Shoes Most Risky Online Purchase, Survey Shows

Shoes were the source of the highest number of complaints related to online shopping received by the Seoul Metropolitan Government last year, it said on Monday. Meanwhile, online shoppers' top gripe was having their refunds or exchange claims refused.

After analyzing 23,791 complaints filed by consumers last year, the local government said more than one in three, or 8,657 cases (36.4 percent), concerned footwear, followed by clothing (27.8 percent), and gift certificates (4.5 percent).

Shoppers were most aggrieved by the difficulties encountered when trying to get their purchases refunded or exchanged, with 7,630 cases, or 32.1 percent, citing this as their top complaint. This was followed by the website shutting down, making it impossible to contact the seller (20.8 percent) and delayed shipments (17.5 percent). The total number of complaints jumped 25.9 percent from one year earlier to 18,902.

Park Sang-young, a Seoul Metropolitan Government official, said, "After reporting their complaints, 8,320 consumers received total compensation of W1.11 billion last year."

"Consumers can minimize the risks associated with online shopping by checking out the information and warnings on our website at ecc.seoul.go.kr."