The insurer SFAM, specializing in insurance contracts for mobile devices, has been heavily fined for deceptive marketing practices, announced Friday the services of the repression of fraud (DGCCRF). The fine is 10 million euros, according to Le Parisien , an order of magnitude confirmed by a source close to the record.
"With the agreement of the public prosecutor of Paris, a large transactional fine, proportionate to the seriousness of the practices, was proposed to the SFAM group which accepted it, and the group will proceed to compensate consumers formulated, before August 31, 2019, a claim, "welcomes the DGCCRF in a statement. More than a thousand complaints had been filed in recent months by consumers who thought they had been misled most often when buying a mobile phone or tablet. By signing documents in order to benefit from a discount on the purchase price, they signed an insurance contract for the benefit of SFAM.
Monthly payments revised upwards
These contracts, announced as without commitment, were finally not, and the monthly payments could explode if the termination was not carried out on the dates indicated, according to Le Parisien . Most of the offenses occurred in FNAC stores, of which SFAM is the second largest shareholder, he said. The DGCCRF, which searched the end of 2018 the headquarters of the SFAM, ensures through the voice of his chief of staff Loïc Tanguy that the practices are "more serious" than those which had earned the American giant online distribution Amazon a fine of 1 million euros in February 2017.
"The DGCCRF is trying to refocus on the investigation, its core business, continued the leader.The transactional scheme retained is part of the guidelines that we want to give.There is not only a penalty, but also the possibility that consumers can navigate it ".
Based in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme), SFAM has built its prosperity on the marketing of insurance contracts for mobile phones and electronic devices offering high guarantees. The group is now engaged in a duplication abroad of its model, which has earned it a very strong growth since its inception. France and abroad included, SFAM aims at a business volume of 740 million euros in 2019. Today the group has 1,600 employees and plans to recruit in 2019 a thousand people, just in France.