Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
Restaurant delivery customer's 'bland' water complaint causes ire
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By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
Public anger has grown over the malicious review of a picky consumer who ordered mineral water from a restaurant and rated the place as poor because the water was “bland.”
According to a recent Facebook post by a restaurant owner in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, a delivery app user ordered 24 500-milliliter bottles of spring water, without ordering food, and then left an absurd one-star review for the restaurant.
“After much consideration (about delivering only the water without any food), I accepted the order, but now, seeing the rating… that is really unreasonable,” the owner wrote.
The owner added that he felt sorry for the delivery workers who had to carry the heavy bottles up to the fifth floor of the customer's building, which didn't have an elevator.
“Despite it being a hard situation, we delivered the bottles, but I was angered by the review. If there is a problem with the food, I can humbly accept a complaint and make an apology. But it does not make sense to see a customer criticize mineral water for being bland,” the owner said.
The owner said the same consumer also left malicious reviews of other restaurants, and urged the person to stop bothering restaurant owners.
The post drew criticisms of picky reviewers.
“There are all kinds of people in the world,” one internet user wrote.
“Delivery app operators should make a blacklist of such consumers and ban them from using the apps,” another wrote.
Spiteful reviews on delivery apps have been a problem among eateries here. In June, a restaurant owner died of a stroke after having an argument with a customer who had demanded a refund for a piece of fried shrimp as “its color had changed” a day after receiving the food. That customer had left a negative review as well.