French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

The concept of promotional action means, for the average customer, an incentive to purchase based on price . The courts use quantitative criteria in assessing the effectiveness of the announced reduction. The offense is committed when an advertisement announces sales, although the prices charged by the trader have not varied since the previous promotion , or when the margin made during the promoti …

Lack of indication of a reference price

The concept of promotional action means, for the average customer, an incentive to purchase based on price . The courts use quantitative criteria in assessing the effectiveness of the announced reduction. The offense is committed when an advertisement announces sales, although the prices charged by the trader have not varied since the previous promotion , or when the margin made during the promotion is identical to that usually generated . However, price reduction announcements disseminated during sales periods are not misleading if the items to which the largest reductions are applied represent a significant proportion of the products offered for sale and are higher in number that those for which the reduction is less .

In the absence of sales, the offense is committed when the prices charged before and during the promotion are identical . Thus, the announcement of promotions on the sale of certain items although at the time of payment, the normal price is charged, falls under the prohibition . Indeed, the term “promotion” refers not only to the operation to draw the consumer's attention to a product, but also a reduction in its price . Similarly, promotional offers that mention “ultra-negotiated rates” when, in reality, in most cases, the promotion is non-existent, are misleading . The same applies when the advertiser associates the term “purchasing power” with an advantage expressed as a percentage, on the one hand, and the expressions “immediately” or “pleasure does not wait”, on the other hand, suggesting to the consumer that he will benefit from an immediate discount and not merely a credit on future purchases registered on a loyalty card . A travel agency also cannot mention a promotional price for certain destinations although it is equal to the usual lowest price, or even higher, even if it specifies that it is a price “from” . The offer of recovery accompanied by the promise of a discount is misleading when, in reality, the trader only advertises reductions that have never actually been made . Finally, the advertiser who mentions a discount for cash payment when the consumer buys products for which there is a free credit offer, under the applicable regulations, without ever granting a discount, commits the offense of misleading commercial practice .

CA Paris, 28 October 2020, LawLex202000003066JBJ: price discounting in a near constant manner constitutes a misleading commercial practice when the average consumer, driven by a sense of urgency accentuated by the setting up of a countdown to the end of the validity period of the promotional code, is led to make a quick judgment to buy at a price he or she believes to be advantageous when this price advantage would benefit any person all year round;  29 June 2021, LawLex202100004367JBJ : undertakings which advertise on thirteen websites that they publish, continuous promotions on a variety of products and on seven other sites, the display of a countdown timer associated with these promotions indicating the time remaining before the percentage discount disappears, are guilty of misleading commercial practices, since the information published does not allow reasonably well-informed and attentive consumers to appreciate the reality of the proposed promotion or its period of validity and is likely to materially distort their economic behavior by inciting them to make a commercial decision that they would not have otherwise made.

 CA Pau, 21 October 1992, LawLex200300001726JBJ.

 Cass. crim., 26 October 1994, LawLex200300003396JBJ, upholding CA Pau, 22 June 1993, LawLex200400000201JBJ.

 Cass. crim., 10 January 2012, LawLex201200001093JBJ.

 Cass. crim., 15 October 1997, LawLex200300003799JBJ, upholding CA Pau, 18 June 1996, LawLex200300002209JBJ.

 CA Amiens, 30 September 2009, LawLex201200001319JBJ.

  CA Paris, 23 September 1998, LawLex200300001800JBJ.

 TGI Melun, 4 March 2009, LawLex200900001100JBJ.

 Cass. crim., 26 April 2000, LawLex200300003252JBJ, upholding CA Rennes, 20 May 1999, LawLex200300002348JBJ.

  T. com. Paris, 4 October 2011, LawLex201100001554JBJ.

 TGI Créteil, 11 June 2010, LawLex201000001098JBJ.

 CA Paris, 16 May 2008, LawLex201200001318JBJ.

French Consumer Law

156. Lack of indication of a reference price

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

156. Lack of indication of a reference price

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise