Wish Pursues Legal Action Over Being Removed From French Search Engines

Wish Sues Over Removal From French Search Engines

eCommerce marketplace Wish is suing the French government after the government ordered that Wish be removed from online platforms and search engines over product safety concerns, per a Tech Times report Wednesday (Nov. 24).

Wish says it has always complied with the demands of the General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), the French consumer watchdog.

However, the French government said that the DGCCRF had found a number of products that were “dangerous,” including electronic goods like power adapters and outdoor lights, animal toys and jewelry that could have contained harmful chemicals like lead.

In a statement, Wish said that it considers France’s actions “illegal and disproportionate.”

However, the French government holds that they had to take action because Wish allegedly did not recall the products in a “satisfactory” manner and didn’t inform customers of the items’ risks.

In July, Wish was given a two-month ultimatum, in which France asked it to stop misleading customers as to the nature of the risks of the products.

Wish was founded in 2010 and currently has 90 million active users in 100 countries, partnering with 550,000 merchants all over the world.

Earlier this month, the company recently debuted a buy now, pay later (BNPL) option in partnership with payments and shopping service Klarna.

PYMNTS writes that Wish had wanted to offer BNPL and so it expanded its partnership with Klarna, which it has worked with since 2014.

Read more: eCommerce Platform Wish to Offer BNPL with Klarna in US

The service will let Wish users split costs for payments over four installments, paying 25% at checkout and then taking the additional three payments automatically every two weeks after.

The service will debut next year for Wish users in Canada, Australia, Italy, Spain and France, among others.