores based on reviews and star ratings as absolute standards is the root cause."