The UFC-Que Choisir, the consumer defense association, has just published a new report in which it looks at the CGV (general conditions of sale) and CGU (general conditions of use) of various websites. Thus, the SNCF wins the prize for the most indigestible and endless CGVs on the market. It will take you nearly 7 hours to read them in full!
In January 2022, UFC-Que Choisir published several studies on French telecoms. The consumer defense association, for example, denounced the poor quality of the 4G network in certain French rural areas, a peak ten years after the launch of this generation of the mobile network. In another report, the organization tried to determine which operator offers the fastest mobile network in France. Orange wins.
For one of his first studies in February 2022, UFC-Que Choisir has decided to focus on the T&Cs (general conditions of sale) and CGU (general conditions of use) of the most visited websites in France. The author of the report started from the following postulate: if ordinary mortals do not generally read the T&Cs of a site, how long would it take to read them all?
As much to say it right away, it will take great courage and extraordinary patience to overcome certain CGVs or CGUs of different actors in our daily lives. As long as it takes to consult them, the association then considered the substance : are these T&Cs accessible and explicit for the consumer? Are the legal references mentioned up to date? Do they contain abusive clauses?
Read also: The SNCF will offer streaming films on the train, no more need for Netflix
Netflix and the CAF are good students, the SNCF on the other hand…
Regarding reading time, public bodies are logically among the good students. It must be said that users only go there to make a transaction, in other words the T&Cs do not need to address areas such as reimbursement, delivery, etc. This is why CAF displays the most digestible T&Cs, with only 3 minutes and 2 seconds to overcome. Service-public.fr displays 6 minutes and 9 seconds.
If we tackle other sites (entertainment, news, streaming, e-commerce, etc.), the good students rub shoulders with the dunces:
- Caisse-Epargne.fr: 4 minutes and 43 seconds
- Jeuxvideo.com: 9 minutes and 15 seconds
- Netflix: 10 minutes and 15 seconds
- Leboncoin.fr: 1 hour and 21 minutes
- Fnac.com: 1 hour and 53 minutes
- Cdiscount.com: 2 hours and 8 minutes
And then we have the ugly duckling, the site whose T&Cs take as long to read as looking. the Fellowship of the Ring and the two towers : the SNCF! Indeed, it will take no less than 6 hours and 52 minutes to overcome the 256 pages of the GCS of the French railway company. According to the statements of UFC-Que Choisir, irregularities have already been identified in the clauses of certain sites. A report focusing on the subject will be published shortly.
