Anyone who has ever bought a game from a Micromania store has certainly been offered a paid extended warranty. However, it turned out that the French reseller, a subsidiary of GameStop, was playing with French regulations for guarantees and consumer rights. And he was just hit hard on the fingers by the authorities.
Micromania has just been sanctioned for “fraudulent marketing practices“from the French authorities. The departmental directorate for the protection of the population (DDPP) of the Alpes-Maritimes is behind the sanction. And she criticizes him for the way he manages the guarantees on the products he sells to his customers.
Suites of a “National survey, “the DDPP has found various”Violations and violations of statutory guarantees of conformity and commercial guarantees
Promotions, News, and Fraudulent Marketing Practices
To make the decision even more painful, Micromania is forced to post it on its various communication channels. The reseller has therefore posted the press release below. released its official website. And not that. His Twitter account and Instagram page also show the message, to put it mildly, on a yellow background:
Interim injunction against the company “Micromania” to end fraudulent business practices in relation to warranties after the conclusion of a national investigation which led to various violations and violations of legal guarantees of conformity and commercial guarantees. The DDPP des Alpes-Maritimes has instructed the company “Micromania” to stop fraudulent business practices consisting of the following:
1: Presenting confusing information about consumer rights in relation to legal guarantees of conformity and commercial guarantees,
2: In order to mistakenly provide a guarantee called “Extended warranty“Offered and sold as a commercial guarantee by” Micromania, “if it is an insurance product managed by an insurance broker,
3: Restriction of the rights of consumers by imposing obligations within the framework of the provisions and contents of the legal guarantee that are not provided for in the legal texts, or even the validity of the contract on “Extended warranty“to be activated on the website within 15 days of in-store purchase.
Such practices deceive consumers about their warranty rights and about the scope of the obligations of the advertiser “Micromania”.
The beginning of the trouble for micromania?
For information: One of the tasks of the DDPP is consumer protection. It must ensure the clarity and honesty of the business information communicated to consumers. It must also ensure that the business practices of the various professional groups are fair.
In this case, an investigation into Micromania’s practices found that these obligations were not being met. The DDPP therefore used its powers of sanction, recognized by decree, to beat micromanias on the fingers. However, the full content of the sanctions has not yet been communicated. It was not clear whether Micromania was being fined or possibly received an additional penalty. In fact, the DDPP was not necessarily content with ordering an end to fraudulent marketing practices.
Note that this case does not necessarily end with this administrative penalty. Consumers have the opportunity to appeal to a court of law for violating the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act. And they can do this individually or as a group (via a class action lawsuit). It remains to be seen how things will play out.
What do you think of this situation? Does she surprise you? Do you think posting these “fraudulent marketing practices” will harm Micromania? Are you still shopping at Micromania? Tell us all about it in the comments below.
