After a restaurant owner died due to abusive customers... Coupang Eats "Establishes a dedicated team to protect restaurant owners"

Jang Gi-hwan, CEO of Coupang Eats, States on Website
"Apologizes for Inability to Support Affected Store Owners... Comprehensive Service Review"
Dedicated Counselors Assigned... Improved Malicious Review Reporting Procedures

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Coupang Eats is establishing a dedicated team to protect restaurant owners who have suffered from so-called 'gapjil users' (abusive customers). The move comes after news spread about a restaurant owner who was distressed by a customer demanding a refund for shrimp tempura and subsequently passed away, prompting urgent measures.

Jang Ki-hwan, CEO of Coupang Eats, stated on the 22nd through the Coupang Newsroom, "We sincerely apologize to the restaurant owners who have been harmed by some users' gapjil behavior, unreasonable refund demands, and malicious reviews, as we have not provided adequate support."

He added, "We will review the entire service, including customer consultations, and take preventive measures so that both customers and restaurant owners can feel safe and enjoy good service. We will do our best to ensure that many customers and restaurant owners do not suffer due to some abusive users."

Coupang Eats will create a dedicated team to protect restaurant owners who have been harmed by malicious user criticism. They plan to assign dedicated counselors for restaurant owners and improve the counseling process by enhancing counselor education and training.

A feature allowing restaurant owners to directly respond to malicious reviews with comments will also be introduced. CEO Jang said, "We will improve the reporting procedures, such as blind processing, to prevent malicious reviews from being exposed." He also mentioned strengthening the function to separate evaluations of food satisfaction and delivery satisfaction for fairer reviews.

Finally, he said, "Coupang Eats will actively listen to the voices of restaurant owners, civil society, and various sectors to resolve the issue of abusive users and participate actively in finding solutions."

Coupang Eats announced these measures following reports on the 21st about a restaurant owner using their app who suffered and died after being distressed by a customer's refund demand and malicious reviews.

The owner of a gimbap restaurant in his 50s collapsed and died from a cerebral hemorrhage after being harassed by a Coupang Eats customer who complained that "one of the three shrimp tempuras looked strange." Public outrage has grown not only against the abusive customer but also due to Coupang Eats' inadequate response.

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