Pizza store's extortion of delivery tips leads to lawsuit in South Korea
SEOUL - A local pizza franchise has vowed to seek legal action against one of its former branches, which stirred controversy by keeping delivery tips and making unlawful use of the franchise store's menus.
The pizza store located in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province had been adding a 2,000 won (S$1.80) tip to online delivery orders, by having the customers select an option labeled 'I'll enjoy it' for the extra charge. The only alternative was an option that leads to the cancellation of the order, meaning a customer is forced to pay the additional fee for no extra feature.
After the controversy, the store changed the labeling of the tip option to 'Give me the pizza' and the basic order option to 'Only the sauce is provided'.
The store was removed from delivery platform Baemin on June 25, which said such practices violated its terms of service.
Based on the pizza store's options, the public was initially led to believe that the shop had belonged to a local pizza franchise named Pigubnam Pizza that has 80 branches nationwide. But the franchise said that the while the store had been under its umbrella from 2022 to 2024, its licensing contract had been terminated.
In a public statement posted on June 25, Pigubnam Pizza said it will take action against the store in question for unlicensed use of its official menus. The company said the contract bans former franchise store owners from running their own pizza joint for two years after the deal is terminated.
The Food Sanitation Act states that the price that appears on the menu should include all charges for the particular dish, banning stores from charging delivery fees that are not set by the delivery platform. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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