HYBE tops consumer complaints among K-pop companies

HYBE received the most consumer damage relief requests among K-pop agencies from January 2020 to August this year, according to the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) on Sunday.

HYBE's headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul [NEWS1]

HYBE received the most consumer damage relief requests among K-pop agencies from January 2020 to August of this year, the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) said Sunday.

A total of 240 consumer damage relief requests concerning the top five K-pop agencies — HYBE, Kakao Entertainment, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment — were filed to the KCA during the time period, according to KCA data that Democratic Party Rep. Lee Jung-mun requested.

Some 129, or 66 percent of, requests for consumer damage relief filed during the cited period concerned HYBE, while 36 concerned Kakao Entertainment, 29 concerned SM Entertainment, 16 concerned JYP Entertainment and zero concerned YG Entertainment.

Many of the requests were related to defective K-pop idol merchandise, delivery delays and refunds for online content the agencies had sold.

The Fair Trade Commission fined Weverse Company, YG Plus, SM Brand Market and JYP360 — which operate the agencies' e-commerce platforms — 10.5 million won ($78,000) in August for altering their refund windows and therefore violating consumers' rights.

The Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce allows consumers to request a refund for defective products during the three months after they receive them, but the K-pop agencies' online stores had only provided a seven-day refund period.