(코리아타운뉴스) Disappointing Customer Service

Dwindling customer satisfaction at Korean markets
Some business express anger over refund request

While Korean markets suffer from selfish customers who always seek ways to take unnecessary advantages, the businesses are also causing consumers to complain about their poor quality of service. Customers are stepping up to point out the flaws of some Korean markets. The Korea Daily recently discovered some uncomfortable truths about Korean markets.

Many customers are displeased with how the employees at Koreatown markets often lack manner when providing customer service. When asked to give refund for damaged products, many of them allegedly accuse the customers of deceiving them. Even when refund is provided, many employees often complain and express anger about having to satisfy “needy” customers.

“Isn’t it only right for the business to first apologize if they sell a product that was damaged?” said a customer who lives in Koreatown. “It’s uncomfortable for me to feel awkward when it’s the market that made a mistake.”

There are plenty of times when certain products and foods simply lack quality.

“I purchased a gift fruit box and half of the fruits had some sort of problems,” said another customer.”

Another customer who resides in Irvine said: “Everything seemed fine when I first made the purchase, but once I peeled the fruits, some were rotten, so I had to throw those away.”

In some cases, markets are still putting expired food products on sale. At a Korean market in Buena Park, 10 packages of soymilk for children were already out of date. Furthermore, 50 banana milk packages and other powdered spices were well past the expiration dates.

“We have to open the kimchi bottles before purchasing it,” said another customer, who resides in L.A. “That the lid comes off so easily means that the product was never sealed sufficiently. The package also doesn’t say when the kimchi was made, so I have to make sure that it didn’t go bad yet.”

Another Korean customer said: “It wouldn’t even be a problem if the kimchi bottles were sealed with a plastic cover so that the customers passing by the aisle simply can’t just open them. Wouldn’t that be a better way to build trust between us?”

In a separate case, some markets have different prices for products as the listed cost of certain items on the shelves is different once those are taken to the counter. Many customers often just glance through their receipt without realizing that they have been charged more than they should have.

“In many cases, we could simply overlook being overcharged by the markets,” said a customer. “The markets should pay more attention to convince the customers to trust them.”


By Heejung Hong