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Human Resources
Good to know: remain vigilant against commercial offer letters!
Publié le 14 décembre 2023 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)
Have you ever received one or more letters inviting you to pay a sum to comply with an obligation? Careful! These letters are sometimes commercial offers and not official ones. Entrepreneur.Service-Public.fr warns you.
Many companies received letters telling them that they had to pay a sum of money in order to, for example, comply with a legal obligation or be entered in a register or directory. These letters, which may seem official, are in fact commercial offers.
No obligation to pay
These letters concern non-mandatory fees. They didn't no official character.
No amount must be paid. The letter thus states at the bottom of the page that this is indeed an “optional offer”.
The urgency of the situation and the threat of a penalty are often used to get you to act quickly.
Please note
If you are a micro-company, your creation formalities are free. You can view all the costs of the company creation formalities in the corresponding card.
What are the right reflexes to adopt?
When dealing with this type of mail, it is useful to take several precautions:
- please read the footer that this is a “optional offer” ;
- never make a payment under threat of financial penalty or legal action;
- Check the spelling of the mail and the identity of the sender.
- notice the presence of general conditions of sale (this confirms that it is indeed a commercial offer).
What to do if you paid?
In this case, you should:
- call your bank and file an objection;
- where applicable, claim the refund as indicated in the general conditions of sale;
- avoid further contact with the sender of the mail.