Controversy Over 'Coupang Beggars' Eating Free Food and Skipping Payment... Delivery Drivers Say "I Was Cheated Too"

Suspected 'Refund Demand' After Deliberately Redirecting Delivery to Another Address

An unidentified man is taking delivered Coupang Eats food from an officetel in Gangnam. Photo by Online Community Capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Cases of so-called 'Coupang beggars,' who fraudulently claim they did not receive food delivery and get refunds, are increasing.

On the 25th, a post titled 'Recently Intelligent Coupang Beggars, Currently Wanted' became a hot topic on an online community.

In the post, the author introduced a ridiculous incident experienced by an acquaintance after delivering food to an officetel in Gangnam, Seoul.

The acquaintance, a Coupang Eats delivery driver, left the food at the door contactlessly as requested by the customer.

However, 30 minutes later, the customer center contacted him saying, "The customer did not receive the food and requested a refund and cancellation."

The customer center stated that since it was a delivery mistake, the delivery fee could not be paid, and the delivery driver had to pay for the food.

Believing there was no mistake, the delivery driver first informed the customer center, "I will cover the refund cost. I will retrieve the wrongly delivered food."

He was confident that he had left the food in front of the registered address where he delivered.

However, the food that had been left at the door was gone, and there was no response when he rang the doorbell.

Suspicious of this, the delivery driver reported it to the police and checked the officetel CCTV.

The case of 'Coupang Beggar' is being shared online. Photo by Online Community Capture.

In the footage, about 15 minutes after the delivery was completed, a man appeared outside the hallway, took the food, and disappeared.

The door of the delivery address was not opened even once for several tens of minutes.

People in the delivery industry who saw this post speculated, "They deliberately ordered food to a different address, took the food, and then requested a refund from the customer center claiming they did not receive the delivery."

After this post was uploaded, similar cases have been shared.

Customers who contacted the customer center three hours after delivery claiming they did not receive the food, and customers who changed their statements when the driver said, "I even took photos, what are you talking about?" after complaints of non-delivery.

Coupang Eats' refund policy, which shifts responsibility to delivery drivers without clear verification of fault, is also being criticized.

Coupang Eats holds delivery drivers liable for compensation if the customer claims they did not receive the food without photographic evidence.

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