Consumer Damage from Online Shopping Mall Selling Famous Idol 'Goods'... Seoul City Plans Measures for Violations

137 Damage Consultations Received Over 9 Months at Seoul E-Commerce Center, Continued Harm from Sole Sellers
Frequent Issues Include Product Defects, Refusal of Returns and Refunds, and Delivery Delays

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] # Consumer A purchased a poster of their favorite idol from the mobile app ‘Weverse Shop’ last April. However, nearly half of the delivered posters were scratched, and when they requested an exchange or refund from the seller, they were told it was not defective. When asked to disclose the defect criteria, they received a baffling reply that it could not be disclosed. Despite multiple follow-up inquiries, the seller avoided responding or repeated the same explanation without exchanging the product.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has issued a consumer damage advisory for Weverse Shop, a mobile shopping mall selling official merchandise (goods) of famous idol groups. Weverse Shop exclusively sells albums, idol goods, and concert tickets of artists under Big Hit Entertainment.

According to the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center on the 3rd, from May last year to January 25 this year, there were a total of 132 consumer damage consultations related to Weverse Shop. The types of damage were categorized as ?product defects and faults (41.7%) ?returns and refunds (34.1%) ?delivery delays (13.6%) in that order.

Looking closely at the consultation details, many consumers who requested exchanges or refunds due to product defects or faults were refused refunds on the grounds that the defects did not meet the internal defect criteria, or were charged return shipping fees. Some had to wait several months to receive exchanged products.

In fact, some consumers reported not receiving products for over six months, but since the related idol goods are exclusively sold only on this platform, they had no choice but to use it reluctantly.

Additionally, Weverse Shop was found to have failed to properly display some of the product information required by the ‘Notice on Provision of Product Information in Electronic Commerce, etc.’ (hereinafter referred to as Product Information Provision Notice).

For clothing items on sale, essential information such as manufacturer/importer, washing methods and handling precautions, manufacturing date, after-sales service (AS) manager and phone number were not displayed. Smartphones lacked information such as KC certification status, release date of the same model, manufacturer, importer, country of manufacture, and key details. Some products like hats, gloves, and wireless earphones also failed to properly display mandatory information according to the Product Information Provision Notice.

Seoul City plans to investigate violations of related laws such as delivery delays, refusal of refunds, and insufficient product information display based on these damage consultations and take appropriate measures.

Previously, the Fair Trade Commission issued corrective orders and fines in 2019 against idol goods online shopping malls for violations of the Electronic Commerce Act, including non-compliance with product information provision notices, failure to inform minors’ legal representatives of contract cancellation rights, and obstructing withdrawal of subscription.

The Seoul Electronic Commerce Center provides related information such as monitoring of frequently problematic shopping malls, scam sites, and internet shopping malls to prevent and resolve consumer damages related to electronic commerce and handles consumer complaints.

Park Ju-seon, Seoul City’s Fair Economy Officer, explained, “The main consumers of idol goods are teenagers and people in their twenties who are often unaware of legal regulations, and since these products are exclusively sold on the respective shopping malls, the possibility of ongoing damage is high. We will investigate and take action regarding consumer damages and violations such as non-compliance with product information provision notices.”

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