Baedal Minjok Apologizes for 'Commission Fee Controversy'... "Failed to Consider COVID-19 Impact"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Woowa Brothers, the operator of “Baedal Minjok,” has officially apologized for the controversy over the commission fee revision.

Kim Beomjun, CEO of Woowa Brothers, issued a statement on the afternoon of the 6th, saying, “We humbly accept the criticism that we failed to consider the difficulties faced by restaurant owners due to COVID-19 when introducing the new fee system, and we sincerely apologize.”

Kim said, “The new fee system was introduced to reduce the harmful effects of ‘flag planting,’ where some businesses monopolize ad exposure, but we failed to fully consider the changing circumstances of self-employed business owners who are struggling. We focused only on the reform effect that small businesses and new entrepreneurs would see reduced cost burdens, so we did not carefully consider the position of those whose costs suddenly increased.”

He added, “A comparative analysis of data from the five days after the introduction of the new fee system shows that the ratio of business owners whose cost burdens increased and those whose burdens decreased is almost the same. We will transparently disclose the data as it accumulates.”

He also promised to immediately prepare improvement measures for the open service.

Earlier, Baedal Minjok changed its commission system from a fixed amount to a fixed rate on the 1st, drawing criticism from small business owners and some political circles as “monopoly tyranny.”

Below is the full statement from CEO Kim.

Woowa Brothers humbly accepts the criticism that we failed to consider the difficulties faced by restaurant owners due to COVID-19 when introducing the new fee system, and we sincerely apologize.

The new fee system was introduced to reduce the harmful effects of ‘flag planting,’ where some businesses monopolize ad exposure and orders, but we failed to fully consider the changing circumstances of self-employed business owners who are struggling.

We focused only on the reform effect that small businesses and new entrepreneurs would see increased orders and reduced cost burdens, so we did not carefully consider the position of those whose costs suddenly increased.

Woowa Brothers will immediately prepare improvement measures for the open service. We will find ways to supplement the system from various aspects, including protection measures for those whose cost burdens increase. In this process, we will listen carefully to the heartfelt opinions of the business owners and pay close attention to opinions from all sectors.

We will also closely review data such as changes in order volume and cost burden per business after the introduction of the open service. A comparative analysis of data from the five days after the open service introduction with the same period last week shows that the ratio of business owners whose cost burdens increase and those whose burdens decrease under the open service fee system is almost the same. As data accumulates, we will also pursue transparent disclosure in the future.

Woowa Brothers deeply regrets that some businesses have experienced a sudden increase in cost burdens.

To help overcome the management difficulties of small business owners caused by the spread of COVID-19, we already announced a policy last month to refund half of the commission fees for March and April up to a maximum of 150,000 KRW per month. To reduce the immediate burden, we will expand this policy and refund half of the amount paid for April’s open service fees without any upper limit.

We apologize once again for causing great confusion and burden by introducing the new fee system. Woowa Brothers will do its best to solve the unfair ‘flag planting’ problem that causes inconvenience to consumers and increases the burden especially on small business owners, and to create a reasonable fee system for business owners.

Taking this opportunity, we promise to develop Baedal Minjok into an app where restaurant sales increase and users’ choice of restaurants is maximally guaranteed.

Once again, we sincerely apologize to all restaurant owners and everyone who has shown interest in us.

Kim Beomjun, CEO of Woowa Brothers

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.