Reply from KT About My Previous Blog Post

This is a reply from my previous blog post. You can view my previous blog post here.

I am a bit happy and relieved when I got this explanation from one of the employees of KT. I am very thankful for his reply. His reply clarified information regarding the operation of KT stores offline and online.

His post is written below. His post can be found in this link.

Hello, thank you for contacting us.

My name is Chris, I work for the corporate office, and I am writing to address your concern as posted on your blog.

I have read through your post, and I can see where missing puzzle pieces could result some frustration, so if you will allow it, I will attempt to address them.

First of all, one thing many people don’t know about the telecommunications market in Korea is that virtually all of the sales are done by resellers. This means that when you look online, then go to a physical store, you are often inquiring at two different stores, run by two different owners, who are reselling the same product. This applies to all the stores that you have gone to, as well as the online store you have seen on our website.

As a result, you can find different prices for every store you visit, especially when one store runs a promotion or is clearing out their stock of a certain phone, where prices can vary by over 100,000+ won.

On the first screenshot you posted, with the quoted price of 545,000 won, you will see it stated as: (Manufacturer price – olleh.com discount) = 545,000. This is because the store running our online shop has decided to offer a discount on the phone, and this is the part expressed as the “discount” on the “Cost of Device After Discount” column of our blog post: http://www.ktexpatblog.com/?question=do-i-pay-more-for-my-phone-if-i-dont-buy-on-installment

[For reference, the -7,700 won per month in your screenshot is the “discount” on the red portions of the diagram on our blog. This part generally remains the same regardless of which retailer you sign up through, as it is controlled by KT directly.]

The part can differ from retailer to retailer is the “Cost of Device After Discount” part, just as the cost of any other item sold at a different retailers can as well. 

It is also true that the way carriers (KT included) and the retailers make their money is by activating service for subscribers, not on the phones themselves. Which is why one can often see resellers giving away “free phones”, since they make up the different on the subscription anyway.

With that said, I realize that the telecommunications market in Korea is different than how any other countries are set up, and I also realize that the statement:

“As shown in the diagram above, the discount for the phone and the rate plan discount is the same whether it was purchased all at one, or on installment.”

could be made a bit more clear, by stating that the price is the same given that it is the SAME retailer.

It is not our intention to “fool foreigners”, nor make it difficult for them. That would be against the logic of spending time and money in developing our foreign language website.

And what reason would we have to try and trick our foreign customers, especially given that I myself am a foreigner as well? Nevermind the fact that it would also be incredibly illegal.

Again, I can recognize how frustrating of an experience this must have been for you, and I want to apologize for the negative experience. Also, thank you for bringing to light an issue that we can work to clarify.

Please feel free to send me any more questions or concerns you may have on the twitter, and I will do my best to help you.

–Chris