The online sales platform Wish was sentenced on March 10 to a fine of three million euros, after being pinned for false discounts by the repression of fraud.
Decisions follow and look alike for Wish, which is suffering in France. Nearly a year and a half after having seen its delisting from search engines in France be acted upon by the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF), a decision since confirmed by the Constitutional Council, the administrative court and then the Council of State, the e-merchant faces a new disappointment. The latter was sentenced, Friday, March 10, to a fine of 3 million euros by the Paris Criminal Court.
Another setback for Wish in France
The decision, reported by our colleagues from the Informed, therefore reports a financial penalty of 3 million euros, pronounced by the Paris Criminal Court, which pointed the finger at Wish’s misleading commercial practices. It should be noted that the founder of the American platform of low-cost products was present, even if he is no longer at the head of the company today.
His presence was due to the fact that he acknowledged the grievances of which he was accused. This is called a preliminary admission of guilt procedure, for which he was also fined 250,000 euros. The president of the criminal court even explained that if businessman Peter Szulczewski paid the fine within 30 days, he would reduce it by around 20%, in accordance with French law, but within the limit of €1,500. ” This will at least reimburse the plane tickets “, had fun the magistrate.
The charges against Wish date back several years. The elements reported in 2020 by the repression of fraud were valid for investigations carried out in 2018 and 2019, with products which at the time presented reductions of up to 90%. Improbable or almost, while the majority of the products appraised were considered dangerous and the company was pinned for the sale of counterfeit products.
The reproaches were numerous for a site which is “not so dereferenced as that” from search engines
Wish, for its part, explains to our colleagues from the Informed having since resolved the concerns raised in recent years, recalling that the accusations on the pricing policy, the approximation in the translation of the product sheets, the fight against counterfeiting and the policies of intellectual property do not ” carry [que] over the period between November 2018 and November 2019 “.
The site offered its customers products that featured logos belonging to sports or luxury brands, which misled consumers.
It is also good to know that the delisting of Wish, yet required in November 2021 by the repression of fraud, is not always well respected. If the site cannot be found on Bing, it is however accessible on Google and Qwant in the American version, but the two engines redirect us instantly to the French version of the site. We invite you to take the test.
Source : the Informed
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