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 “terms of sale” and the “payment and delivery terms”  of the good or service, must not be misleading or likely to mislead the consumer.
The impartiality of the seller, in particular, is decisive when customers seek an objective opinion on the choice to be made between various brands. However, the fact of wearing the store's logo, when the seller is employed by one of the referenced brands, vio …

Terms of sale

The “terms of sale” and the “payment and delivery terms”  of the good or service, must not be misleading or likely to mislead the consumer.

The impartiality of the seller, in particular, is decisive when customers seek an objective opinion on the choice to be made between various brands. However, the fact of wearing the store's logo, when the seller is employed by one of the referenced brands, violates Article L. 121-2 of the Consumer Code . It is also misleading to create several structures, presented in an advertising brochure as independent and objective sources of information, in order to redirect all service requests to a single clinic on which they depend .  Similarly, a banking establishment which, having been informed of the dissemination of a campaign promoting the activities of its affiliated mutual banks based on the lack of commission for account managers, set up a system of commission for its advisors on the financial products offered within its affiliated branches while failing to inform the advertiser of this, is guilty of a misleading commercial practice .

Referring to a mail-order sale, when in reality the customer receives a visit from a direct seller , or using the expression “not on sale in stores”, to designate a mail-order sale , fall within the scope of Article L. 121-2.

The terms of the sale must be clear. Advertising documents must not be presented in such a way that it is difficult for their recipient to understand that he must take specific steps so as not to be committed . The customer also should not be misled as to the nature of the place of sale. This is the case when advertising leaflets seek to attract him to a trade fair, promising him reductions, when they are only valid in stores . Stipulating a particularly long commitment period in a contract only in the special terms of sale and not on the first page of the contract, which moreover is difficult to read in view of the small size of the characters used, also constitutes a misleading commercial practice . It is also an unfair commercial practice for a car dealer to make false allegations, indications or presentations to lay customers, misleading them as to the nature and method of trade-in of their old vehicle, in order to get them to sign a new lease contract with a purchase option - for a period of 72 months, instead of the 24 months specified on the order form - at the end of which the professional acquires the vehicle in perfect condition, for half its purchase value, after 24 months while leaving the lessees deprived of the use of the vehicle with the obligation to continue financing it for a further 4 years . Finally, offers of reductions or free products subject to a bulk purchase must not be illusory .

 These last two elements were added by Law No 2008-3 of 3 January 2008.

 Cass. crim., 23 February 1989, LawLex200300003580JBJ, upholding CA Lyon, 2 March 1988, LawLex200300001609JBJ: the employee of a tire manufacturer, seconded to a supermarket to sell its products, wore an overall bearing the logo not of his employer, but of the store.

 	See Cass. crim., 15 October 2002, LawLex200300000995JBJ, for an offer that is actually systematic; 14 November 1991, LawLex200300003803JBJ.

CA Paris, 29 May 2001, LawLex200400001043JBJ: an apparent multiplicity of sources of information all with different telephone numbers suggested the idea of diversified or even objective information or at least not coming from a single origin, although they were phantom associations led by the directors of a clinic or the corresponding center directly working for this institution.

Cass. crim., 21 May 2023, LawLex202300007526JBJ.

Cass. crim., 9 November 1992, LawLex200300003661JBJ, upholding CA Lyon, 13 November 1991, LawLex200300001615JBJ: advertising offering additional information against sending a reply coupon when it is followed by a visit from a direct seller.

 	Cass. crim., 18 October 1995, LawLex200300003398JBJ, upholding CA Douai, 13 October 1994, LawLex200300001675JBJ: the ambiguity of the expression may lead the consumer to believe that he is benefiting from a favor or an advantage.

 Cass. crim., 14 February 1996, LawLex200300003397JBJ, upholding CA Paris, 7 December , LawLex200300001679JBJ: advertising documents stating that the receipt of books as a gift is not binding on the recipient, although other mentions invite the consumer to indicate his refusal to receive other books, failing which, other books will be sent to him against payment.

Cass. crim., 11 October 1995, LawLex200300003708JBJ, upholding CA Bordeaux, 31 May 1994, LawLex200300002285JBJ.

CA Lyon, 26 April 2018, LawLex201800000642JBJ.

CA Reims, 25 July 2023, LawLex202300011305JBJ.

French Consumer Law

158. Terms of sale

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

158. Terms of sale

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise