- A photo of masks sold in the Auchan store in Avallon at 39.90 euros per box of 50, and posted on Facebook on Wednesday, quickly went viral on the canvas.
- 20 Minutes contacted both its author and the Schiever group, which manages the Auchan store in Avallon, in order to resolve the true from the false.
The photo of an advertising sign for protective masks on sale in the Auchan store in Avallon has created a little buzz on Facebook in recent hours. In question, the price considered exorbitant for these boxes of 50 cloth masks sold for 39.90 euros. Posted by a user on his return from the supermarket, the picture quickly goes viral and gives rise to a lot of outraged comments.
Asked about the veracity of this photo by other users, the author of the post said: "This is not a fake !!!!!! I took it this morning !!!!!!! " A second surfer validates the existence of this sign installed in crates on Wednesday, also explaining that he saw this while going shopping. "FYI, everyone around the crates found it completely absurd," he wrote.
FAKE OFF
Contacted by 20 Minutes , the communication service of the Auchan group initially stated that it was "a montage, by the way, it shows" and that no protective mask against the Covid-19 was currently on sale in their stores throughout France. However, a simple phone call to the reception of the establishment in question delivers a completely different version. "We don't have any more, sorry, they all left yesterday," explains a store employee. I do not know if we will have new deliveries. "
Joined on Facebook, the author of the photo agreed to give us the technical details of the latter and it turns out that the photo was taken on April 15, 2020 at 11:07 am in "Avallon, Yonne, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté" from a Huawei brand smartphone.
Informed of the veracity of the photo, Auchan's communication service then clarified that the Avallon store is a "franchise belonging to the Schiever group". “The Auchan group does not sell any. Franchisees, on the other hand, they do as they want, it is really left to each store owner's own initiative, ”we are told.
Contacted in the process, an employee of the Schiever group, specialized in large distribution and from the Yonne, tells us that in his opinion "it's a fake, we do not sell masks in our stores. "Informed of our checks, she said" super surprised "before adding:" I went there yesterday and I saw nothing like it. I need to find out. It is finally the director of human resources and communication of the group, Benjamin Naulot, who calls us back Thursday at the end of the afternoon to give us the end of the story.
Masks sold at cost according to Schiever
As a food store (judged as a strategic sector by the government), it was authorized by the State in early March to import masks from abroad in order to equip all of its employees. "We therefore sought to equip ourselves in all directions via all the sources of supply that we found," reveals Benjamin Naulot. We placed a lot of orders but, not seeing them finally arriving, we had local masks made of fabric. We managed to get 18,000, enough to equip all of our employees. ”
"In the meantime," he continues, "the end of the requisitions has been announced by the government, so that the orders initially placed abroad and which were blocked ended up arriving. We therefore received a batch of 38 boxes of non-sanitary masks (not FFP1, 2 or 3 but with the CE standard) from China. Knowing that all our employees were equipped and that there was a strong demand from customers, we said that we were going to render a service to the population by offering them for sale at cost price. This is why these 38 boxes were offered in this one store and left very quickly. "
Asked about the regulations in force concerning the sale of masks to the general public in supermarkets, Benjamin Naulot admits to being “in the dark”. "We are asking for this type of information but so far nothing has been drafted in this sense by the government," he breathes. However, it would be extremely useful for us to have a text that says black on white what we are entitled to do or not. The publication of a decree may also help to control prices - as was the case at the start of the coronavirus crisis in France with hydroalcoholic gels - while these are soaring on the external market which has become a real economic far-west.
Thus, on April 10, Le Populaire du Center revealed that a Limoges Super U had to withdraw from its shelves lots of 50 masks sold at a price of ... 75 euros. Contacted by 20 Minutes on this regulatory issue, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) has not yet responded to our requests.
- Society
- Coronavirus
- Large distribution
- Covid 19
- Containment
- Fake Off
- Stores