"To Make the Boss Happy..." Boyfriend Who Jokingly Gave Bad Star Ratings Faces Breakup Concerns with 'Lost Interest'

Image unrelated to the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] As the delivery platform market rapidly grows due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, cases of malicious reviews being left for somewhat absurd reasons continue to occur. Recently, a story has gained attention about someone considering breaking up with her boyfriend, to whom she had promised marriage, because of a delivery review.

The writer, Ms. A, introduced her story by stating, "I have lost affection and am thinking of breaking up with my boyfriend, to whom I had promised marriage."

Ms. A recently finished working late and ordered jokbal (pig's trotters) for a late-night snack with her boyfriend. Having enjoyed the jokbal so much that it felt healing, Ms. A then noticed her boyfriend using his phone.

The boyfriend was leaving a one-star review for the jokbal restaurant they ordered from, writing, "My heart is six stars," and upon seeing this, Ms. A asked, "If the service was good and the food was delicious, why leave one star instead of five?"

In response, the boyfriend said, "I left it to make the owner feel good and as a compliment."

Ms. A said, "My parents also run a small business and started delivery because of COVID-19, and watching them up close, it’s not easy." She added, "They are having a hard time and have decided to close and dispose of the business, so thinking about my parents made me even more upset."

She also revealed, "Looking at the reviews my boyfriend has left so far, all 20 or so were one-star." She said, "We were planning to get married next year, but seeing this made me lose all affection and decide to break up."

A story about a woman who is considering breaking up after her boyfriend left a barrage of low-star delivery reviews following an order of Jokbal.
[Photo by Online Community]

As Ms. A’s story became known, a heated debate arose among delivery workers and netizens.

A self-employed netizen commented, "You can see a person's character just from their reviews. Good thing she broke up." Another netizen said, "From a business perspective, review terrorism is a big wound. It seems like the boyfriend was playing a prank to get attention, but it was inappropriate." On the other hand, some netizens responded, "Breaking up over reviews when you’ve promised marriage seems excessive."

Meanwhile, among self-employed people using delivery platforms, there are many cases of complaints about review terrorism similar to Ms. A’s boyfriend. Recently, a case where a one-star review was left because the ordered rice balls were delivered without being shaped properly became a big topic online. At that time, the owner said, "I even included plastic gloves so customers could shape them themselves, but such a review was posted," expressing frustration and disbelief.

Reviews directly affect store sales. Accordingly, the difficulties faced by self-employed people due to malicious reviews are reaching a peak. Recently, some self-employed people have taken active measures such as canceling orders from problematic customers altogether or blocking reviews.

Delivery platforms themselves also prepare countermeasures. Baedal Minjok operates a system where, upon request from the self-employed, malicious reviews can be suspended from posting for 30 days. Coupang Eats also has a rights infringement reporting system that temporarily suspends and requests deletion of posts judged to damage the store’s honor, portrait rights, or reputation.

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