(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-02 21:36

PARIS  -- Known for misleading advertising, false promotions, charging different prices from those displayed on the shelves..., large retailers have continued to thrive in the exploitation of the French people, the leading consumer organization has said.

"There are problems with the large distribution outlets and it is always the same," Jean-Paul Jay, editor of the monthly consumer association magazine UFC-Que Choisir, was quoted as saying recently.

A survey by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF) in 2005 outlined what it termed as "new techniques employed to attract customers involving the circumvention of existing regulations and a high degree of anomalies."

Three years down the line, the situation described by the DGCCRF has not changed much, according to the UFC-Que Choisir, France's leading consumer protection association.

Among the most popular "marketing" gimmicks practiced by the large retailers, the DGCCRF, UFC-Que Choisir and the National Institute for Consumer Affairs (INC) notably cited attractive offers in the prospectus, which may not be found in the stores as quantities made available are always insufficient to meet demand.

In addition, "lots," which refers to promotions such as buy one product for the price of two and by two products get one free, may be more expensive than the same product sold on the basis of single units, according to the DGCCRF.

"We have noted that certain articles in radius are sold cheaper at the same time a promotion is taking place," according to Jay, who said that the simmering purchasing power debate was a real bonanza for abuse in advertising campaigns by large distributors.

Leclerc, one of the better known large-scale retailers, was recently found guilty and forced to withdraw a "simplistic" advertisement, which appeared to be indirectly accusing pharmacists of "being the cause behind the declining purchasing power" in the country.

"The use of the expression 'purchasing power' in marketing by Carrefour is very subtle. It is not for nothing that Carrefour has been making a hullabaloo over the issue of VAT refunds, a request from the left," said Marie-Jeanne Husset, editor of INC's monthly magazine 60 Million Consumers.

In an advertising campaigns launched on April 14, Carrefour has been offering to "refund VAT" of between 5.21 percent and 16.39 percent on "over 1,000 basic commodities" within the framework of "its purchasing power plan."

But on Monday, a journalist who spent 100.70 euros (about 161 US dollars) at one of its stores to buy weekly supplies for a household of two people was shocked to learn that only 1 percent of the VAT had actually been reimbursed.

The difference between the price displayed on the shelf and the one that is finally charged at the counter is also chronic across the sector, according to UFC-Que Choisir.

"Out of a thousand customers, only a few vigilant people will realize the difference. What is worrying is that corrections are not made even when the anomalies have been pointed out. Yet it is very easy to do this because it is based on a computerized system, " according to Jay.

"Promotions in supermarkets often conceal future price increases. It is some kind of laundering future increases," said Husset, adding that a DGCCRF study had revealed that stores often "readjust" prices ahead of "promotion campaigns."