Morning hours earlier than rush hour.
In the president’s office of Ohsung Electronics, heated voices pour out.
“Why not? In my opinion, there is no problem!”
“I think you misunderstood. I didn’t mean to say no.”
Those who had a conversation were Vice Chairman Jeon Yong-taek Oh Seong and President Seung-jo Kim.
Kim Seung-jo, who is in charge of this situation, set out to explain in a way that did not go against the owner’s planting as much as possible.
“It meant that the virtual currency proposed by the vice president, that acorn coin, could become a problem in the future.”
“What problem do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“Acorn Coin, like other cryptocurrencies, may plummet in value… … .”
“That story must have come to a conclusion some time ago.”
Ohsung Electronics purchased acorn coins in large quantities while signing a parts contract with Tesla. Needless to say, there were fierce discussions within Oseong until such a decision was made.
President Kim Seung-jo was also aware of the stability of Acorn Coin, but there was a reason he had no choice but to oppose this proposal to the end.
“Vice President, to be honest, even if the virtual currency company cooperates, a full refund is a very costly choice.”
“Even if you suffer a loss, it is right to recover quickly considering the corporate image.”
“I also want to follow the vice president’s opinion like a chimney. However, the loss is a whopping 2 trillion won. This is also the lowest, and there are analyzes that it actually exceeds 4 trillion.”
Even Ohsung, the largest company in Korea, is bound to stumble to its roots if it suffers a loss of 4 trillion won in the short term.
Jeon Yong-taek knew that too, so he couldn’t blindly push for a full refund.
“I… … Vice President. Defective products are already being returned quickly. The situation will quickly calm down once the replacement is completed.”
“Are you sure there are no problems with the improved products?”
“Batteries that have been reported as defective so far have been manufactured in our factory. All of the improved products use batteries from China’s ZAT, so there is no problem.”
Will you take care of the image with a full refund while suffering a huge loss, or will you minimize the loss with an exchange?
The former will result in a definite loss of trillions of won, and the latter will result in a somewhat ambiguous image.
The realistic solution was, of course, the latter. Not only President Kim Seung-jo, but any manager would have made the same choice.
‘What would my father do?’
I could have asked if I had even regained consciousness from the hospital bed, but Jeon Moo-hong was unable to even do that.
Jeon Yong-taek let out a big sigh in frustration.
“All right. Please exchange it for an improved one as soon as possible.”
* * *
-I really appreciate CEO Shin’s suggestion, but in the end, we decided to proceed with an exchange rather than a refund.
“okay.”
– I hope that the close cooperation between the two companies will continue in the future.
With these words, the phone call ended.
I put the receiver down and clicked my tongue with a ‘tsk tsk’.
“It was a win-win opportunity for each other, but kicking the fortune with my own feet.”
I take out my cell phone from my desk drawer.
It was the Note 7, the protagonist of this situation, a color that seemed to be applied by mixing half and half sky blue paint and half silver paint.
Looking at its appearance, it is an impeccable smartphone, but now it is treated as a time bomb due to battery issues.
“You’ll figure it out. There is no reason for me to even bother with five stars.”
Although Ohseong rejected the proposal, the plan did not go wrong at all.
The seeds have already been planted inside Ohseong. So it was enough to wait for the right time and proceed with the work on its own.
Beep beep.
Call Lee So-young through the intercom. She calls as if she was waiting for my call and knocks on the door in less than a minute.
“Come on in.”
As always, Lee So-young comes in with both hands full.
She comes inside, rolls up, sniffs and sniffs. Then, curiously, he asks.
“CEO, how about coffee?”
“I didn’t invite you to drink coffee this time.”
“ah… … .”
She puts the envelope down with a look of disappointment. It was filled with snacks such as walnut pie, macaroons, and muffins.
“The answer came from Five Stars.”
Her gloomy eyes regained strength.
“What did you say?”
“I was rejected. Apparently, the amount of loss required for a refund is too large, so it seems that the exchange has caught the strand.”
“Even if the product image is not good, it would be a big problem even if I exchanged it.”
“Even considering that, they must have decided that an exchange would be better. It wouldn’t be a penny or two to give me a full refund.”
The product in question, the Note 7, is said to have sold over 400,000 units in Korea and over 1.3 million units overseas.
If this is a large quantity, it will be very costly just to retrieve it.
“In the end, everything we prepared looks like it’s going to explode.”
“The Five Stars follow the Five Stars, and we proceed with our plans.”
The original plan was for Ohsung Electronics to refund the Note 7 and snatch the points to be released in the middle.
By exchanging points for acorn coins, additional charges are given.
However, as Ohseong turned from refund to exchange, the plan was inevitably less effective.
“That’s true, but… … There will be no return for hard work.”
“Soyoung, do you think this situation will end with just an exchange?”
“What do you mean?”
I put the two cell phones side by side on the table.
“One is the product I used before, and the other is the product I received as an improved product this time. Can you tell Soyoung apart?”
“Of course I can’t.”
“Then I’ll give you both, so find out which one is the improved one by tomorrow.”
When I hold out the Note 7, Lee So-young shakes her head.
“What if I take it home and catch fire? One said it was defective.”
“That is the problem. You can’t tell whether it’s an improved product or not just by looking at it, so would you let Note 7 users enter on an airplane, ship, railroad, or concert hall?”
There may be a way to notify in software, but that is only a stopgap measure. That alone cannot allay public distrust.
“And there is no guarantee that the battery will be safe even with the replacement replacement.”
“Are you suspecting a design error in the Note 7?”
“Originally, lithium-ion batteries are unstable and occasionally catch fire. So, if you look for Apple phones, news about ignition is coming up.”
Nevertheless, the reason the Note 7 is attracting attention is that it has an overwhelmingly high proportion of ignition.
“aha. Even if improved products catch fire in a similar proportion to those of other companies, the public will be more sensitive to them.”
“It’s nice to be sensitive. Even if it goes over the country, it will take a lawsuit in the United States to start a fire.”
If you go that far, the brand image of Ohsung Electronics will suffer a serious blow.
The management probably doesn’t know that either.
“Oseong won’t last long. We just have to wait for that time.”
* * *
September 2, 2016.
Ohsung Electronics has officially acknowledged the battery defect of its product Note 7.
Along with this, they stopped selling the product, exchanged it for an improved product, and said that the improved product was safe because it did not use the battery in question.
However, unlike Ohseong’s announcement, the news of the Note 7 fire was still an issue in the Internet community and SNS.
September 11th.
Three more airlines refused to board the Note 7. Ohsung Electronics issued a recommendation to prohibit the use of Note 7 users who did not receive an exchange.
Sep 16
The news spread that an improved product was ignited for the first time in Korea.
Ohsung Electronics announced that the fire was caused by an external shock, but a similar accident occurred the very next day.
It was not disclosed whether the ignition product was an improved product.
September 20th.
There have been two fire accidents in one day in China. As the video at the time of the ignition is released as it is, the voice of users wanting a refund grows.
September 27th.
Ohsung Electronics announces a statement that there has not been a single ignition accident in the improved Note 7.
However, on the same night, an accident occurs when the Note 7 exchanged at the San Francisco airport in the United States catches fire and the passengers and crew evacuate.
From noble mtl dot com
Ohsung Electronics collected the device, but did not make any statement.
September 28th.
Online and offline shopping malls in the US stopped selling the Note 7 one after another. Subsequently, the four major telecommunications companies in the United States also announced that they would stop opening the Note 7.
September 30th.
A press conference was held without notice in front of the Ohsung Electronics office building.
At the press conference, Ohsung Group Vice Chairman Jeon Yong-taek appeared in person, and he read the entrance statement with his head bowed 90 degrees in front of the camera.
-First of all, we bow our heads and apologize to the customers who trusted and purchased the Ohsung Electronics Note 7. There is nothing to say even if we are criticized a hundred times for not solving safety and quality issues.
-As of today, all sales of Ohsung Electronics Note 7 will be discontinued, and all devices in possession will be refunded.
-Our employees at Ohsung Electronics are deeply reflecting on this incident, and we promise to conduct more thorough quality control so that we do not make the same mistake again.
The media made a fuss about the fact that the head of the chaebol personally apologized and that they had come up with a superpower of a full refund.
However, users who were actually using the Note 7 couldn’t help but feel absurd.
This is because Ohsung Electronics announced its position that ‘improved products do not ignite’ until the day before the press conference.
The reason for this confusion is that the press conference was not planned inside Ohsung Electronics, but was an arbitrary decision by Jeon Yong-taek.
“Vice President, what happened to this? A full refund?”
Kim Seung-jo, president of Ohsung Electronics, ran out to the company lobby and found Jeon Yong-taek. He was completely unaware that Jeon Yong-taek was holding a press conference.
“Don’t you know what’s going on right now? In the United States, sales bans have been raised one after another. What’s the point of enduring this any longer?”
“Still, it was so sudden… … .”
“It wasn’t sudden, it was late. It’s too late!”
Jeon Yong-taek usually had little emotional ups and downs, but this time he couldn’t hold back his anger either.
“What did President Kim say then? Didn’t you say that there are no problems with improved products?”
“… … .”
“Why can’t you talk? Make an excuse!”
Jeon Taek was regretting it. If I had chosen a refund from the beginning rather than an exchange, then the image and financial loss would have been reduced.
‘Monetary damage is unavoidable once the refund is decided.’
In this way, the brand image had to be saved.
To do so, a service or compensation that the buyer could be satisfied with was needed.
“Pay 20% extra points to all refunding customers. We have to prevent it from going to a third party somehow.”
When the word 20% comes out, not only Kim Seung-jo, but also the employees next to him are surprised.
“Vice President, if we give 20% compensation to all customers, the amount of loss… … .”
“Noisy! Is it time to worry about the amount of loss now?”
Already Note 7 buyers were very angry.
Even 20% was a small amount to appease such people and make them use Ohsung Electronics products again.
“The minimum is 20%. Up to 30% support is needed to turn the hearts of customers.”
“Note 7 sales are 4 million units. If 30% of the factory price is given as compensation, the loss amount exceeds trillion units.”
Jeon Yong-taek also knew that it would be impossible to give more compensation here. Even so, there was a reason why he said 30%.
“We plan to pay 20%, and seek cooperation from WHTS Company for the rest.”
“that… … If we turned down the offer once, will the other party accept it?”
Jeon Yong-taek sighed in despair. Still, there were no other options.
“I have no choice but to ask.”