The early spring brings back the swimming pool advertising season and Option consommateurs has just reminded two major manufacturers of the provisions of the law which have been confirmed by judicial decisions, including the most recent in 2022.
In formal notices sent on April 3 to Piscines Trévi and Club Piscine Plus, the consumer defense organization criticized the two companies for having broadcast advertisements on television and on their websites putting forward plans to financing at the same time as the products offered. Option consommateurs (OC) denounced these “non-compliant” advertisements[s] to the Consumer Protection Law », threatened to sue the two companies and gave them 48 hours to stop broadcasting these advertisements.
Club Piscine, from Bois-des-Filion, did it last week and Trévi, from Mirabel, did it on Tuesday, told The Press Me Sylvie de Bellefeuille, OC’s lawyer. The organization would have had as possible recourse a complaint to the Consumer Protection Office or a collective action, as it has already done successfully in the past in another sector of the retail trade, indicated the lawyer .
It is perfectly legitimate for companies to attract customers by advertising products and their prices, and companies also have the right to compete for financing, said Ms.e of Bellefeuille. ” But the Consumer Protection Act prohibits any advertising relating to both a good or service and the terms of the credit offered, except for example with mentions such as “credit offered”,” she adds.
This gives the merchant full latitude to explain to the customer orally, with supporting documents, the terms of the financing offered.
Trévi’s advertisement, still visible on its website Monday until the end of the afternoon, described elements of its financing plans. That of Club Piscine already limited itself to indicating the mention “financing available”, which Trévi also did on Tuesday.
In its formal notices to Trévi and Club Piscine, Option consommateurs accused them of having announced elements such as a financing rate, payments over a given period without interest or a period without payment or interest, as well as an offer “ buy now, pay later” for certain products.
At Trévi, CEO Clément Hudon said he took note of the development of OC and assured the company’s desire to always comply with all laws. “That being said, I admit that I am a little surprised because we announced “pay later, without interest”, last year […] during our big months, from April 15 to Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, as we have often done in the past. I think that’s what the customer wants. » This advertising and commercial approach was a long-standing strategy at Trévi, except “during the pandemic, in 2021 and 2022: we had too many customers,” he adds.
“Okay, so now they call and say, ‘You’re not allowed to do that.’ Okay, we’re not delinquents, we’ll find something else. I imagine there have been changes in the regulations. »
Case law in the furniture sector
In fact, it is rather that the provisions of the LPC have been tested in recent years in court and that the case law has become clearer with judgments between 2017 and 2022 in cases relating to other sectors. In addition, Option consommateurs was undoubtedly very busy with these files.
For around ten years, Option consommateurs has sued several furniture retailers for advertisements of the same type, notably the Meubles Léon chain, winning its case in a class action suit in Superior Court in 2017, then in the Court of Appeal of Quebec in 2020, with the Supreme Court later refusing to hear Léon’s appeal.
A second authorized class action against four furniture retailers ended with an amicable settlement sanctioned by the Superior Court in 2022, to the satisfaction of Option consommateurs, indicated Me of Bellefeuille.
If the law prohibits this type of advertising for essential goods like a fridge, it seems to me that the law should also be respected for goods like swimming pools, certainly pleasant, but certainly not essential.
Me Sylvie de Bellefeuille, lawyer for Option consommateurs
According to Option consommateurs’ lawyer, the organization made a public statement in 2012 regarding advertisements broadcast by Club Piscine, and the retailer at the time withdrew its advertisements.
The CEO of Club Piscine, Marc Gentile, traveling in China, indicated by email Thursday that the company had withdrawn its advertisements following OC’s intervention last week to ensure that they complied with the law.
Very protective law
Quebec law is very protective for consumers on this subject, explains Me de Bellefeuille: “Such ads can encourage consumers to shop for a product based on credit terms rather than comparing products. The legislator judged that this posed a risk of debt, particularly for vulnerable customers. »
Without questioning the law, Mr. Hudon noted that the manufacturing, sale, installation and maintenance of swimming pools is a sector where companies are cautious in accepting credit: “At Trévi, our rate of non-payment – and I’m only talking about delays – is around 0.25% or 0.3%, year after year. It’s very low. »
“It’s in the company’s best interest to be prudent with credit. We have a credit approval department that employs eight people, with various measures, including the credit investigation, of course, which determines whether a customer [satisfait aux critères]. And after that, it goes to the bank, which makes the loan, which also has its checks,” he says, emphasizing that the scale of the investment and the clientele – house owners – mean that the The dynamics of purchasing a swimming pool differ from those of purchasing consumer goods such as furniture.
To know more
Not all advertisements relating to both products and financing arrangements are prohibited. There are many in the automotive sector.
In leasing and in the offer of credit, the LPC and its implementing regulations on long-term rentals require advertisers to publish certain precise details.
Thus, in leasing, “as soon as an advertisement includes one of the following information, it must include all of them: the amount required before the start of the rental period, in whole or in part; the number and duration of payment periods; the amount of periodic payments; the limit on the degree of use of the property as well as the cost for excess use, if applicable.
In the case of a credit offer, as soon as an advertisement includes the terms of a contract accompanied by a credit which presents one of the following information, it must include them all: an example of the amount for which a credit can be granted; the cash payment required or the absence of cash payment; a component of credit costs; the total credit costs; the number and duration of payment periods; the amount of each deferred payment; the total obligation of the consumer; a table of examples of credit charges to be paid.