It’s the new “thing” in online retailing, either by companies, or people selling stuff through ebay, etc.
If you post a negative review about their product, they sue you for negatively impacting their business.
Which, if you ask me, is absolute BS.
Someone has a valid gripe about your product/service–guess what, you earned it.
It came to light a few years ago when a lawyer in Florida, IIRC, sued someone who gave him negative feedback on ebay after a purchase, stating it “damaged his reputation and cost him monetary damages due to losing his perfect rating and accompanying discounted ebay fees for selling.” (or words to that effect).
Because the poor schlub who posted the review wasn’t an attorney, he got screwed.
Now internet retailers are hiding clauses in their terms of service that state you cannot post anything negative about the company, or you risk legal action.
I agree that hidden “no comment” clauses are a joke and should simply be void as a matter of public policy. However, companies should have the right to seek damages from people who post false or misleading information just like they would for any other form of libel.
The other “new” thing is customers posting FALSE or MISLEADING reviews online, which is libel — not a new thing. A company has every right to nail the liars to the wall. Truth is the best defense so just be truthful in your review and you should be okay. Lie or exaggerate and cause harm to someone’s business and you deserve what you get. I have no idea if the people in this article posted false information or not. If they told the truth, they should prevail.
Also, lots of these “review” sites don’t give the business an opportunity to respond to comments, which may often be posted anonymously. That’s just not fair. Give the business a chance to tell their side of the story.
What are they suing for? If it’s true, it’s true.
It’s the new “thing” in online retailing, either by companies, or people selling stuff through ebay, etc.
If you post a negative review about their product, they sue you for negatively impacting their business.
Which, if you ask me, is absolute BS.
Someone has a valid gripe about your product/service–guess what, you earned it.
It came to light a few years ago when a lawyer in Florida, IIRC, sued someone who gave him negative feedback on ebay after a purchase, stating it “damaged his reputation and cost him monetary damages due to losing his perfect rating and accompanying discounted ebay fees for selling.” (or words to that effect).
Because the poor schlub who posted the review wasn’t an attorney, he got screwed.
Now internet retailers are hiding clauses in their terms of service that state you cannot post anything negative about the company, or you risk legal action.
What a load of crap.
I agree that hidden “no comment” clauses are a joke and should simply be void as a matter of public policy. However, companies should have the right to seek damages from people who post false or misleading information just like they would for any other form of libel.
The other “new” thing is customers posting FALSE or MISLEADING reviews online, which is libel — not a new thing. A company has every right to nail the liars to the wall. Truth is the best defense so just be truthful in your review and you should be okay. Lie or exaggerate and cause harm to someone’s business and you deserve what you get. I have no idea if the people in this article posted false information or not. If they told the truth, they should prevail.
Also, lots of these “review” sites don’t give the business an opportunity to respond to comments, which may often be posted anonymously. That’s just not fair. Give the business a chance to tell their side of the story.