A telephone or a microwave for a rent of a few euros per month… It's called long-term rental (LLD). A tempting offer in full swing in mass distribution, which allows consumers to use a good at a lower cost and without owning it. This Wednesday, the UFC-Que Choisir denounces a "ruinous" practice and requests its supervision as soon as possible by the public authorities.
"The uncontrolled surge of these ruinous offers in department stores is a serious threat to the interest of consumers," said in a statement the association. According to UFC-Que Choisir, the LLD, "designed in particular to attract small budgets thanks to its very low rents", is the same "excess" as revolving credit, provided by credit cards and that the association had denounced in the 2000s.
An "economic abyss"
The excesses are double, specifies the UFC: the LLD participates on the one hand in "exuberant consumption", leading to "over-equipment and oversizing of devices that contribute to climate change", and on the other hand to a "ruinous habituation ”, in that it encourages consumers to“ renew their commitment indefinitely to keep the use of essential goods ”(household appliances, television, computer, smartphone, etc.).
"Taking advantage of obsolete regulations, the LLD constitutes a real economic abyss: not recognized as being a credit in its own right, its cost for the consumer escapes all supervision", denounces the UFC-Que Choisir, by comparing in a table the different rates charged by several distributors: Boulanger, Cdiscount, Fnac and Darty.
At Boulanger Location, renting a microwave can cost € 731 for 4 years of use against € 316 when purchased, its implicit interest rate reaches 76%, or 3 times the wear rate! pic.twitter.com/vdJD082uhT
- UFC-Que Choisir (@UFCquechoisir) January 22, 2020A microwave twice as expensive at the end
The association denounces in particular that unlike credit, "the distributor is not required to indicate its total cost, or to express its price in rates, or to warn about the risk of excessive debt" . Furthermore, according to his study, many contracts offered by these distributors contain "clauses which minimize the obligations of professionals or impose excessive obligations to the detriment of consumers".
Finally, the prices seem to escape any economic logic, believes the UFC: "the prize for exorbitant prices comes from the rental of a microwave offered by the Boulanger branch," explains the association. “At the price of 731 euros over four years (against 316 euros at purchase), (…) renting thus costs more than twice as much as buying immediately (+ 130%).”
Clauses deemed "unfair"
She argues for a "legal framework capable of containing the harmful effects" of this practice, in particular via a "price cap" as well as "standardized pre-contractual information".
At the same time, the association puts Boulanger location on notice, as well as the financial partners of Fnac Darty (Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance) and Cdiscount (Crédit Mutuel Leasing) to "purge their general conditions of use of the clauses it considers unfair" and reserves the right, "in the absence of a satisfactory answer", to take legal action.
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