Coupang's '50,000 won per person' compensation plan... Citizens "pulled customer anger trigger"

Criticism posted on various community bulletin boards... “Is this for the purpose of promoting a service I don’t know about?”
Experts say, “It does not seem to have any effect on Coupang’s lawsuit against Coupang… Rather, it is an admission of responsibility.”

Regarding Coupang's announcement of a compensation plan worth 50,000 won for all customers in connection with the customer information leak incident, citizens, including Coupang users, reacted as "an insincere attitude."

A law firm that is currently in the process of filing a lawsuit against Coupang for collective damages after the Coupang incident analyzed that this compensation plan not only does not have a significant impact on the lawsuit, but rather results in Coupang admitting its fault, which is advantageous in admitting liability for damages.

According to News 1's coverage on the 30th, when Coupang announced a compensation plan for the customer information leak the day before (the 29th), a series of posts criticizing Coupang were posted in online communities.

Coupang announced on the same day that it would provide purchase vouchers worth a total of 50,000 won to customers of 33.7 million accounts that received notification of personal information leakage, including 5,000 won for Coupang General Mall, 5,000 won for Coupang Eats, 20,000 won for Coupang Travel products, and 20,000 won for Alux products. It was announced that payments will be made from January 15th of next year, and will also include customers who cancel their membership.

Coupang explained in the FAQ on its website, "This is a purchase voucher given to customers who have experienced inconvenience as we fully acknowledge responsibility for the personal information leakage incident."

However, they said that customers who have already withdrawn will not be able to cancel their membership, so they will be issued sequentially when they re-enroll.

Coupang users voiced strong criticism regarding Coupang's compensation plan.

Ms. Park, a woman in her 30s living in Seoul, said, "You have to make an actual purchase to use the voucher, so you have to spend it anyway, and since they say customers who cancel can't use it, don't they have to report their personal information to Coupang again? Travel and Alux are services I didn't even know about, so I guess they're trying to promote them through this situation."

Mr. Kim, a man in his 40s, said, "I don't know what is different from the usual weekend discounts and other benefits given," and added, "I don't understand how giving coupons rather than actual cash compensation can cause any damage to Coupang." He continued, “If you purchase a product from a Coupang seller, there will be a profit left over for Coupang, so it doesn’t seem like Coupang is losing a lot of money.”

Mr. A criticized on an internet community, "The attitude after the incident caused anger to build up, and seeing that it was announced as a compensation plan, it seems to have triggered the public's anger. They are promoting it while announcing the compensation plan, and it does not appear to be sincere."

Mr. B also pointed out, “It seems like they are trying to encourage people to sign up by pretending to compensate,” adding, “All you can spend is 5,000 won, but when you see your personal information being sold, it seems like it’s bigger than that amount, so I don’t know what it means as compensation.”

Meanwhile, after the announcement of the compensation plan, it was confirmed that some participants were inquiring about the impact of the compensation plan at a law firm that is in the process of filing a collective damages lawsuit on behalf of Coupang users.

However, experts predicted that this compensation plan would not have a significant impact on future legal proceedings.

Jeong Tae-won, a lawyer at LKB Pyeongsan Law Firm, said, "It does not seem to be a practical compensation measure. It is just a pretense measure put forward in a situation where public opinion is not favorable. It appears to be a means to be used in further legal proceedings, but it seems highly likely that it will have the opposite effect."

Jang Ji-woon, an attorney at Daeryun Law Firm, also said, "The compensation plan in question is nothing more than a proposal unilaterally proposed by Coupang, and even if it is paid, a legal settlement for the leak damage will not be reached. The content of the compensation plan is also very minimal, so it will have little impact on future civil and criminal proceedings and lawsuits filed in the United States."

Attorney Jang continued, "It appears that the purpose is to resolve this situation early and reflect these efforts as an extenuating factor in future administrative dispositions and civil lawsuits," and added, "It is highly questionable that the purpose is to intentionally cover up and minimize the incident rather than with a true intention to resolve the situation and repair the damage."

A lawyer in Seocho-dong said, "It appears to be a one-sided compensation plan that does not take into account the customer's position or reaction. Rather, the company has expressed its position that it fully accepts responsibility due to the announcement of this compensation plan, so there is a greater possibility that Coupang will be recognized as liable for damages in a future civil lawsuit."

Reporter Han Su-hyeon (shan@news1.kr)

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News 1- Coupang's '50,000 won per person' compensation plan... Citizens "pulled customer anger trigger" (link)
bnt News - Coupang 50,000 won compensation plan... Risk of proliferation of lawsuits (link)