“Click here to get your refund!” – You will soon see this disturbing message after purchasing train tickets on SNCF Connect. According to our information, the railway company has decided to stop offering this so-called “cashback” offer to its customers. This decision should materialize “in the coming months”, as SNCF is currently negotiating the end of its contract with WebLoyalty, the company behind this refund offer.
According to our information, SNCF rejects this offer because “it no longer adapts to the demand of its customers.” The contract signed with WebLoylaty offers SNCF Connect customers the possibility of obtaining reimbursement for part of their purchases by subscribing to the platform for an amount of 18 euros per month. A legal but highly criticized practice that had recently put pressure on the railway operator.
Several years of oscillations
Among the detractors of this system, the Renaissance deputy Philippe Latombe indicated in
However, the Government had initially validated this practice, considered “legal and now common in electronic commerce” by the Ministry of Transport, a few days before the parliamentarian’s tweet. The ministry justified this point of view by the fact that cashback “is an increasingly used mode of consumption in France, of which more than 6 in 10 French people said they were aware in 2019.”
However, the lack of transparency of this practice had raised doubts on the part of the DGCCRF which, in 2019, addressed the issue “from the angle of deceptive commercial practices” during a workshop. In any case, the SNCF made a decision and decided to get rid of the cashback.
Source: BFM TV
