The 5.45 Million Won 'Cheolpan MacBook' Incident... Coupang Calls It a "Clear Criminal Act"

Coupang "Cases of Refund and Return System Abuse... Innocent Victims Occur"
"Sophisticated Repackaging Mistaken as New Products... Follow-up Measures Not Yet Decided"

Apple's MacBook Pro

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] A case of abuse of the refund and return system of the online shopping mall Coupang has been discovered. After purchasing Apple's high-end laptop 'MacBook Pro,' the product was removed and replaced with an iron plate before being returned and refunded. The crime was exposed when the iron plate was sold to another customer as is.

Mr. A purchased an Apple MacBook Pro from Coupang on the 15th for 5,445,000 KRW, but was shocked when the product arrived the next day. Instead of the MacBook Pro, an iron plate with similar shape, size, and weight was inside the packaging box.

Mr. A posted on an online community, saying, "The box and packaging were exactly the same as a new product, so I opened it without any suspicion," and added, "If it were a secondhand transaction via delivery, I would understand, but this is Coupang, a listed company, so who can I trust to buy from?"

According to Coupang on the 25th, Mr. B purchased two MacBook Pros, removed the products, repackaged them, and returned all to Coupang. Coupang allows free returns for 30 days for paid members (Wow Membership).

Coupang explained that all returned products from Mr. B went through an inspection process, but since the packaging was perfect, they were recognized as new products and sold to Mr. A. It is known that Mr. B received a refund after the return.

Coupang completed the refund process for Mr. A and also retrieved the remaining products at the logistics center.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A Coupang official said, "This is an intentional criminal act abusing the easy return and refund system provided for customer convenience," and added, "We are reviewing legal action against Mr. B."

The official stated, "We immediately processed the refund so that Mr. A would not feel any inconvenience," and claimed, "No matter how good a system is, if abused, innocent victims can occur. Coupang is also a victim."

Criticism has been raised regarding Coupang's inspection and sales process. Coupang informs customers of product conditions such as 'new product,' 'used product,' 'box damaged,' and 'refurbished' when selling products, but this product was described only as new without mentioning it was returned.

Regarding this, a Coupang official explained, "The returned product was carefully repackaged after removing the new product, and an iron plate of the same weight was technically inserted, so it was not detected in time," and added, "It is not that Coupang did not fulfill its inspection responsibility. We cannot open every returned product package."

When asked about follow-up measures to prevent a 'second iron plate MacBook' incident, the official said, "We have not yet reviewed it."

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