by Domestic consumer A purchased 80 albums and paid 176,000 yen to get a photo card as a gift when ordering an album from an overseas site in August 2021.
After receiving the product, I found that 16 of the 80 gifts (photo cards) were missing, and I inquired at the shopping mall but did not receive a response.
Recently, as consumers’ interest in K-pop has increased, consumer complaints related to international transactions are rapidly increasing.
In particular, caution is required as there are increasing cases of domestic consumers purchasing K-Pop products from overseas (global, fan club) sites to receive gifts.
K-pop unique products include products (goods) and services related to K-pop idols, mainly idol-related CD albums, clothing, calendars, etc., which are sold on the condition that photo cards, video call event tickets, etc. are provided as gifts, and paid membership memberships; Online concert tickets, etc.
A total of 390 consumer consultations related to K-pop unique products were received over the past two years (January 2020 to October 2021) on the Visa Portal of the International Exchange operated by the Korea Consumer Agency (President Deok-Jin Jang), and 84 cases of domestic consumer consultations were received ( 21.5%) and 306 cases (78.5%) of overseas consumer counseling.
Of these, a total of 366 cases were received in the second half of this year (July to October), or 93.8% of the total, and in particular, all 84 cases of domestic consumer counseling were received during this period. It seems that the number of cases of purchasing products from overseas sites to receive gifts of a different type from those provided during domestic transactions seems to have increased.
Of the total 390 complaints, ‘non-performance (non-fulfillment)’ was the largest with 335 cases (85.9%), ‘cancellation/refund/exchange delay and rejection’ 31 cases (8.0%), and delivery-related complaints 10 cases (2.5%) ) and so on. In particular, due to the characteristics of consumers who are highly loyal to idols, even if delivery is delayed for a long time, there were many cases where they wanted to fulfill the contract without applying for cancellation or refund.
K-pop unique products are sold on the condition that gifts such as photo cards and book lamps for each idol member are provided in limited quantities or randomly, or offer opportunities to apply for services such as video calls with idols and concert participation in proportion to the number of purchases of this product. Often.
Therefore, consumers who own rare gifts or want to win an event tend to purchase the same product in bulk or repeatedly. Disputes related to this are frequently occurring.
The Korea Consumer Agency has requested that the following precautions be taken to prevent damage to consumers in international transactions related to K-Pop products.
Please be aware that gift items (photo cards, etc.) combined with product purchases may not be enforced.
For custom-made or limited-production products, if the contract performance is delayed for a long time, promptly apply for cancellation or refund.
Since there are cases when a dispute arises after using a delivery agent, the operator’s liability may be limited, so we urged the shopping mall to check the details of delivery-related notices when using it.
