Who has never been tempted to renew their living room or bedroom? In this matter, you should be careful and check carefully what kind of seller you are dealing with. In any case, this is the meaning of an alert message from the Pas-de-Calais prefecture which calls for vigilance over a “precarious lease” scam noted in the department by the fraud prevention services.
Precarious lease scam? This is in fact a particularly deceptive and aggressive furniture marketing technique according to the prefecture. And if we talk about “precarious leases”, it is because the scam has been observed in temporary premises often “ discreet and dilapidated open for a few weeks only », Note the state services.
A well-established process
Once there, the buyer is exposed to a “well-established” sales process: “ First, consumers are called by a direct seller by telephone. This informs them that they have won a valuable gift to collect in a furniture store and that they can participate without obligation to purchase in a competition giving entitlement to very important prizes. », Reports the prefecture. “ Once there, consumers are given the advertised gifts which regularly turn out to be of very low value. They are then invited to take a tour of the store where the prices of the sofas or bedding on display are very high, up to €12,000 for a living room. Sellers then offer cascading discounts (…) to let consumers believe that they are benefiting from exceptional and personalized discounts. However, these are granted to all customers. Credit sales are also offered without respecting the pre-contractual information and their 14-day withdrawal rights. »
Once the sale is concluded, delivery is made the same day. And the sellers take back the old furniture, “ limiting the exercise of the right of withdrawal “. And as is often the case, after a few weeks, the store has folded, and recourse is complicated. Moral: the prefecture advises not to accept invitations by telephone or by paper advertisement in a store with a precarious lease.
In the event of a scam, you can report it on the internet www. signal.conso.gouv.fr or by telephone 0 809 540 550.
