# Can you really sue someone who talks bad about company?



## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Here's a topic on another forum. 
Someone said, this:


> I would not recommend you putting the sellers name on any kind of webpage with bad remarks as that is setting yourself up for a lawsuit. however I see no harm in PMing individuals his name.
> 
> I for one would like to know what it is. that way I won't buy from him.


 

Now, how is that getting a lawsuite? Sharing with others the bad experience with the business, how can one get sued over that? Isn't that like rating movies and stuff like critics do?


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## Guest (Oct 17, 2005)

i dont really know, but id have to agree with you. what you're saying makes more sense.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

I almost got sued once for bad talking a horse stable I used to board at, the lady posed as a young girl on the internet who wanted to know about the stable, I told her the truth, through email of course and supposedly "the girl" went to the stable owner. We got contacted by a lawyer and were told that if I said anything more she'd sue needless to say I was only 12-13 at the time! So yes it can happen and this was even through private email!


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## awesome kid (Jun 10, 2005)

i think its probably some kind of technicality, like some people might say the company was having "unauthorized advertizing" for both good and bad. i dont know but it doesnt make sense to me either


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

hmmm guy is having problems with a ebay transaction on another forum, and someone said that, was like well then how do critics have jobs? lol.

I have lawyer across the hall, he comes by again i'll have to ask him, maybe it's something their sayin to pull our leg, but sharing our experiences shouldnt be illegal, it's like a review section really.


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## awesome kid (Jun 10, 2005)

yea thats true. its like if you say to a freind "this place has better ice cream than the other place" than 'this' place can sue you.
i used ice cream because im eating it right now lol, yum yum


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Actually, if you make claims about someone that injures their business or their personal reputation, they can sue you for defamation of character. Of course, the technicality most people forget is if the statements made about them were entirely true, and the statements can be proven, then the lawsuit will be thrown out. 

If you're going to make really damaging remarks about anyone (especially a business), you'd better be VERY sure that they're true remarks and can be proven because you can be sued quite easily.


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## awesome kid (Jun 10, 2005)

so all you have to say in front of it is...In _my opinion_ and then the remark.


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Well, it gets shaky, because usually that works. But IF they can prove that what you said damaged their reputation directly, you still can be in hot water. When you throw opinions around, about 99% of the time nothing comes of it. However, if a person wants to push it, a court has no problem with them taking you to court. 

Usually the criteria is that you spoke or wrote defamatory statements either recklessly (not checking up to make sure the info was true) or were flat out lying about them. And...IF what you said really did cause them some kind of reputation damage, then they've got a good chance of winning a suit against you.

Now, if you're going back and forth with the person directly and arguing with them, that's completely different.


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## Sly Guy (Feb 15, 2005)

like mlefev said the whole basis is that u have to prove what u say is true. If u use a product or go to a buisness and they do you wrong or dont give u the service that u feel u deserved u have the right to let others know about it just be sure that u can back up your claim. in most cases the buisness that sues loses. thier was a show on the news about this type of thing not to long back


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

A big lawsuit over a personal experience someone had then posted it somewhere seems to be a never ending battle is the robert novak lawsuit.

http://www.dynamoo.com/diary/pets_warehouse.htm


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

HA! I was just coming here to post about that one fish_doc!


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## mr.dark-saint (Aug 16, 2005)

I think it falls under slander. Kind a like Oprah and the beef industries. 

I tell you what if someone asked me "is such and such pet store any good?" and I'll tell them the truth (be it good or bad) since this will effect the "stores sales" they can claim it as slander if it don't suit them financially (not that I'll get any kick backs if they make a sale). And I'm not Oprah and not have a billions of minions who will take my words as gospel I can get away with it. It's all about the yon mighty $Dollars$ if they can't make it legit they'll sue you for it.


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## DavidDoyle (Jan 18, 2005)

Basically anybody with enough money for lawyers can sue anybody else for anything they want. There are two considerations at work here. If both parties have the resources and the will to fight it out at trial, then the facts will usually win out. The real problem is that it costs money to defend oneself. How many individuals have the money to pay many thousands and possibly tens of thousands in defence even if they are right?

When an individual customer or customers get bad service/products/etc and then write about it, the seller may be a large company with deep pockets who decides to sue. The buyers may be working folks who can't afford the defence- and will be forced to settle.

For most of the defendents in the Novak suit this was the case. However, one was a lawyer who was willing to fight to the bitter end and who even brought a countersuit and won a judgement against Novak which basically broke him when piled on top of his other legal problems. Those who had to settle got no benefit from this.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

It libel since its being written, not "spoken". But there is a fine line between libel/slander and speaking "the truth". You CAN post about a bad experience you have with a company. Thats what reviews are for. But you must post the entire experience, including if any steps were taken to resolve the situation. You CANNOT say the compay is lousy or sell nothing but faulty products because it cannot be proven. For instance..........

I say/write..........
"Company A is a horrible place to buy plants from. They are all algae infested and withered."

That is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

I can say......
"I purchased 3 of product a from Company B. When I got home I found out they were broken/defective. Upon returning to the store, they said they would not replace them because I broke them myself. When speaking to the manager he suggested contacting the manufacturer for replacement. I will never shop there again. The customer service was far below the standards I would expect from a store."

All true, nothing directly deflamatory and thus all legal. The people reading your review understand what you are trying to convey and yet I never said the company was bad, just not to MY expectations.


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