After a controversy which began to seriously swell in recent months, the SNCF will put an end to its “cashback” offer on its website.
It was a request from the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune, it is now done. According to information obtained by BFM, SNCF should soon end its cashback offer. If the word doesn’t mean anything to you, you have undoubtedly come across these banners offering you a “refund” for your train ticket after purchase. These offers should disappear from the SNCF Connect site and application in the coming months.
Practices close to phishing
These promotional offers have been in the sights of the government and many customers for several months. The French company does not hide it since it justifies this change of gear by explaining that this practice “ is no longer aligned with the demands of its customers “. As a result, the company is in the process of terminating its contract with WebLoyalty, the service provider which has been offering this service since 2019.
But why did the SNCF end a refund offer for its train tickets at a time when purchasing power is more than ever a priority? Quite simply because these “good deals” often hid questionable application conditions which “ could be similar to phishing » according to the Renaissance deputy of Vendée Philippe Latombe, “ even more so when it affects vulnerable people who are not used to digital technology », Added the elected official during the summer.
A steep fine on the other side of the Alps
The banner promising a reimbursement redirected to a website which required you to take out a subscription at 18 euros per month to benefit from the few euros reimbursed on your train ticket. A subscription that could save money “ up to 6,000 euros per year » is justified by WebLoyalty, but which would be more akin to “ deceptive commercial practices » for the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention.
For the French authority, “ consumer information is far from satisfactory » regarding these famous cashback offers. So much so that in Italy, WebLoyalty was fined 800,000 euros for having made Internet users subscribe to a paid subscription without the terms of the latter being clearly explained.
Even if the cashback remains “a legal practice governed by the law », Explains the SNCF, the company therefore preferred to put an end to these famous reimbursement offers, undoubtedly to avoid being slapped on the knuckles in turn. In the meantime, the government is still thinking about making trains more attractive on a daily basis.
Source : BFM
5