'Nothing is getting done': Angry mob storms TMON offices over refund policy

Industry

Published: 26 Jul. 2024, 20:03 Updated: 26 Jul. 2024, 21:18

'Nothing is getting done': Angry mob storms TMON offices over refund policy

Customers wait around in the basement floor of TMON's office building in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, to register for refunds on Friday. [NEWS1]

Chaos erupted at TMON’s offices in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Friday as thousands of enraged customers swarmed the building demanding refunds in the midst of the company's liquidity crisis. Many would walk away empty-handed at the end of the day.

With no TMON employees to give instructions and no clear protocol in place, multiple lines and clusters of people spanned from the building, where registration for refunds had reportedly been taking place since 2:30 a.m. Waiting numbers had initially been recorded by hand, but as the numbers surpassed the 2,000 mark in the morning hours, TMON began assigning them online.

Attempts to corral people into the building in numerical order, however, had long dissipated as of 11 a.m.

Customers who had their purchases on TMON cancelled demand refunds at the e-commerce platform’s offices in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Friday. [NEWS1]

Users at the site clamored to take pictures of a QR code that was claimed to allowed entry into a group chat that assigned waiting numbers, while many others simply waited around in sweltering heat that reached over 30 degree Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Police, and later an emergency response team from the Gangnam Fire Station, were stationed in front of the building for crowd control.

An emergency response team from the Gangnam Fire Station was stationed near TMON offices on Friday. [CHO YONG-JUN]

“Nothing is getting done. The waiting tickets and registration forms are meaningless,” an older person shouted in frustration.

The Qoo10-owned e-commerce platforms TMON and WeMakePrice are in a liquidity crunch and have been unable to pay their sellers since May. Both sellers and payment gateways have withdrawn from the platform as a result, leading purchases to be canceled in droves and refunds only accessible via bank transfer. Many customers whose purchases from TMON-listed merchants were canceled have yet to claw their money back.

One such user, surnamed Song, 47, arrived at TMON's office before 9 a.m. and received a waiting ticket with the number 1,870. She'd come for a refund of 2.5 million ($1,800) for Kyowontour travel packages that she'd bought on TMON. She'd been unable to enter the offices as of 11:10 a.m.

“I’m here in person to deal with the TMON refund myself,” Song told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

"The travel agency has to approve my refund request to TMON in order for it to go through. But in a call on Wednesday, Kyowontour said they would not approve the request without penalties," she said.

A TMON customer fills out a waiting list at the e-commerce platform's offices on Friday. [YONHAP]

One woman who bought Yellow Balloon tour travel packages on TMON came around at 11 a.m. and waited in a line that snaked around the building next to the retailer’s offices.

“I don’t know what the line is for, but I’m hoping it’ll lead somewhere,” Kim, aged 37, said.

She had come from Guro District, western Seoul, to ensure her refund for a 1.77 million won travel package was processed. She had entered in her bank details on TMON’s website for a refund — but after the travel agency approved her request, she was left on hold. TMON’s notice said the reimbursement would be made within 30 days, making her more concerned.

“Who knows what’ll happen to TMON?” Kim said. “I couldn’t just wait around.”

A TMON customer holds a sheet with a QR code that allows online registration for a waiting ticket for refunds. [CHO YONG-JUN]

The online marketplace drew further ire by announcing that it would only process 1,000 on-site refund requests within the day, at a time when the crowd of waiting customers far exceeded that number. TMON operations division head Kwon Do-wan made the announcement around 3:20 p.m.

The executive had made his first appearance at the building near 1 a.m. on Friday and promised refunds to customers who wrote their bank accounts on-site.

“We are trying taking care of things in order as we cannot process everything at once,” he had said. “We are focusing on [processing refunds for] travel packages first as it is the busy season, and there are many victims involved.”

More than 800 people had been able to register their forms on-site as of 5 p.m. on Friday, while 300 had been reimbursed, according to local reports.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]