"If Bankrupt, Worthless Paper"... Wemakeprice Consumers Anxious Over Point Refunds

Refund of points even when selecting account deposit
Notification text sent to card company for payment cancellation
Wemakeprice "Plans to recover points later"

"Does it make sense to refund points that will become worthless if the company goes bankrupt?"

On the 12th of last month, customer A (44), who purchased a TV worth 720,000 KRW from Wemakeprice, expressed frustration, saying that the purchase amount was about to be lost into thin air.

Wemakeprice refunded Mr. A's TV purchase amount of about 700,000 won last month on the 30th in the form of Wemakeprice points. The text message sent by Wemakeprice in response to Mr. A's complaint (right side of the photo).
[Photo by Reader]

Due to a delay in shipment, A requested a refund for the TV and on the 25th of the same month received a message from Wemakeprice asking to choose between Wemakeprice points or a bank transfer as the refund method. Although A registered a bank transfer as the refund method according to the notice, 720,000 KRW was refunded in Wemakeprice points five days later. Despite contacting customer service dozens of times to protest, the only response was to request cancellation approval from the card company or the simple payment service.

The e-commerce platform Wemakeprice, which is experiencing a large-scale delay in settlement payments, is causing controversy by refunding some consumers in points instead of cash. Currently, Wemakeprice is on the brink of bankruptcy, and consumers are demanding cash refunds, fearing that the points will lose their value as currency in the future.

According to Asia Economy's coverage, Wemakeprice sent refund delay messages to consumers between the 24th and 25th of last month after the settlement delay incident occurred. The message stated that refunds were delayed due to refund failures and asked consumers to choose their preferred refund method between Wemakeprice points and bank transfer. It also added that if no method was selected within three days, the refund would be made in points.

The amount of 4.17 million KRW for the purchase of a massage chair was refunded as Wemakeprice points to Mr. B's Wemakeprice account (photo left). Mr. B registered a bank transfer as the refund method according to Wemakeprice's notice (photo right). [Image source=Provided by reader]

However, consumers protested that even though they registered bank transfer as the refund method, the refund was made in Wemakeprice points.

Customer B, in their 60s, who purchased a massage chair worth 4,170,000 KRW from Wemakeprice on the 12th of last month, also received a full refund in points on the 30th of the same month. B explained, "As soon as I received the message to register a refund method, I immediately entered my bank account number, but instead of cash, points were credited. Later, I was told by customer service that there was a system error at the time of order cancellation, but the points have still not been recovered."

As customer complaints poured in, Wemakeprice advised customers to request refunds through the card companies. A said, "On the 30th and 31st of last month, Wemakeprice sent messages telling me not to use the refunded points and to request approval or payment cancellation from the card company," adding, "I wonder if cancellation will solve the problem, but I also feel heavy-hearted thinking that the card company might bear the loss."

Consumers are worried that if Wemakeprice goes bankrupt, the points will become worthless. QTEN affiliate Timon and Wemakeprice filed for corporate rehabilitation with the court on the 29th of last month. If the court determines that rehabilitation is not possible, the two companies will go bankrupt.

Wemakeprice explained that the issue occurred temporarily due to a surge in refund requests. A Wemakeprice representative said, "Due to the flood of customer refunds, situations occurred where bank account numbers were not properly entered," and added, "If the account is not entered within three days after the refund request, the refund is made in points."

The representative further stated, "When customers request refunds through card companies, Wemakeprice verifies and processes so that refunds can be received," and "Points will also be recovered later."

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