Consumers consider themselves victims of misleading information following the purchase of slippers on the Internet. The Jadery sales site had given them the impression that it was a product from Quebec, when it is made in China.
In early March, Montrealer Tiphaine de Reyer saw ads on Instagram for Jadery “orthopedic slippers” in various colors made of ethylene-vinyl acetate, which are said to relieve foot, leg and back pain. They were on sale at $49.99 rather than $100. The small Quebec flags affixed to the photos made him believe that it was a Quebec company.
To get to the bottom of it, M.me de Reyer wrote an email to the contact address asking where the slippers were made. In a few hours, the latter received a response from “Team Jadery”, confirming that they were made in Dorval, in the West Island of Montreal.
She then passed on the information to her friend Marie-Christine Chartrand, who was looking for comfortable sandals to wear at home. “I knew there were cheaper models on the Internet, but since it was Quebec, I thought I could invest, especially in the current situation where we try to buy local,” recalls the latter.
Made in China
After a delivery time that exceeded the 15 days promised on the merchant site, Mme Chartrand finally received his shoes. However, she was very disappointed to see the inscription Made in China very prominent on the product. The original address on the package was in the Toronto area. The client also spotted another version of the Jadery site, now untraceable, which displayed Ontario flags.
The client confronted Jadery by email and received the following response: “Our warehouse is indeed in Dorval, but due to high demand, we are no longer supplying at this time. Since we have several warehouses, we currently ship our orders from our warehouse in China. Our design, marketing and product launch teams are based in Quebec (Dorval). Our manufacturer is located in China. »
However, one can question the information according to which a design team or even warehouses of Jadery are in Dorval. The physical address provided by Jadery on his Facebook page and on his website is that of TSPM Ltée, which offers warehousing, logistics and distribution services to around 100 customers. Contacted by telephone, the controller of TSPM Ltée, Alain Blouin, affirmed that the company had never heard of Jadery.
Unable to return
Basically, M.me Chartrand wanted to return the product and get a refund. However, it was never possible to obtain a valid return address from Jadery customer service.
Mme Chartrand is far from the only one to have purchased these slippers. Some of Jadery’s Facebook ads have garnered thousands of reactions and comments. The majority of these express an appreciation for the product, but many complain about the interminable delivery times.
Lyne Gauthier, in Saint-Hubert, also ordered these slippers in the belief that she was encouraging a Quebec company. “It was a gift for my sister and for my mother, who is 91 and still has bad knees,” says Ms.me Gauthier, pointing out that marketing targets problems common to the elderly, who may be less alert in their purchases on the Internet.
The main problem is that she received the wrong size sandals. Jacques Blouin, in Amos, testified to a similar situation. Despite Jadery’s stated policy of guaranteed money back in case of dissatisfaction, neither managed to get their money back.
Who is behind Jadery.ca? The duty was unable to get a response using the email address listed on the site. This name does not appear in the Registraire des entreprises.
The Consumer Protection Office (OPC), which received a complaint about it for “misleading and unfair practices”, has not yet succeeded in identifying the merchant who uses this site. The provincial organization has also recently published a warning against “the proliferation of false advertisements and fraudulent offers on the Internet and social media”.
Call for caution
The OPC invites consumers to be extra careful. He advises in particular to check that the merchant has a real physical address and that he can be reached by telephone, which was not the case for Jadery. He invites those who have been cheated to contact the OPC to find out about the remedies. In some cases, the consumer can notably request a chargeback from the issuer of his credit card, ie the cancellation of the transaction.
According to Option consommateurs lawyer Alexandre Plourde, the Jadery site has all the appearance of a sales technique called dropshipping. With this model, improvised merchants open an ephemeral site and they carry out an advertising offensive to sell locally products often made abroad “at a price generally higher than that which could be found on other platforms” , grade Mand Plunder.
You can also find on the AliExpress site slippers with the same appearance and description, for $10.44. On Amazon, a model using an identical photo to Jadery’s is sold for $20.45. The resale of this kind of sandals is doing well on the Internet at the moment, since The duty spotted at least six others, including La gougoune cloud, which is also targeting the Quebec market. Others proudly call themselves Australian, American or Canadian.
the dropshipping is not illegal in itself, but it often gives rise to questionable practices that contravene the Consumer Protection Act, such as deception, notes Ms.and Plourde: fake sales, fake consumer reviews, fake addresses. The consequences for customers, however, are real.