Delivery rider sits in empty chicken shop, gets berated by owner for using 'someone else's chair'

A delivery rider who sat down in a franchise chicken restaurant while waiting for an order says he was met with a torrent of verbal abuse from the owner.

The story, submitted by a man in his 20s identified only as A, was featured Tuesday on JTBC's "Sageon Banjang," a TV current-affairs program. A has been working as a delivery rider for about three years after choosing not to attend university, putting in roughly 12 hours a day and saving up with plans to eventually move into motorcycle repair or real estate brokerage.

The incident occurred around 8 p.m. Thursday at a franchise chicken restaurant in Busan. When A arrived to pick up an order, the dining area was dark and empty, with only the kitchen lights on. Checking his phone, he saw the food still had about six minutes left to prepare. His legs were sore, so he pulled out a chair and sat down to wait.

Within one or two seconds of sitting down, the owner emerged from the kitchen and immediately addressed him in a rude, informal tone. "Get up. Don't sit there. Why are you sitting in someone else's chair?" the owner snapped.

"It was wrong of me not to ask first, but normally when you say, 'May I sit down?' everyone just says, 'Go ahead,'" A recalled. "There was no one in the dining area that day, so I just sat down. But he grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me up while talking down to me — it felt awful."

A called 112 to report the owner for assault, and police arrived at the scene shortly after. According to A, the owner continued his tirade even as officers were present, saying: "I'm not giving you any more deliveries. Get out. Which delivery company are you with? I'll call them myself. Who do you think you are? Who pays you? We do."

"I thought to myself — I could be a customer someday too. Is it really OK to talk to someone like that?" A said.

The owner later relayed his side through another delivery rider, saying he had recently banned riders from using the chairs after some had blocked the aisle by sitting down or left without tidying up. He said he had told A not to sit, and when A pushed back asking why, he lost his temper. On his remark about being the one who "pays" the riders, the owner said: "I was too worked up. That was wrong of me."