"Please Remove Mussels" vs "Don't You Have Hands?"... Delivery App Comments Turned into a Battlefield

Delivery App Reviews, Frequent Conflicts Between Customers and Store Owners

A review left by a restaurant owner who ignored a customer's request to remove mussels from the jjambbong soup has sparked public outrage. The photo is unrelated to the article content.
Photo by Yonhap News

A comment by a Chinese restaurant owner mocking a customer who requested mussels to be removed by saying "Do you have no hands?" has sparked controversy.

On the 14th, a photo capturing a delivery app review was posted on the self-employed community cafe 'Apeunikka Sajangida' under the title "Isn't this too much?"

The poster, Mr. A, expressed frustration, saying, "This review by the owner really leaves me speechless. The other comments are even more outrageous." According to the photo captured by Mr. A, the review gave a one-star rating with the content that "the delivery came ignoring the special requests."

[Image source: Screenshot from the self-employed community 'Apeunikka Sajangida']

Mr. A lamented, "Why have special requests if they are not going to be seen? I emphasized and pleaded in the request, but they completely ignored it," adding, "I didn't even eat the delivered jjambbong and just threw it away."

The business owner responded, "Mussels? You asked to remove the mussels. If I don't remove the mussels, you can't eat it and throw it away? Then why did you order it?" He continued, "I was busy and didn't see the request. Do you have no hands? Can't you remove the mussels? Do I have to feed you?" and instead scolded the reviewer.

Self-employed people who saw the post are divided, with some unable to understand the owner's comment and others saying the customer was also unusual, leading to a heated debate.

Delivery Apps Become Battleground... Restaurant Owners Say "One-sided Criticism Despite Customer Fault"

As delivery apps have become widespread recently, the number of businesses experiencing damage related to reviews has increased. According to a survey conducted by the Small Enterprise and Market Service under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups targeting 300 small restaurant and pub businesses nationwide using delivery apps, 70.3% of establishments using delivery apps manage customer reviews.

It was found that 78.0% had experienced damage related to reviews, while only 21.0% had not. The most common types of damage experienced were ▲customers' faults being blamed on the restaurant (79.0%) ▲unjustified negative evaluations (71.7%) ▲excessive service demands backed by reviews (59.7%), in that order.