"Fill it with radish" "Refund if the child wakes up" ... Picky delivery requests

8 out of 10 Small Business Owners Say They Suffered Due to Delivery App Reviews
Experiences Include Blaming Restaurant Mistakes and Unjustified Negative Ratings

Self-employed workers are struggling with unreasonable delivery requests. The photo is unrelated to the specific content of the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] The number of self-employed business owners expressing difficulties due to unreasonable delivery requests from some consumers is increasing. Business owners complain that it is difficult to respond to unreasonable demands because reviews on delivery applications (apps) affect their sales.

On the 12th, an online community for self-employed business owners called 'Apeunikka Sajangida' (Because It Hurts, I'm the Boss) posted an article titled 'Requests That Made the Boss Angry.' According to the order sheets revealed in the post, customers made demanding requests such as 'Please make sure to wear a mask while cooking,' 'Be meticulous with the bag,' 'Fill the radish tightly and nicely,' 'Generously without falling short of the standard quantity,' 'Fry it crispy,' 'Make sure the motorcycle makes no noise,' 'There is a dog, so ring the bell,' 'Do not knock,' 'Place it on the chair in front of the door without getting it dirty and send a text,' and 'Absolutely do not let it get cold.'

This is not the first time that unreasonable demands from some delivery app users have caused controversy. Last month, a self-employed person running a gopchang (grilled intestines) restaurant, Mr. A, shared a story on an online community about responding to unreasonable requests by canceling orders. According to the order sheet photo he revealed, the customer wrote in the request section, 'Do not ring the bell at all because the child is sleeping,' 'Send a photo after knocking,' and 'Refund if the child wakes up.' The customer also requested cheese sticks, which were not part of the review event.

In May, a story about a customer making unreasonable demands, such as asking for a large number of wet wipes when ordering food, was shared on an online community. The customer requested through the order notes, "Since I will eat with my child, please pay more attention to hygiene and make it delicious," and asked for 20 wet wipes, one cup of warm water, and napkins.

As orders through various delivery apps increase, self-employed business owners find it difficult to ignore consumer requests or respond by canceling orders. This is because consumer reviews on various delivery apps have a significant impact on sales.

In fact, about 8 out of 10 small business owners have reported experiencing damage due to delivery app reviews. According to the 'Delivery App Usage Survey' released in September by Gu Ja-geun, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Venture Business Committee from the People Power Party, 78.0% of small business owners who participated in the survey said they had experienced damage due to delivery app reviews. The types of damage included ▲shifting the consumer's fault to the restaurant's mistake (79.0%) ▲unjustified negative evaluations (71.7%) ▲unreasonable service demands backed by reviews (59.7%).