[비즈한국] The unpaid delivery fee crisis at the dawn delivery specialist TeamFresh, which erupted last April, still shows no signs of resolution five months later. As the company struggles to secure investment, TeamFresh continues to postpone payment schedules for delivery fees. Industry rumors suggest that the company may make a critical decision regarding its corporate operations within this month.
15 Billion Won in Unpaid Fees, Payments Delayed for 7 Months
On April 1, TeamFresh sent an official notice to its client companies stating, "As the investment funding scheduled for the 1st has been delayed, we expect drivers to refuse operations, making it difficult to guarantee overall delivery stability," effectively announcing a temporary suspension of its dawn delivery service. Having failed to pay drivers on time since the beginning of the year due to financial difficulties, the company decided it could no longer sustain operations.
Currently, about 350 drivers have not received their delivery fees from TeamFresh. The unpaid amount corresponds to the fees for January and February, ranging from 8 million to 15 million won per driver. The total outstanding amount is estimated to be approximately 15 billion won. One delivery driver lamented, "Dawn deliveries were halted in April, and we were not properly paid for the work done prior to that. While part of March was paid as daily wages, we haven't received payments for January and February. Most drivers are in the same situation."
Since February, TeamFresh has repeatedly notified drivers of settlement schedules only to delay them. One driver said, "I have been told countless times that payment would be made within a few days, but the promise hasn't been kept for seven months." Another driver appealed, "I don't even know if there's a way to get paid. It's frustrating because there doesn't seem to be any sign of a solution."
Some drivers have filed civil lawsuits against TeamFresh demanding payment and have even won court judgments. However, TeamFresh is delaying the implementation of these rulings, citing a lack of funds. The drivers also filed for dispute mediation with the Fair Trade Commission’s Dispute Mediation Committee under the Subcontracting Act, and although the Commission issued an order for payment, it has proven ineffective in practice.
Under the law, wages, retirement pay, and accident compensation that workers are entitled to from their employers are protected as 'wage claims.' However, the delivery fees sought by the drivers are classified not as wages but as 'compensation for transportation services,' making them ordinary civil claims. This creates a limitation where legal protections are weak, and criminal charges are not applicable.
A TeamFresh delivery driver expressed concern, stating, "Wage claims are given priority for repayment even if a company goes bankrupt. Because delivery fees are not wage claims, we are in a blind spot without such protection. It's highly likely we will be pushed to the back of the line as subordinated creditors and never see the money."
Delivery Fees Excluded from Wage Claims, Drivers Left Sighing
TeamFresh is a logistics company specializing in B2B dawn delivery services. It secured over 6,000 clients, including Hyundai Green Food453340, Paris Baguette, NS Home Shopping, and Oasis, capturing more than 90% of the market share. In 2018, its first year of business, it generated 2.7 billion won in revenue, which grew to 544.4 billion won by 2024. It was also selected as a 'pre-unicorn' company in 2021.
However, despite the growth in revenue, losses continued to mount. Operating losses expanded from 11 billion won in 2020 to 22.4 billion won in 2021, and 48.1 billion won in 2022. The deficit grew further to 54.1 billion won in 2023 and 78.1 billion won last year.
Even with mounting deficits, the company was able to attract investment smoothly during a time of active investment environments due to its recognized growth. Between 2019 and 2022, it secured over 200 billion won in cumulative investment. However, as the investment market contracted, new funding virtually dried up, leading to the current severe liquidity crisis.
Once investment avenues were blocked, TeamFresh announced in June that it would secure 70 billion won through the issuance of convertible bonds (CB). Although they announced that the investment payment schedule had been finalized for the second week of June, the funds never arrived. This was because the conversion price of the new CB was set at 1/20th of the existing corporate value, sparking concerns about the dilution of existing shareholders' stakes, which led investors to oppose it.
Woori Private Equity (Woori PE), a major investor, even filed an injunction with the court to prohibit the issuance of the new CB to block TeamFresh. Although the application was withdrawn on June 12 and TeamFresh stated it would "continue discussions," the investment has not been successfully secured to this day. An industry source stated, "I heard they agreed on the CB issuance, but I understand the investors continue to delay payment for various reasons."
TeamFresh maintains that it will make a final decision regarding its future by the end of this month. One delivery driver stated, "TeamFresh recently told the drivers that they would reach a conclusion by the end of September. It seems they are finally going to decide whether to continue the business or shut it down."
Bizhankook attempted to contact TeamFresh multiple times to verify the company's position regarding the delay in settling delivery fees, but could not reach them. The main contact number was blocked, and other relevant officials were also unreachable.
Meanwhile, TeamFresh delivery drivers are scheduled to hold a press conference at the National Assembly Press Center on the 24th to demand a resolution to the unpaid fee issue. One delivery driver said, "It's difficult to sue for fraud because they haven't completely withheld all payments. It's very frustrating because there are virtually no countermeasures available to the drivers."