Coupang Eats Revises Delivery App to Prevent Abuse and Protect Users

Introduction of Malicious Review Response Feature

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Coupang's delivery service 'Coupang Eats' has decided to update its application (app) to address the issue of 'black consumers.' This follows criticism that there were structural problems within the app's restaurant rating system that made it difficult to deal with the abusive behavior of black consumers.

According to Coupang on the 24th, Coupang Eats is planning to introduce a feature that allows restaurant owners to directly respond with comments to malicious reviews. Previously, restaurant owners could not comment on reviews in Coupang Eats, making it impossible to respond to malicious reviews.

Along with introducing explanatory comments, Coupang Eats is also improving the reporting process to blind malicious reviews so they are not quickly exposed. Additionally, to ensure fair reviews and ratings, the service plans to strengthen the feature that separates evaluations of food satisfaction provided by restaurant owners and delivery satisfaction provided by delivery partners.

A dedicated team will also be established to protect restaurant owners who may suffer from malicious criticism by abusive users. Coupang Eats intends to improve the counseling process by assigning dedicated counselors to listen to the difficulties of restaurant owners and enhancing the education and training of these counselors.

To eliminate black consumers, Coupang Eats has decided to listen to the voices of restaurant owners as well. Jang Ki-hwan, CEO of Coupang Eats Service, stated, "Going forward, we will actively listen to the voices of restaurant owners, civil society, and other sectors to resolve the issue of abusive users and participate actively in finding solutions."

This move by Coupang Eats is interpreted as a commitment to improve the structural problem where delivery apps have no choice but to evaluate restaurants based on consumer reviews. The existing method could not prevent unreasonable demands from consumers nor effectively respond to malicious reviews. Earlier, on the 21st, a restaurant owner affiliated with Coupang Eats was reported to have died after suffering from customer refund demands and malicious reviews.

The owner, a man in his 50s who ran a gimbap shop, collapsed and died from a cerebral hemorrhage after being harassed by a customer demanding a refund, claiming "one of the three shrimp tempuras had a strange color." The incident sparked public outrage as not only the abusive customer but also Coupang Eats' inadequate response were highlighted as problems. In response, Coupang apologized, saying, "We apologize for failing to provide appropriate support to restaurant owners who suffered from some users' abusive behavior, unreasonable refund demands, and malicious reviews," and added, "We will review the entire service, including customer counseling, going forward."