Nobody reads the T&Cs on the Internet, and for good reason: they are far too long and convoluted. And in France, the SNCF holds the prize for extended conditions.
To counter this, UFC-Que Choisir published a report on the general conditions of sale (CGV) and the general conditions of use (CGU) of popular websites and web services in France.
The SNCF has the longest conditions of the comparison
The consumer defense association points out that these conditions are often not written in a clear manner, discouraging users from finding out about their rights and obligations. In some cases, it is even foolish to take the time to read all the T&Cs and T&Cs as they are so long.
This is particularly the case of the SNCF site, whose T&Cs represent no less than 256 pages of text, ie 6 hours and 52 minutes of reading time on average. In general, it is the merchant sites that present the longest terms and conditions, because they must detail the rules that apply for the guarantee, the delivery, the return of the products, the reimbursement, the exchanges…
For example, it takes 2 hours and 8 minutes to read the T&Cs of Cdiscount, 1 hour and 53 minutes for those of Fnac, and 1 hour and 21 minutes for Le Bon Coin.
Unbalanced clauses identified
Entertainment-focused sites have terms that begin to read in a decent amount of time. Count 10 minutes and 15 seconds at Netflix.
Finally, it is the T&Cs of public administrations that are the shortest. With a time of 3 minutes and 2 seconds, the CAF site won the prize for the most digestible conditions among the hundred measured by UFC-Que Choisir.
Another report will be published soon, this time to analyze the content of these T&Cs. The association’s legal department has already noted irregularities on several sites, with ” clauses that are obviously too unbalanced for the consumer “. Legal action could be taken, informs UFC-Que Choisir.
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