Clothing refunds rare on the Web

Buyer beware ― that’s the message of a new report on online shopping malls by the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center, part of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The center investigated 122 online clothing stores the week of Nov. 6 and found only 17, or 13.9 percent, of them had complete refund or exchange policies. The rest, 155, lacked or had incomplete policies. Thirty-one of those stores were run by celebrities, and only one of those was up to snuff. Singer and actress Lee Hye-young, well known for her women’s wear, and Ko Young-uk were among the stars whose stores stiffed unsuspecting cyber-shoppers. “Entertainers only work on promoting their Web shopping malls and forget about their responsibilities,” said a team leader at the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center. Consumer protection laws and guidelines require online stores to accept returned goods within seven days of purchase. Sixty of the shops promised refunds and exchanges in a contract distributed by the government, but then listed separate policies to limit them. Fifty-three of the contracts didn’t mention refunds or exchanges at all. “Based on the survey, Internet shops lacking appropriate refund and exchange policies will be charged by the Fair Trade Commission,” the center employee said. During the first half of the year, 5,136 cases of online shopping mall complaints were received by the center, 1,116 cases of them clothing related. by Hwang Young-jin