Title: Request for refund of overcharge caused by a seller’s system error

Outline of the Case

On July, 22, 2016, a foreign customer placed orders for diapers and a play mat via a Korean online shopping mall and paid for the transaction with her credit card. At the final stage of checking out, she confirmed the invoice showing KRW 176,440 for the subject orders. After completing the check out, however, she realized KRW 223,740 had been charged on her credit card. She then filed a complaint against the shopping mall for the overcharge.

But the mall claimed KRW 223,740 was the correct payment for her orders and KRW 176,440 was misplaced due to its system errors. Against the mall’s allegations, the customer raised a question whether it had posted fraudulent pricing on its website for the purpose of tax evasion. With screenshots of the order page and correspondences with the shopping mall, the customer claimed that the mall should refund KRW 47,300 overcharged.

Final Outcome

As a result of our mediation effort, the shopping mall explained the customer about how the issue had arisen and expressed its sincere apologies for the inconvenience she experienced. It also agreed to offer a bonus point of 20,000 to the customer, which is equivalent to the amount overcharged, as a remedy for her loss. The customer was pleased to accept the shopping mall’s offer.