42% of subscription services lack phone support — but customers still want to call

When problems arise while using online shopping or subscription services, many consumers find it difficult to reach a customer service center — either because a phone number is hard to locate or because multiple steps are required to get through. Nearly half of all customers want to speak with someone by phone, yet four in 10 subscription services offer no phone support at all.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Electronic Commerce Center released findings from a survey examining how customer service centers operate across 19 subscription services in six categories — shopping, food delivery, ride-hailing, laundry, video streaming and music streaming — all assessed through their mobile applications.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Friday, 42.1 percent — eight of the 19 services surveyed — do not operate a phone-based customer center, even though phone contact is consumers' most preferred method of inquiry. Ride-hailing and music streaming services had almost no phone support channels, and some services were structured in ways that made it difficult to find a phone number at all.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government asked companies that do not operate phone centers, or that make their contact numbers hard to find, to make improvements so consumers can more easily locate and use those channels.

Among services that do offer phone support, customers had to navigate an average of 4.8 steps through a mobile app just to find the number or reach an agent. One-on-one chat support required an average of 5.6 steps. Some overseas platforms were particularly cumbersome, requiring users to navigate multiple menus, move between web pages and log in again before completing a query.

A separate survey conducted by the Electronic Commerce Center in the second half of last year targeted consumers who had experienced complaints or harm while online shopping within the previous year. Phone support was the most preferred contact method at 46.5 percent, followed by one-on-one chat at 35.8 percent. By contrast, only 4.1 percent said they preferred AI chatbot support.

Consumer dissatisfaction with AI chatbots was also significant. Some 39.4 percent of respondents cited generic responses unrelated to their questions as the biggest frustration, followed by an inability to handle complex or difficult inquiries (23.4 percent) and poor comprehension of what was being asked (21.7 percent).

The survey also found that when consumers encountered problems while shopping online, 49.7 percent turned to the online shopping mall's customer center for resolution, compared with 22.5 percent who contacted the individual seller directly.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said the findings show that customer centers serve not merely as inquiry windows but as the starting point for consumer redress.

The city operates the Electronic Commerce Center to help resolve consumer complaints and disputes arising from online shopping. The center handles consultations and dispute mediation related to online purchases, overseas buying services and subscription services, while also conducting surveys and providing information to help prevent consumer harm.

"Even as AI technology and non-face-to-face services continue to expand, we will work to encourage businesses to adopt more consumer-friendly practices so that customers can easily and conveniently receive support and have their rights protected," said Kim Myeong-seon, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Fair Economy Division. "We will continue to conduct surveys and monitoring to safeguard consumer interests."