A few days ago, Thomas ordered a pair of glasses on the Alensa.be website. Once the order is placed, he types the reference of his pair into a search engine. This is where he came across the Dutch version of the Alensa.be site on which the same pair of glasses were offered, this time with a 25% reduction. The father of the family cries out for linguistic discrimination, but the site does not want to make any commercial gesture. Is it legal to offer a different promotion only depending on the language chosen?
Thomas contacted us via the orange Alert us button to tell us about his misadventure. He needs new glasses…. after some research on the Internet, he chose the site Alensa.be, known to be one of the sites where glasses are the cheapest. He chooses his pair, his glasses and places his order.
A few hours later, he decided to type the reference for the glasses into Google: “I wanted to check that I had ordered the cheapest pair possible”, he said. This is where he came across the Dutch-speaking version of the site: “It’s exactly the same version as the French version, except the language selected.” On this Dutch-speaking version, the pair of glasses chosen by Thomas are offered with a 25% reduction. “Frankly, I was shocked, so I decided to write them an email to claim the discount.”explains the father.
Why should those who speak Dutch get a discount and others not?
While Thomas expects to be reimbursed by the site, the company’s response will surprise him. “They told me that I was a liar and that the chosen pair was the same price on the French and Dutch versions. Fortunately I had taken screenshots.” However, even with the screenshots, the brand does not want to make a move. She tells Thomas that it was a temporary offer and that they therefore cannot do anything. “They talk about a temporary offer when that is not the case. When I go to the site, the offer is still visible”claims our interlocutor.
Thomas also searched for glasses for his children. “I had the same situation with the glasses for my children. They are cheaper on the Dutch-speaking version, so we ordered from that one. But that’s not normal! Why should those who speak Dutch be entitled to at a reduction and the others not?he asks himself.
Legal or illegal?
The explanations on the site are quite vague. Moreover, after-sales service is only offered in Dutch, which is not easy for a French speaker to make themselves understood: “I felt like I was reading emails translated by Google Translate”explains Thomas.
We contacted Alensa by email. The company claims that the French and Dutch sites are two separate entities: “Alensa reserves the right to modify the prices of its products according to market fluctuations, competition, manufacturer requests, etc.” However, it is indeed the same Internet address: Alensa.be. The only thing that changes is the chosen language.
The price difference is still significant
Currently, the price has been changed, the pair is offered at 88.90 euros, regardless of the language chosen. But Thomas has still not received any compensation: “88.90 euros instead of 58.65 euros, the difference is still significant”, estimates the father of the family. But then, is it legal to offer different prices depending on the language chosen on a site?
Étienne Mignolet, spokesperson for the FPS Economy, explains that there are several elements to take into account: “The same item can be sold at different prices if the sales channel is different.” For example, a dress from the same brand can be sold for 50 euros on the site and 80 euros in store. As these are two different sales channels, this does not pose a problem. The real question is therefore whether the site has two distinct sales channels, one French-speaking and the other Dutch-speaking. This is what the brand says: “We inform you that these two sites are different.”
What does Testachats say?
Testachats confirms that a company can charge different prices and discounts depending on the points of sale, however for them, this is still direct discrimination based on language: “A French-speaking customer from Anderlecht does not have the same access to the products offered as a Dutch-speaking customer from the same municipality”indicates Julie Frère, spokesperson for the consumer organization.
According to Testachats, nothing obliges Alensa to offer a French-speaking version of the site, but if they do then “it is illegal discrimination to charge higher prices on this version.” Furthermore, this is also similar to a “deceptive commercial practice”. Julie Frère develops: “The existence of a promotion is in fact hidden from a French-speaking customer who will never go to the Dutch-speaking version of the site and therefore will not benefit from a reduction to which he is entitled.”
The consumers’ association concludes that this price differentiation between a French-speaking customer and a Dutch-speaking customer is therefore discriminatory and misleading.
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