Posted on 05/06/2014 11:38:22 PM PDT by Dallas59
This isn't me...some guy bought a router that was crap on Amazon and posted a negative review on Amazon about the router. A few days later he receives a letter from a company representing the manufacturer threatening to sue him and others for damages related to any negative reviews.
Photos of the threatening letter
I read them. He made some pretty concise claims that could be easily refuted if they aren’t true. I’d say he’d be better off just taking it all down.
Why should he take the letter down? How is that a “win”?
Millions of consumers will lose.
Look at WHEN the 1 star reviews were posted. Most are likely in sympathy for the guy being sued.
No. Self censorship based on fear is not a "lesson". Don't blame the victim here.
Too bad. Its the REVIEW section. He can say anything he wants about the damn product. If the company doesn't like it, don't sell on Amazon or anywhere else.
Overall the product received 4 out of 5 stars. And the seller’s record is outstanding.
I’d tell them to go for it and we’ll see them in Discovery.
Apparently, there are shady firms out there which can be retained to “repair” or mitigate reputation damage done by negative online reviews posted by unhappy customers. I hear them advertising on Washington, DC talk radio WMAL all the time. My guess is that this letter, which is likely an empty threat, originated at such an outfit.
FREEP a review! Could be a new trend on FR!
I was personally threatened with a lawsuit by the lawyer of a service provider I hired, and reviewed negatively on Yelp. I was very careful about my factual allegations and opinions.
I didn’t feel like a fight, so essentially removed the review.
I'm not a lawyer, so what follows is only my opinion.
When you make statements that the router you purchased is really another re-branded router and statements that directly imply the company itself is engaging in a false information campaign by posting positive reviews of their own product --- yes, he committed libel.
If he had simply kept his review to his dissatisfaction of the performance of the product and any experience with that company's customer service he'd be covered by freedom of speech.
BTW, this isn't the first time a company has gone after someone for posting a negative review of a product (that review being filled with libelous statements anyway..)
If this guy a got a letter for his review, some of these reviewers will be headed to the gallows..
Only if he sticks to the facts about the product itself. NOT when he implies the company "re-branded" another router or that the company itself engaged in posting positive reviews of their own product to pump up sales.
That's libel.
Saying the router performed like crap, didn't have enough coverage or lacked in some technical feature it was purported to have -- that's not libel. That's opinion covered by the first amendment.
"Now, THAT'S a router!"
IMHO a public review should be confined to the performance of the product. If he had issues with the seller, he should have written to the seller or Amazon privately, not in a public forum.
Counselor, I don’t think this consumer needs an attorney at all. Just the fact that he has been harassed by the manufacturer’s legal counsel and that we are seeing the first signs of his push back via the internet should be a warning to the company to tread lightly.
This thing could go really really wrong for the company with this story becoming a cause celebre (going viral in today’s parlance). The negative publicity would be disastrous.
Those reviews are hysterical. So funny!
Re reviews - there are currently some lawsuits going on about yelp reviews. Apparently yelp sends reps around to small businesses trying to sell them ads. If they don’t buy they publish negative reviews.
I wrote a review for my dentist but then couldn’t find it in the list of reviews. Yelp has ‘recommended’ reviews which come up on the screen and are very visible. It also has ‘not recommended’ reviews which it buries.
I spoke with the manager of the dental practice. He said they refused to pay for the yelp ‘subscriptions’ and all of a sudden a bunch of very negative reviews showed up on their site.
What do you want for a $50? A rubber biscut?
Reviews online are becoming as good as polls.
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