Watch your mouth online

Beverly Level X³

November 16, 2013, 2:44 pm

25

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Did you read this story about the dissatisfied Christmas shopper who posted a negative review online about a website and now being slapped with a $3500 fine for 'libel' and has bad credit as a result of being reported to all three major US credit reporting agencies?

Apparently, there is some tiny print in that site'sTOS that says if you purchase from the site you won't say negative things about the site in public, such as posting bad reviews online.

The exact language reads:

"In an effort to ensure fair and honest public feedback, and to prevent the publishing of libelous content in any form, your acceptance of this sales contract prohibits you from taking any action that negatively impacts kleargea r.com, its reputation, products, services, management or employees."

http://news.yahoo.com/woman-gets--...s-233833012.html

This could seriously deter online shoppers from posting truthful reviews on Amazon and eBay and other big sites. And, considering reviews are the best way to know if a seller or site is reputable and trustworthy that could damage a site's ability to offer quality products or services.

Please take a look at the article and comment with your opinion on the situation and if you think other sites will be adopting these TOS to prevent dissatisfied site visitors from posting negative reviews online.

Comments

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Hunter

Hunter

Now that national media has picked up this story, I would doubt the site will be able to terrorize this woman in this way without so much backlask from potential customers.

13 years ago

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Dayton

Dayton

Companies should be able to protect themselves but this seems extreme even for an online case.

13 years ago

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Carmy

Carmy

So much for freedom of speech which seems to now be a long distant memory controlled by big business and eCommerce.

13 years ago

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Gjeloise

Gjeloise

Couldn't she file a dispute with Paypal, assuming they were involved?

13 years ago

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Sean101

Sean101

I think is a complete joke! and im not meaning joke as in not true or funny, im meaning Terrible! Any shop / online store selling products or services should always be open to both good comments and bad ones.

13 years ago

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Beverly

Beverly

I think is a complete joke! and im not meaning joke as in not true or funny, im meaning Terrible! Any shop / online store selling products or services should always be open to both good comments and bad ones.

Online trust is built with reviews from customers.

If large sites such as Amazon shied away from bad reviews, they would have very few customers as people like seeing both sides of the issue whether positive or negative.

13 years ago

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Jade

Jade

So much for freedom of speech which seems to now be a long distant memory controlled by big business and eCommerce.

There's free speech and then there is slander/libel. So you should really be careful what you say either online or offline as many of these freedom of speech rights are modified by other rights.

13 years ago

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America

America

There's free speech and then there is slander/libel. So you should really be careful what you say either online or offline as many of these freedom of speech rights are modified by other rights.

Also, some of these free speech rights refer to freedom of speech for press not just random individuals who are bad mouthing an online site.

13 years ago

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robertman11

robertman11

Lol wow. That is taking away freedom of speech. Is that legal? Will it stand up in court?

13 years ago

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mandy

mandy

Yes I heard that on the news. It is really something. I have never heard of these so called clauses before but it does make you want to stop and think before you write anything negative.

13 years ago

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tangee

tangee

That is just crazy. We should all be entitled to our own opinions. And if the lady never got her stuff, then of course a negative review will be left.

13 years ago

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Beverly

Beverly

Lol wow. That is taking away freedom of speech. Is that legal? Will it stand up in court?

I rely very heavily on reviews when making online purchases. If just one or two people say something is bad, then maybe it's just their experience. But when a lot of people don't like a product or service, there is good reason. Hopefully this new scare tactic won't be adopted by other sites to discourage negative reviews from buyers.

13 years ago

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biggeorge2k

biggeorge2k

You guys need to understand "Freedom of Speech" The first amendment to the US Constitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
That does not mean, a website or company cannot censor you on their website. Wal-Mart can kick you out of the store and A&E network can cancel your show, simple as that.

13 years ago

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ricky44

ricky44

Wow that is just crazy. I can not believe that some company would stoop that low. We have a right to think what we want and the company was the one that messed up.

13 years ago

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Dayton

Dayton

You guys need to understand "Freedom of Speech" The first amendment to the US Constitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
That does not mean, a website or company cannot censor you on their website. Wal-Mart can kick you out of the store and A&E network can cancel your show, simple as that.

I'm sure we could just boycott the offending website until they decide to play nice.

13 years ago

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Beverly

Beverly

I'm sure we could just boycott the offending website until they decide to play nice.

Customers still have power to choose where they shop and a boycott is an excellent way to show these online bullies we won't put up with their harassing and unfair tactics.

13 years ago

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Ethan

Ethan

I'm sure we could just boycott the offending website until they decide to play nice.

No need to tolerate abusive behavior from big companies when you can just as easily shop elsewhere online and offline. Though the key to making a boycott work is to announce you are boycotting that site and encourage your blog readers to do the same.

13 years ago

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Beverly

Beverly

No need to tolerate abusive behavior from big companies when you can just as easily shop elsewhere online and offline. Though the key to making a boycott work is to announce you are boycotting that site and encourage your blog readers to do the same.

Living in a small town, there are not many shopping options. So, I am very glad the internet gives such great abundance of sites to order from, so we are not stuck with just one or two local stores.

13 years ago

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NaturalWriter

NaturalWriter

Ooooo! Controversy!

I understand both sides.

We as consumers (and human beings), should have the right to state our opinions about many different things, including having discussions about services, products, ideas, personal experiences, etc. In saying that, when you are running your own business, you don't want bad or negative reviews, as it would hurt your services. You would want to be protected against the negativity, by enforcing the positive about what you are representing and selling.

Where could we meet in the middle to make people happy? Most businesses try to bend over backwards to please the consumer or client, but what happens when nothing satisfies them? They are still going to get in their vehicle, drive off, and express themselves to others about how they feel about your business.

Here's me playing devil's advocate...lol

Even micro job sites give you the option of deleting negative feedback once you surpass certain levels. Is it fair to the buyer, to give them misconceptions of the service reviews? In the same breath, however... Is it fair to the seller who rarely gets negative feedback to give them a label with having some. Wouldn't they be deserving of having it removed?

There's always a fine line with these issues, and makes me think of everything around me and what I see. It doesn't make it right or wrong, but it does (and should) make a person think outside of the box

13 years ago

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Beverly

Beverly

Here's me playing devil's advocate...lol

Even micro job sites give you the option of deleting negative feedback once you surpass certain levels. Is it fair to the buyer, to give them misconceptions of the service reviews? In the same breath, however... Is it fair to the seller who rarely gets negative feedback to give them a label with having some. Wouldn't they be deserving of having it removed?

There's always a fine line with these issues, and makes me think of everything around me and what I see. It doesn't make it right or wrong, but it does (and should) make a person think outside of the box

And, you have some good points, why should a seller who has an otherwise stellar reptuation be saddled with the penalty of just one or two bad reviews? It makes sense they could simply delete that.

For me, it just came as a surprise that someone's personal opinion of a product would be labeled as libel. Most people are accustomed to being able to be 'mouthy' online and say what they want with little or no consequences. If this woman was just giving her honest opinion and not seeking to ruin the company but relaying her side of things, then how is she being liable? Then again, if this type of opinion or review is truly libel then everyone who posts a negative review on Amazon or any site that allows reviews is guilty of the same and possibly opening themselves up to huge fines just for stating their opinion.

13 years ago

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Minolta

Minolta

This type of news makes me fearful to speak openly online about my opinions for products such as on Amazon and other sites as there could now be penalties.

13 years ago

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Keith

Keith

Just to represent the other side of the argument, has anyone actually read this woman's review? Maybe it was inflammatory and if she did make libelous statements, wouldn't the company have the right to impose some kind of penalty?

13 years ago

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Beverly

Beverly

Just to represent the other side of the argument, has anyone actually read this woman's review? Maybe it was inflammatory and if she did make libelous statements, wouldn't the company have the right to impose some kind of penalty?

People get in the habit of being mouthy online and saying anything they want, imagining there are no 'legal' consequences. In an offline situation, this could have resulted in a multi million dollar law suit against the consumer. Libel and slander is a very serious thing.

13 years ago

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Barida

Barida

People fail to realize that not everything that we are permitted to say on the internet. I have seen users of social media network say false things and I wonder how they get away from saying such things on the internet.

9 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

My rule in the internet particularly in social media is to post positive only as much as possible. There was this experience of a celebrity’s wife. Let's call her Mary. Her friend bought something in an online store and was not satisfied so she posted in social media a smear on the online store. This May shared the post of her friend. And it came to pass that Mary's friend was mistaken with her accusation. The store owner sued Mary's friend including Mary simply because she shared the accusing post. Mary had to issue a public apology to avoid a lawsuit.

9 years ago

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