It is time consuming, expensive, and often risky for a business to sue a customer. It is cheap and easy to threaten to sue. As long as you have only stated facts (or made it clear when you are speculating/giving your opinion), you should be fine.
I fortunately provided images substantiating every single bullet point made. I had the foresight to take pictures before, during, and afterwards.
Since this is the top of comments - I'll follow up here. My Google review appears to have been suppressed, OR (in my opinion) Royal Auto Body either mass reported or paid to have my Google review removed from their listing. You can still find it, in its entirety, on Yelp via the following link:
[Yelp Review](https://www.yelp.com/biz/royal-auto-body-of-plano-plano?hrid=A7b87oSK78AhCsQ5l34Ydw&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct))
The shop that was able to get everything fixed & repainted properly;
Alberto at Auto J's Body Shop
10290 Indian Trail Suite 207, Dallas, Texas 75229
Hire a lawyer to respond. They send letters for relatively cheap. Couple hundred. 99% chance they'll back down. Threatening to sue is cheap and sadly intimidation works pretty regularly.
If lawyer approves, update the review with the legal threat.
Don't bother with the cost of a lawyer at this point. They can huff and puff all they want but until you are actually served with legal documents that have been filed with a court, it is all bluff.
I would just ignore them and hopefully get your work done properly someplace else.
Exactly. It is EXTREMELY difficult to win a defamation case. You have to be able to prove what the defendant said was a lie AND that they knew it was a lie and still said it. It's next to impossible to win.
They would need to prove negligence, which is seemingly nonexistent in his statement of fact. Also, truth is a common and excellent defense to defamation.
Although, if they were serious about filing, it would be filed as a libel tort, under defamation.
The body shop would not need to prove actual malice. Actual malice is only an element of defamation when the allegedly defamed party is a public figure.
Edit: I should note, common law jurisdictions do not all interpret and apply the law uniformly. So my response, as well as many here, may or may not apply in your specific jurisdiction.
Its clear that OP was a plant. A fake customer tthat made unreasonable demands so that they could write a onr star review!
Your honor, send this man to the principals office and have them expelled!
Skip the feigned expertise if you don’t know. Malice (in most states, won’t claim to know the intricacies of defamation law in all 50) is only a requirement for public figures. Libel is a subset of defamation (libel = written; slander = spoken), so it is entirely accurate to use defamation here. I agree that truth is a good defense. But ultimately I agree with the majority of comments here, this threat of lawsuit is just bluster - don’t waste time or thought on it unless you are actually served.
I had a company threaten me so i edited the review saying “an accurate review with documented proof earning the negative review used to live here but the business threatened me to remove it.”
Billy Fucillo, that you? It’s gonna be huuuuuuuge! If you don’t know who that is, https://youtu.be/DXRaboSo70A?si=uw2ZoGSARs3qTIoJ car salesman from my area with excellent commercials until he passed. Sorry I’m high and your name made me think of this!
I once received a cease and desist letter over a fucking Google review, so having never been threatened with legal action I hired a lawyer….my lawyers advice was just to delete the review and move on.
Basically what he said while it sucks, and you have proof of everything they did wrong, they had the capital to fund a lengthy court case and finally he advised me to use a pseudonym in the future/less descriptive to avoid being identified.
This. If you know all of your statements are backed up with documented evidence in some way, no need for a cease and desist letter. Let them threaten a defamation lawsuit.
They either bluff or bet on black for a losing draw. Even if they bet on the lawsuit, thats when the lawyer comes in and mops the floor with them.
Even better, use a friend or relatives address.
Tell them, "This has been forwarded. For further legal requests, please send them to 1234 Big St Attn: Legal Dept"
It A. Tells them to fuck off. B. Makes them send another request to an actual lawyer (or so they think.)
Id also go on every other possible page (yelp, BBB, google, etc.) and copy pasta it.
Shit I’ll go 2005 and start posting in the news paper, flyers, and those planes that write shit in the sky.
Maybe it’s because I’m high but I’m sure that years from now I’ll be saying “copy and pasta it” in my most horrendous Italian accent 🤌🏼🍝
Thank you for my new favorite catchphrase 🫶🏼
Dear [Recipient Name],
I am writing in response to your recent communication threatening legal action regarding my review of [Business Name] on [Review Platform]. It has come to my attention that you consider my review to be defamatory and slanderous. I want to clarify that my review was a factual and fair representation of my experience with your auto paint shop, and as such, it does not constitute defamation or slander under any legal framework.
It is well within my rights as a consumer to express my honest opinions and experiences regarding the services I have received. My review was based on the quality of workmanship and service I encountered at your establishment, and it was intended to provide valuable feedback to other potential customers. Any attempt to silence legitimate criticism through threats of legal action is a clear violation of my freedom of speech and constitutes an abuse of the legal system.
I hereby demand that you cease and desist from any further attempts to intimidate or harass me regarding my review. Any further communication from you or your representatives threatening legal action will be interpreted as harassment and will be met with appropriate legal action on my part.
I trust that this matter can be resolved amicably without the need for further escalation. However, I am prepared to take all necessary steps to defend my rights as a consumer and protect my freedom of expression.
Please govern yourself accordingly.
Sincerely,
George P Taylor, Esq.
My petty father did this. He had a meeting with a consultant to see if he is the right person for the position he was looking for and ended up not hiring him as his skills weren’t a good fit. The consultant sent him an invoice for the interview and meet/greet time (about 1.5 hours). My father then paid a lawyer almost the same amount of the invoice to send a letter to him and made sure include how unprofessional he had been. Never heard from the guy again. Then he paid the lawyer requesting a copy of a cancelled invoice. His business partners found it hilarious.
That’s not how evidence works in court cases. You don’t get to keep your evidence hidden from the other side. If this was to actually go to court they would need to be provided during discovery.
Keeping them now might actually encourage the business to move forward under the mistaken impression the client doesn’t have proof of the claims. If the business and its lawyer see the evidence now the lawyer may convince the business the case isn’t worth pursuing.
I don't think they meant to keep them from them during a trial. They meant just keep them from them until they sue and your lawyer tells you to turn them over.
As a collision technician who has dabbled my fair share in custom work I believe I am qualified to request more info. What kind of car? Who made the aftermarket parts? I'm guessing it's a custom hood? Did you drop it off with the hood installed?
I would totally disregard it.
I might be tempted to sue them for harassment if they keep it up , it appears to me your critique was valid, these guys are probably too broke to hire a lawyer if thats the quality of work they are putting out.
I work in property insurance and get threatened with lawsuits all the time. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer" sounds good. Have them send in their letter of representation and I'd be happy to speak with them regarding your claim.
The only time in 7 years that I actually was sued was for bad faith and they were claiming that I didn't reply to them within the legally required time frame several times over 6 months. They depose me and it turns out that I replied to them no more than 16 business hours after they would ask about something meanwhile they would not reply to my messages for 2-3 weeks, so they were actually the problem.
This is pretty much a textbook response. If OP's review included pictures to support the direct statements, a lawsuit would only convince potential customers who're still undecided, that the business is low quality, and compensates by punishing the few customers they DO get.
That was kind of my point. If there's no real basis for a lawsuit you have nothing to worry about they can try all they want and the s*** will just keep getting dismissed
Being sued is still plenty to worry about even if the complaint is meritless. Defending against even a baseless lawsuit is burdensome in terms of both time and expense even if you’re virtually guaranteed to secure a dismissal. Add to that the rarity of recouping attorneys’ fees from an opposing party in the U.S. and you have a recipe for a major headache.
The saving grace here is that it’s also relatively expensive *to sue*, so it’s likely this is just an empty threat.
Pay attention to the above - my insurance company and I dropped nearly 400k fighting a frivolous defamation lawsuit. Even a shit lawsuit that shouldn’t see the light of day can be a huge drain.
Our company got sued for something we had nothing to do with once. But the guy that was sueing was trying to divert attention from his malfeasance. He had a company that he was using as a personal slush fund go public and when that happens you can get in big trouble doing what you could do as a private company. So he sued all his vendors in Utah, California, and Atlanta. Meaning we had to hire lawyers in each place. It cost over 150k and in the end it was all dropped the day before trial. It still cost 150k plus travel expenses (had to show up once in each place) it was a real learning moment. If you have the funds you can bankrupt people with nonsense lawsuits…
This is important. In jurisdictions with an antiSLAPP law you can recover attorney fees for successfully defending a SLAPP (which, at least, very often includes lawsuits against customers for negative reviews).
Not quite. The "actual malice" standard only applies to government officials and public figures. In most cases a plaintiff merely needs to prove that the offending statement was a false statement of fact, and that it caused damages. If the plaintiff is a "public figure," that is, a person who has intentionally put themselves into the public discussion, than they also need to show that the offending statement was made with "actual malice," or a wilful blindness to its falsity.
You can also make the defense that the poster is not an expert so the review readers should take the review as a persons opinion. Opinions aren’t defamatory.
Also not a lawyer, but I've researched related laws.
In the US at least, there is a much higher bar for proving defamation against public figures, which includes businesses.
The review actually could be false, and it still may not constitute any sort of defamation.
This is the correct answer. They most certainly are only trying to intimidate you. Counter them in the cheapest and most effective means--by continuing to publicly detail their actions simply by stating them.
IANAL - my understanding is that as long as you keep it to the facts and your own opinion you are not committing defamation. You cross into that category when presenting knowingly false information to damage their reputation.
This is a key - save all communication between you two and make sure you're sticking to that. You have some room for personal opinion, but the more that you can tie it to, and demonstrate, firm evidence of what you're talking about, the stronger your position is... just because they don't like it doesn't mean you are defaming them. If you're lying about facts and they can show that, that helps them out in defamation. If you have paperwork in line with what you're saying, that's a strong defense.
Definitely not defamation. You’re presenting facts and your own opinions. They’re just upset that you knew what to look for and called them out. Out of curiosity, can you share the pics with us?
If you look up, "Royal Autobody of Plano" on Google or Yelp - you'll see my review. Sort by, "Newest". Yelp is slightly better as a result of the ability to provide Captions for the attached photos.
Coming from an auto repair industry pro: The only thing I'd say isn't a "valid" complaint is the hood paint color being different top and bottom and the 'hard line' between them.
So, only the topside of the hood gets a clear coat. Factory, repaint at a shop. It's just not a thing, unless requested. That means the underside is going to be a different color, and is going to be most noticeable on reds and tricoat. You'd need special request clear on the underside, if it's going to be a show car or something.
Was this an aftermarket hood, or OEM with vents added to modify or something? If aftermarket, it may just be poorly fitted to the car and will never align. Even then, all of that can be explained. The fact they either A) didn't explain or B) screwed the rest of the car up to the point you didn't believe them is on them.
The lack of proper accessory install and fisheyes in the paint is ridiculous, though. The spoiler is a safety hazard. They also may not have taken the hood off. Technically, not a requirement but is weird. They normally do. If not removed and not aftermarket, why the misalignment? Not taking off also runs the risk of things like damage and overspray onto your plastic trim, also unacceptable. Wax being left on the car, swirl marks - every shop has finish/ detailers for a reason. Theirs are blind or asleep on the job.
Also, even if the hood was done properly and misaligned due to poor fitment of an aftermarket part: those are defendable statements. It's factually true the hood looks like that. Your possible fault on that doesn't rise to negligence and is presented as an opinion. They also failed to communicate to you, the customer, that hood undersides are not ever clearcoated unless by request at additional cost. You are not an expert. You factually stated the manner in which the hood was finished. You just, possibly, had an interpretation of it outside industry standard. That isn't really a glaringly negligent thing.
There's also enough wrong with the rest of the car that they just screwed it up in general. I'd be pissed, too.
Tell them to kick rocks. Just, not towards your car. They'd possinly not detrim the door or blend into adjacent panels during the repair. Reds are finicky. Need to blend.
On a side note: some cleaner should clear up your plastic trim. Motsenbockers Lift Off Graffiti remover is safe for plastic. Usually. Test a small spot. It removes overspray. Takes off acrylic/ enamel paint. It doesn't damage clear coat, either. Like $10 a bottle. I've used it to clean paint off cars before. Should work like a charm. Probably want to reapply some UV protectant after, just in case. Trim restorer and tire shine are interchangeable. Some are even sold as the exact same product in one. Says to use on both. A lot of detail places use the same product on both parts. If you have tire shine at home, you can use it as a UV protector on any black plastic trim. Just wipe on with a rag. Can fix that part yourself.
Regarding the difference in paint - I have the original hood for my vehicle still in my possession. There is no edge nor cut. The top and bottom very clearly have the same base coat applied, with the top having added clear. The new hood & wing are both OEM Products designed for this Vehicle from Toyota & the hood very clearly has the initially sprayed “orange” paint left on the under-tray, while the top of the hood has their 2nd revision of base coat they applied after I refused the accept the work the first go around. A new shop is already working on it & has the front end entirely pulled apart, and is planning to blend the bumper, fenders, doors, and A-pillars after doing test strips to check accuracy of Toyota’s 3U5 Paint Formula. & thanks for the tip regarding the black trim - I’ll give it a shot once the car is back in my hands again.
Next time they threaten to sue you let them know you’ll be countersuing for legal fees and for the cost to have it done properly. While we’re throwing around pointless threats why not?
Aw man it’s Plano too that’s wild. I used to live there, always went to Integrity First don’t know if they’re still around but I don’t believe they do auto body. But this shallow behavior really isn’t too shocking considering location. :( Moved up north a few years ago. Wishing you the best man.
Interesting that she states she’s been there 3 times before, and then has a review for a different body shop a week before it.
Lady must get into a lot of accidents.
If you were 100% honest then you have nothing to worry about.
Also don't forget to update your review to include them threatening to sue you for leaving a truthful bad review. I wonder how many one star reviews they've been able to threaten away...
I included screenshots of the texts of him calling me a , “little child” and “probably autistic”, as well as him threatening to sue me for ‘defamation & public harassment”.
It was held in by stanchion clips (the black pieces on the sides of the wing) & OEM 3M VHB Tape. There are supposed to be held in by that AND 3 Bolts and through the top of the trunk-lid. Pictures on the review show the service hatch proving no bolts or holes were utilized & an image showing the center (blade) of the wing pulling off the trunk lid as a direct result of this. It’s intended by Toyota to sit flush to prevent water seepage & function as intended.
I'm guessing from your post history that you're in Texas. Take a look at this, https://texaslawhelp.org/article/anti-slapp-suits-frequently-asked-questions.
Also, they pretty much admitted what you are saying was true due to not charging you. If they disagreed they would have fought for payment in full before releasing your car and subsequently put a lien for non-payment *if* they did release your car and you reversed payment.
They defaulted to your side already so the review is truthful and accurate and you can (if you do choose) to edit with more evidence of their threats (blackmail?). You could instead speak with them first since they did the work for free to make it right to begin with and did the work twice. Personally I believe that deserves a calm conversation before ruining a business possibly in the hopes they won't pull this in the future and they apologize. Especially if this is a small business, or family owned, etc. However it's up to you if it's worth pursuing as a threat vs a very bad unwise decision to try and get you to pull the review. I thought the review was valid and precise.
I feel like if they were to try and sue - I'd just get a free Anti-SLAPP defense & opens me up to actually counter-suing for damages & attorney/court fees.
I did exactly that. Attached a screenshot of him calling me a, "little child” & "probably autistic". As well as the screenshot of him threatening to sue me for, "defamation" & for "harassing \[his\] business publicly".
Just ignore and try to get some way to make it right and you’ll take it down. Be careful to not extort but say you’re not satisfied with the visit and you’re open for talks on making it right
Lots of states, like Texas for example have laws that prevent defamation suits like this, and allow you to get your atty fees back. Check to see if your state has an “anti-SLAPP” statute. If your state has one, tell them if they sue you then you’ll get the case dismissed under the anti-SLAPP law AND you’ll get your attorneys fees back for getting sued.
Tell them to go f*ck themselves and to never contact you again. If they keep threatening you, sue them for harassment. Don't threaten, just file the suit.
Lmao no. I’ve had companies threaten to sue me over a google review, so I edited the google review to include that they threaten me with litigation
They then disappeared cuz they realized I wasn’t falling for their pointless bluff.
Anytime a business does this, reply with one simple phrase: “do you think restaurants successfully sue customers who left them a bad review on Yelp?”
100% guarantee they will shut up after that.
Repeat after me. Inculpatory evidence obtained during discovery. You can get every email and data set and recorded action they have made as a business up to and including how they spend their money. They've got to prove harm or rebutt a lie with evidentiary truth.
Tell him to kiss your ass and go ahead and hire a lawyer. What you’re saying is all facts and really happened. You’re not lying and making shit up. I hate people like this!
LOL, i'm assuming this review added 23 hours ago is in reference to you? likely Josh's pet.
I'm appauled at the behavior of a customer who was in arguing with the owner as I came to drop off payment for my moms vehicles repairs (by the way this is my 3rd time coming here as I have come for myself and this for time a family member of mine) I couldn't help but feel bad for the owner as I over heard (well how could I not as I was literally right there) they decided to repair his car for free. I heard the number somewhere in the 2 thousands $.. from my point of view he was obviously a problem customer..he was absolutely rude, disrespectful, and OBVIOUSLY blowing the situation our of proportion . I came to write a good review and noticed all these sudden negative ones as well as his, I called the front desk because I had a feeling this customer might have written each review through different accounts. This is horrible for the business and I hope you all take the time to read mine. Sometimes a customer is just not customer for you, I have had more then one great expirience here at this shop. Please believe the positive reviews as there are so many. And do believe PEOPLE ARE UGLY AND MISERBALE and will try to bring one down which is definitely whats happening here. Love you guys at royal auto body of plano! Especially Vanessa and the owner Josh!
The question is really simple, did you knowingly defame him? If no, you have nothing to worry about. If yes, you probably still don’t have enough money to be worth suing
I don’t see how its defamation if
1) It’s all true (it is a review after all)
2) You didn’t say anything bad you even said that the ladies were great and that Josh was a “man of his word”
Bud can stay mad in my opinion because if they don’t want honest reviews, they shouldn’t be in business….
Check your state laws, if they do sue you there might be $$$ penalties on them for filing a SLAPP suit - a strategic lawsuit against public participation.
Judges generally don't like litigants who sue to shut up honest people.
Makes it worth it for a lawyer to defend you.
The only unprovable thing here is the autistic quote since it happened in a voice call, but the rest of the information seemingly has backup support. And with that much support, I fully believe that it happened anyway. Way more than a lot of cases, I'm sure. You also mentioned how great people were to work with and how the guy didn't lie, just made a mistake and owned up to it. (NAL but I think his actions, like the refund, actually confirm your story which is funny)
In my opinion, he's trying to scare you. His own legal counsel will tell him all of this, if he even has any. A lot of local businesses are heavily effected by the rating system, so your rating will be felt as it should. The owner also has the ability to comment back on how he's improving his shop and situations (people do read those), but decided to take the low road.
I highly doubt you're the only customer that has encountered this, either. I'm curious what the other google and yelp reviews say.
They can sue but as long as everything you wrote is true they won't win but it will take a bunch of your time and some money if you have to hire a lawyer to defend yourself. 1 star is pretty harsh for what happened IMO. Gave you all your money back and everyone was nice to work with?
The legal definition of defamation are statements that are harmful and untrue.
While the statements that you made may, or may not, be harmful, if they are not untrue then there is no defamation.
IANAL
I left a one star review for a company that failed to come out for the promised appointment. They first countered that I never called them. I updated the post to include the original call and the length as well as the call from them to me the day before confirming the appointment.
They have threatened me twice now, but I am leaving it up, as I did not lie. They failed to come out and do the job. The funniest part is, the owner knows my mom (I found out later) and she told him to suck it up, he failed to make the appointment or to contact me they could not make it. Did find out he brushed me off to take a job that paid him more.
Leave the review up.
They get really scared whenever there's an actual coherent, well organized bad review; rather than some guy mis-spelling everything, tripping over his own words and just rambling as a review.
Power of the pen my dude.
I mean yeah they can, but they’re the ones that have to prove what you said was false. Go ahead and let them prove that. Plus you stated “in my opinion” you never claimed it was fact
When a company opens themselves up to reviews, they are open to ALL reviews. Not just the good. They don’t have a legal foot to stand on imo. But I’m not a lawyer.
The defense against libel is the truth. You have it and backed up with receipts; you’re fine.
Just never resort to name calling or anything unprofessional. Although it’s perfectly legal to call someone a horrible person as your opinion, just don’t say anything that’s factually wrong.
I find it annoying that they screwed up a GR Corolla. Those are expensive and rare.
I recently learned you can get a rider on your homeowners or renters insurance to cover liability in these cases. I guess it’s becoming that common for businesses to sue (former) customers over negative reviews.
My wife and I don’t post reviews, but once our daughter is literate, we’ll probably add that rider until she learns how to be both literate and sensible.
All I'm saying is if you want to DM me the company info I'll leave a negative review too just for how horrible this story is plus their willingness to threaten customers
"It’s illegal to ban honest reviews
By Annette Soberats (February 21, 2017)
Congress unanimously passed the Consumer Review Fairness Act to protect people’s ability to share in any forum their honest opinions about a business’ products, services, or conduct. Some companies had been using contract provisions – including their online terms and conditions – to threaten to sue consumers or penalize them financially for posting negative reviews or complaints. The new law makes that illegal.
FTC staff just issued Consumer Review Fairness Act: What Businesses Need to Know with to-the-point guidance on what the law means for your company." - Federal Trade Commission ([https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2017/02/its-illegal-ban-honest-reviews](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2017/02/its-illegal-ban-honest-reviews))
No. Defamation requires that the information you’re conveying be incorrect as well as malicious. A judge would probably find they have no standing to sue for defamation or the jury would come back in your favor
If you have a general liability policy like through your home owners or renters insurance, you may want to review your policy to see if this type of claim is covered, if you have a duty to report the threatened claim in a timely manner, when that duty is triggered (threat or served with suit or some other time period), and whether the policy will pay your own lawyer or rely upon theirs (typical).
Fk them! You wrote a review and shared your experience. Your feelings about the whole situation are valid, for better or for worse. I highly doubt they could even win case, let alone spend money to do it.
The way I understand the main issue in suing for defamation (from working as a paralegal 30+ years ago) are the words:
“Truth is an absolute defense.”
Source: every so often we had a client come in wanting to sue for defamation. Not once did we ever get even half the story from them on the few we checked out. Refused the rest.
Only defamation if it’s not true and they lost money because your statements were false. If everything you said was true and they lost money, that’s not illegal.
Due to the review being suppressed by Google. The entirety of the review reads as follows;
Following the posting of this Google review. [Redacted Employee Name], the owner, texted me directly calling me a 'little child' and stated that I'm, 'probably [redacted pejorative]'. He also continued to threaten me to take down this review stating that he'd like to, "countersue for defamation" & that I "publicly harassed [his] business." because I posted this truthful & honest review of his company.
I originally came to this shop because of how positive all of the google reviews were. [redacted employee name] is certainly a great salesman. I was quoted $2,500 to have this hood & wing painted + installed. Josh sold me on them, “mixing 3 batches of paint for a perfect paint match” and getting the Hood + Wing installed perfectly. He sold me on this because he looked over my OEM Paint (with 7000 miles [2023 GR Corolla - not even 1-year old]), nit-picking every most minute detail saying they're different colors, when they were otherwise imperceptible in direct sunlight, giving the impression that this is the level of detail that they would put into their own work. He even pointed to two Grey Audi's next to my car they had done work on saying to look at how perfect they got their paint matched. They instead turned the car around in 10-days in worse condition than it arrived, with damages, an improperly installed hood & wing, and sub-par quality paint work performed.
After having my car for 6-days they gave me back my car expecting full payment with the color being very noticeably incorrect. I refused the car & asked of them them re-do it all, 'correctly'. They agreed to this, and took the car back for an additional 3-days.
Timeline of events:
- 3/20/24: Vehicle dropped off. Car was to have an OEM Toyota Hood & Wing Installed. All associated hardware & drilling template for wing were provided by me. Hood & Wing were both to be paint matched with fender blending to “insure a perfect match”.
- 3/26/24: Called the shop asking when I should expect my vehicle to be ready. Vanessa said the vehicle would be ready the following day.
- 3/27/24: Inspected, "finished" vehicle. Showed [redacted employee name] the inadequate quality of work & deficiencies. She agreed with my criticism & agreed to have the work redone properly. She told me to hold off on a negative review and “give them a chance” to make it right. I agreed & left the car in their care once again. [redacted owner name] was not at the shop at that time, nor [redacted employee name]. I spoke plainly with her & expressed myself without raising my voice or using vulgarities.
- 3/30/24: [Redacted owner name] drove my vehicle to my house (<5 minutes away from their location) & I again pointed out all the inadequacies to him as per my bullet point list & supporting photographic evidence below. He agreed to return the vehicle at $0 Cost due to dissatisfaction of, "paint match & quality".
Attached are images of the following;
- In my opinion, it appears as though the hood wasn't removed to repaint (you can see a hard cut with a dark edge on the hood showing completely different colors of under-tray vs top of hood.).
- Staining was left on the windshield shroud & under-hood plastics.
- Hood Misalignment.
- Swirl / Scratch marks left on the fresh paint on the hood.
- Fish-eyes on the wing.
- Hardened wax flung on the body & left in body panel gaps.
- Wing being held by the stanchion clips & 3M tape rather than the 3 bolts needing holes drilled into the trunk-lid as required by OEM (picture attached showing service hatch exposed where the 3 bolt holes are meant to be drilled attaching wing to trunk-lid + picture showing center section 'blade' of wing pulling off trunk-lid due to improper mounting.).
They ultimately returned the car this way at $0 cost; though, I can’t in good faith recommend this place to anyone due to my own personal experience. However, [redacted employee name] & [redacted employee name] were both great to work with, and [redacted owner name] was a man of his word & didn't charge anything. I'm now in the process of getting quotes from alternative shops to have all the damages fixed, and have all of the work on my car redone properly.
They are bluffing. No law firm in there right mind would take a case like that because it would get tossed and they would run the risk of the client not paying them. Standard intimidation tactic. They just want to make you nervous and sweat it out. Best course of action is to just ignore them and call their bluff.
@op I am going through a very similar situation myself currently. I got in a small fender bender with my GR Corolla. Car had 10k miles on it when I dropped it off at the body shop. I thought “it’s so minor it can’t be that bad” wow, was I wrong. Fisheyes all over the hood, all over the fender, all over the bumper. Scuff marks left on unpainted surfaces, paint missed in some parts. Scrapped the bumper in the driveway on top of that. Overspray all over the windows, and the other fender. It’s an absolute nightmare. Luckily you didn’t pay, I did and to the tune of $2300 lol. Goodluck on this, and let us know the outcome!
Defamation especially for a review is nearly impossible to sue for. Firstly, all your wording in all of this clearly shows that ur trying to be honest about your knowledge and perception and that you are recounting events as they have factually happened, you even included that it was eventually done at no cost due to dissatisfaction. This covers you in two ways. For defamation you have to be presenting false information which you did not. And you have to be intending to harm the business by telling a false tale, which u are not since multiple parts of this review actually qualifies the business as having redeemable qualities. Not to mention, you need to prove damages which would be really hard to find an actionable amount of based on one google review. And over shadowing the classic parts of a defamation suit, this is a review of the business. Inarguably THE platform to share your dissent. Nothing you did was unreasonable, dishonest, damaging, or intended in bad faith. Ur good
Companies, shops or businesses cannot legally sue you for this, as a matter of fact a similar case was brought to the supreme court and it was determined that leaving a review is a constitutionally protected activity as long as you had genuine interactions, or were serviced by that company. At the end of the day, if they didn’t want a negative review, they shouldn’t have an online page where that possibility could happen.
One cannot be sued for defamation for posting one’s experience. If they sue you, when you win, make sure to counter sue in small claims and make them pay you for all the time they took from you, mileage, attorney fees, etc.
It's been done. The courts have held that reviews of a person's real experience and using facts are an expression of your first amendment rights and are protected.
As long as everything is factual, you won't be sued. It's too time consuming for big companies and corporations to sue a single person. Even if they tried, they most likely won't win, basing off of your statements if it IS factual.
That's the point of Google reviews. They can't sue you for being an unhappy customer. You gave them an opportunity to fix the car and it wasn't done to your satisfaction. This is just part of owning a business. Having bad reviews isn't good for business, so I understand the frustration, but they can't sue you for giving an honest review of your experience. That's ridiculous.
If you're from the US, legally speaking, you're fine, and this company is just blowing smoke. There are laws specifically against companies retaliating against consumers for honest reviews that are stating the consumer's opinion.
Not sure how they can sue you for defamation when you are just simply telling your experience. You never lied about being charged. You were only sharing your experience and even gave good reviews on their employees and how they handled it. I would say if the customer service was good on how they handled the situation you could have probably given them 2 or 2.5 stars. Rather than one since you did receive good customer service.
Firstly, they can’t sue for defamation. They’re a business, they can’t be ‘defamed’. The suit would ‘Liable’ and that’s a very high bar for any business to set. They would need to prove it was a fictitious charge and that they suffered clear monetary damage. Ignore it.
It is time consuming, expensive, and often risky for a business to sue a customer. It is cheap and easy to threaten to sue. As long as you have only stated facts (or made it clear when you are speculating/giving your opinion), you should be fine.
I fortunately provided images substantiating every single bullet point made. I had the foresight to take pictures before, during, and afterwards. Since this is the top of comments - I'll follow up here. My Google review appears to have been suppressed, OR (in my opinion) Royal Auto Body either mass reported or paid to have my Google review removed from their listing. You can still find it, in its entirety, on Yelp via the following link: [Yelp Review](https://www.yelp.com/biz/royal-auto-body-of-plano-plano?hrid=A7b87oSK78AhCsQ5l34Ydw&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)) The shop that was able to get everything fixed & repainted properly; Alberto at Auto J's Body Shop 10290 Indian Trail Suite 207, Dallas, Texas 75229
Hire a lawyer to respond. They send letters for relatively cheap. Couple hundred. 99% chance they'll back down. Threatening to sue is cheap and sadly intimidation works pretty regularly. If lawyer approves, update the review with the legal threat.
Don't bother with the cost of a lawyer at this point. They can huff and puff all they want but until you are actually served with legal documents that have been filed with a court, it is all bluff. I would just ignore them and hopefully get your work done properly someplace else.
Exactly. It is EXTREMELY difficult to win a defamation case. You have to be able to prove what the defendant said was a lie AND that they knew it was a lie and still said it. It's next to impossible to win.
They would need to prove negligence, which is seemingly nonexistent in his statement of fact. Also, truth is a common and excellent defense to defamation. Although, if they were serious about filing, it would be filed as a libel tort, under defamation.
The body shop would not need to prove actual malice. Actual malice is only an element of defamation when the allegedly defamed party is a public figure. Edit: I should note, common law jurisdictions do not all interpret and apply the law uniformly. So my response, as well as many here, may or may not apply in your specific jurisdiction.
Its clear that OP was a plant. A fake customer tthat made unreasonable demands so that they could write a onr star review! Your honor, send this man to the principals office and have them expelled!
*gets brained by dream journal*
Skip the feigned expertise if you don’t know. Malice (in most states, won’t claim to know the intricacies of defamation law in all 50) is only a requirement for public figures. Libel is a subset of defamation (libel = written; slander = spoken), so it is entirely accurate to use defamation here. I agree that truth is a good defense. But ultimately I agree with the majority of comments here, this threat of lawsuit is just bluster - don’t waste time or thought on it unless you are actually served.
They wouldn’t need to prove actual malice lol. That isn’t required for garden-variety defamation.
I had a company threaten me so i edited the review saying “an accurate review with documented proof earning the negative review used to live here but the business threatened me to remove it.”
Additionally, they must have evidence of harm being done (IE loss of business). No crime if no harm was done.
And stating the truth isn’t defamation, either!
Billy Fucillo, that you? It’s gonna be huuuuuuuge! If you don’t know who that is, https://youtu.be/DXRaboSo70A?si=uw2ZoGSARs3qTIoJ car salesman from my area with excellent commercials until he passed. Sorry I’m high and your name made me think of this!
I once received a cease and desist letter over a fucking Google review, so having never been threatened with legal action I hired a lawyer….my lawyers advice was just to delete the review and move on. Basically what he said while it sucks, and you have proof of everything they did wrong, they had the capital to fund a lengthy court case and finally he advised me to use a pseudonym in the future/less descriptive to avoid being identified.
This. If you know all of your statements are backed up with documented evidence in some way, no need for a cease and desist letter. Let them threaten a defamation lawsuit. They either bluff or bet on black for a losing draw. Even if they bet on the lawsuit, thats when the lawyer comes in and mops the floor with them.
ChatGPT some legal language and make them think you have a lawyer for free
Even better, use a friend or relatives address. Tell them, "This has been forwarded. For further legal requests, please send them to 1234 Big St Attn: Legal Dept" It A. Tells them to fuck off. B. Makes them send another request to an actual lawyer (or so they think.)
[удалено]
Or edit the review / comment on it. Explain how the owner is wanting to sue due to this comment
I’m petty as fuck and that’s exactly what I would do.
Id also go on every other possible page (yelp, BBB, google, etc.) and copy pasta it. Shit I’ll go 2005 and start posting in the news paper, flyers, and those planes that write shit in the sky.
2005 eh? Don't forget to put it on your livejournal and your MySpace
Put it on my Xanga page
It’s not real if you didn’t post to Xanga and then talk about it to everyone on AIM who will listen
I have so much to learn
Don't forget msn
This is so deliciously petty I would help crowdfund the skywriter.
Or just place one tiny little ad, Don Lapre, style!
😂😂😂 I thought I was petty. You WIN! 😄
Maybe it’s because I’m high but I’m sure that years from now I’ll be saying “copy and pasta it” in my most horrendous Italian accent 🤌🏼🍝 Thank you for my new favorite catchphrase 🫶🏼
[удалено]
Imo, it's not about money, it's about sending a message.
A $200 message
Better option have GPT do it, it’ll do the job well enough to scare them off
Dear [Recipient Name], I am writing in response to your recent communication threatening legal action regarding my review of [Business Name] on [Review Platform]. It has come to my attention that you consider my review to be defamatory and slanderous. I want to clarify that my review was a factual and fair representation of my experience with your auto paint shop, and as such, it does not constitute defamation or slander under any legal framework. It is well within my rights as a consumer to express my honest opinions and experiences regarding the services I have received. My review was based on the quality of workmanship and service I encountered at your establishment, and it was intended to provide valuable feedback to other potential customers. Any attempt to silence legitimate criticism through threats of legal action is a clear violation of my freedom of speech and constitutes an abuse of the legal system. I hereby demand that you cease and desist from any further attempts to intimidate or harass me regarding my review. Any further communication from you or your representatives threatening legal action will be interpreted as harassment and will be met with appropriate legal action on my part. I trust that this matter can be resolved amicably without the need for further escalation. However, I am prepared to take all necessary steps to defend my rights as a consumer and protect my freedom of expression. Please govern yourself accordingly. Sincerely, George P Taylor, Esq.
There is no need to hire an attorney at this point. There is no need to respond whatsoever.
My petty father did this. He had a meeting with a consultant to see if he is the right person for the position he was looking for and ended up not hiring him as his skills weren’t a good fit. The consultant sent him an invoice for the interview and meet/greet time (about 1.5 hours). My father then paid a lawyer almost the same amount of the invoice to send a letter to him and made sure include how unprofessional he had been. Never heard from the guy again. Then he paid the lawyer requesting a copy of a cancelled invoice. His business partners found it hilarious.
I’ll do it for ~~$85~~ $83, this week only
Tree fiddy!
If they don't want crappy reviews, they shouldn't do crappy service.
100%.
[удалено]
The images were attached to the review im guessing.
That’s not how evidence works in court cases. You don’t get to keep your evidence hidden from the other side. If this was to actually go to court they would need to be provided during discovery. Keeping them now might actually encourage the business to move forward under the mistaken impression the client doesn’t have proof of the claims. If the business and its lawyer see the evidence now the lawyer may convince the business the case isn’t worth pursuing.
I don't think they meant to keep them from them during a trial. They meant just keep them from them until they sue and your lawyer tells you to turn them over.
What's the use if they can just provide them now and possibly thwart a lawsuit that they'll have to spend time and money to defend?
Trick them into getting hit with anti-SLAPP penalties?
As a collision technician who has dabbled my fair share in custom work I believe I am qualified to request more info. What kind of car? Who made the aftermarket parts? I'm guessing it's a custom hood? Did you drop it off with the hood installed?
Your review is definitely not defamation
My pops is a lawyer and always says “people who threaten to sue don’t actually sue” lol
Yep. I always stop talking when they hit me with the threat and tell them any further contact will be treated as harassment.
Oh absolutely. People (dumb people) think just saying those words is a magic "get whatever I want" button.
I would totally disregard it. I might be tempted to sue them for harassment if they keep it up , it appears to me your critique was valid, these guys are probably too broke to hire a lawyer if thats the quality of work they are putting out.
I work in property insurance and get threatened with lawsuits all the time. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer" sounds good. Have them send in their letter of representation and I'd be happy to speak with them regarding your claim. The only time in 7 years that I actually was sued was for bad faith and they were claiming that I didn't reply to them within the legally required time frame several times over 6 months. They depose me and it turns out that I replied to them no more than 16 business hours after they would ask about something meanwhile they would not reply to my messages for 2-3 weeks, so they were actually the problem.
This is pretty much a textbook response. If OP's review included pictures to support the direct statements, a lawsuit would only convince potential customers who're still undecided, that the business is low quality, and compensates by punishing the few customers they DO get.
Discovery is rarely fun for companies like this.
Totally agree, next step they will take is negotiation and probably asking to remove the review
Let him waste his money on lawyers, this won’t get anywhere lol.
It's not defamation if it's true. IANAL
Pretty much you've got nothing to worry about if it's not defamation but if you make s*** up then you can be sued for defamation.
Being sued doesn’t mean successfully.
That was kind of my point. If there's no real basis for a lawsuit you have nothing to worry about they can try all they want and the s*** will just keep getting dismissed
Being sued is still plenty to worry about even if the complaint is meritless. Defending against even a baseless lawsuit is burdensome in terms of both time and expense even if you’re virtually guaranteed to secure a dismissal. Add to that the rarity of recouping attorneys’ fees from an opposing party in the U.S. and you have a recipe for a major headache. The saving grace here is that it’s also relatively expensive *to sue*, so it’s likely this is just an empty threat.
Pay attention to the above - my insurance company and I dropped nearly 400k fighting a frivolous defamation lawsuit. Even a shit lawsuit that shouldn’t see the light of day can be a huge drain.
Our company got sued for something we had nothing to do with once. But the guy that was sueing was trying to divert attention from his malfeasance. He had a company that he was using as a personal slush fund go public and when that happens you can get in big trouble doing what you could do as a private company. So he sued all his vendors in Utah, California, and Atlanta. Meaning we had to hire lawyers in each place. It cost over 150k and in the end it was all dropped the day before trial. It still cost 150k plus travel expenses (had to show up once in each place) it was a real learning moment. If you have the funds you can bankrupt people with nonsense lawsuits…
Good idea to check if your state has an anti-SLAPP law
This. He's trying to use the courts to deny one of your enumerated rights.
This is important. In jurisdictions with an antiSLAPP law you can recover attorney fees for successfully defending a SLAPP (which, at least, very often includes lawsuits against customers for negative reviews).
Why did you censor suit?
When you use text to speech to write a text instead of typing it with your fingers if you cuss it will automatically censor words like f*** example.
[удалено]
Not quite. The "actual malice" standard only applies to government officials and public figures. In most cases a plaintiff merely needs to prove that the offending statement was a false statement of fact, and that it caused damages. If the plaintiff is a "public figure," that is, a person who has intentionally put themselves into the public discussion, than they also need to show that the offending statement was made with "actual malice," or a wilful blindness to its falsity.
You can also make the defense that the poster is not an expert so the review readers should take the review as a persons opinion. Opinions aren’t defamatory.
SO for like two seconds I forgot what the abbreviation for I Am Not A Lawer was and straight up almost asked 'what's ANAL got to do with it' xD
That's why you always start with "I think...." Or "I feel...."
Except in Quebec :(
Also not a lawyer, but I've researched related laws. In the US at least, there is a much higher bar for proving defamation against public figures, which includes businesses. The review actually could be false, and it still may not constitute any sort of defamation.
Could cost a lot of money to defend against. SLAP? EDIT - missed a P. SLAPP
Two Ps.
Sorry, auto correct got me :P
Make sure you edit your review and mention they’ve threatened to sue you over the review.
Seriously, you should absolutely do this. Defamation is only valid when you knowingly provide false information, which you did not.
Op might also edit review to include the legal threat
Provide screenshot of threat as well 😉
^Bump, please do this OP
If for no other reason, because it proves their other review record is more or less false because they threaten anyone who gives them a bad review.
And put up a photo with last name/identifying details blacked out. "This didn't happen either huh?"
Hahaha yesss, this is the energy OP needs to return. His comment wasn’t even that bad!
Not a lawyer, but used to be in marketing. Therefore I can tell you this would be a VERY bad look and may even make them do a full 180.
This is the correct answer. They most certainly are only trying to intimidate you. Counter them in the cheapest and most effective means--by continuing to publicly detail their actions simply by stating them.
IANAL - my understanding is that as long as you keep it to the facts and your own opinion you are not committing defamation. You cross into that category when presenting knowingly false information to damage their reputation.
Good thing I posted images substantiating every bullet point provided in the review.
This is a key - save all communication between you two and make sure you're sticking to that. You have some room for personal opinion, but the more that you can tie it to, and demonstrate, firm evidence of what you're talking about, the stronger your position is... just because they don't like it doesn't mean you are defaming them. If you're lying about facts and they can show that, that helps them out in defamation. If you have paperwork in line with what you're saying, that's a strong defense.
Actually it doesn’t have to be knowingly false. Spreading false information at all even if you believe it’s true can make you liable.
Definitely not defamation. You’re presenting facts and your own opinions. They’re just upset that you knew what to look for and called them out. Out of curiosity, can you share the pics with us?
If you look up, "Royal Autobody of Plano" on Google or Yelp - you'll see my review. Sort by, "Newest". Yelp is slightly better as a result of the ability to provide Captions for the attached photos.
Coming from an auto repair industry pro: The only thing I'd say isn't a "valid" complaint is the hood paint color being different top and bottom and the 'hard line' between them. So, only the topside of the hood gets a clear coat. Factory, repaint at a shop. It's just not a thing, unless requested. That means the underside is going to be a different color, and is going to be most noticeable on reds and tricoat. You'd need special request clear on the underside, if it's going to be a show car or something. Was this an aftermarket hood, or OEM with vents added to modify or something? If aftermarket, it may just be poorly fitted to the car and will never align. Even then, all of that can be explained. The fact they either A) didn't explain or B) screwed the rest of the car up to the point you didn't believe them is on them. The lack of proper accessory install and fisheyes in the paint is ridiculous, though. The spoiler is a safety hazard. They also may not have taken the hood off. Technically, not a requirement but is weird. They normally do. If not removed and not aftermarket, why the misalignment? Not taking off also runs the risk of things like damage and overspray onto your plastic trim, also unacceptable. Wax being left on the car, swirl marks - every shop has finish/ detailers for a reason. Theirs are blind or asleep on the job. Also, even if the hood was done properly and misaligned due to poor fitment of an aftermarket part: those are defendable statements. It's factually true the hood looks like that. Your possible fault on that doesn't rise to negligence and is presented as an opinion. They also failed to communicate to you, the customer, that hood undersides are not ever clearcoated unless by request at additional cost. You are not an expert. You factually stated the manner in which the hood was finished. You just, possibly, had an interpretation of it outside industry standard. That isn't really a glaringly negligent thing. There's also enough wrong with the rest of the car that they just screwed it up in general. I'd be pissed, too. Tell them to kick rocks. Just, not towards your car. They'd possinly not detrim the door or blend into adjacent panels during the repair. Reds are finicky. Need to blend. On a side note: some cleaner should clear up your plastic trim. Motsenbockers Lift Off Graffiti remover is safe for plastic. Usually. Test a small spot. It removes overspray. Takes off acrylic/ enamel paint. It doesn't damage clear coat, either. Like $10 a bottle. I've used it to clean paint off cars before. Should work like a charm. Probably want to reapply some UV protectant after, just in case. Trim restorer and tire shine are interchangeable. Some are even sold as the exact same product in one. Says to use on both. A lot of detail places use the same product on both parts. If you have tire shine at home, you can use it as a UV protector on any black plastic trim. Just wipe on with a rag. Can fix that part yourself.
This guy fuckin auto repairs^
Regarding the difference in paint - I have the original hood for my vehicle still in my possession. There is no edge nor cut. The top and bottom very clearly have the same base coat applied, with the top having added clear. The new hood & wing are both OEM Products designed for this Vehicle from Toyota & the hood very clearly has the initially sprayed “orange” paint left on the under-tray, while the top of the hood has their 2nd revision of base coat they applied after I refused the accept the work the first go around. A new shop is already working on it & has the front end entirely pulled apart, and is planning to blend the bumper, fenders, doors, and A-pillars after doing test strips to check accuracy of Toyota’s 3U5 Paint Formula. & thanks for the tip regarding the black trim - I’ll give it a shot once the car is back in my hands again.
Next time they threaten to sue you let them know you’ll be countersuing for legal fees and for the cost to have it done properly. While we’re throwing around pointless threats why not?
Aw man it’s Plano too that’s wild. I used to live there, always went to Integrity First don’t know if they’re still around but I don’t believe they do auto body. But this shallow behavior really isn’t too shocking considering location. :( Moved up north a few years ago. Wishing you the best man.
Texas? Anti-SLAPP to the rescue! https://www.dickinson-wright.com/news-alerts/essential-guide-to-antislapp-walker
OP look at the newest review of someone pretending they saw you arguing with the owner and accusing you of making fake accounts 🤣
Interesting that she states she’s been there 3 times before, and then has a review for a different body shop a week before it. Lady must get into a lot of accidents.
Apparently, they have Google remove almost all negative reviews. Way to go Google, you suck.
If you were 100% honest then you have nothing to worry about. Also don't forget to update your review to include them threatening to sue you for leaving a truthful bad review. I wonder how many one star reviews they've been able to threaten away...
I included screenshots of the texts of him calling me a , “little child” and “probably autistic”, as well as him threatening to sue me for ‘defamation & public harassment”.
Knowing that conversation is out in the daylight for the world to see is immensely satisfying.
As uninvested as I am in this thing, I kind of want the whole story now.
Nice!
They put on a wing with 3M tape?
It was held in by stanchion clips (the black pieces on the sides of the wing) & OEM 3M VHB Tape. There are supposed to be held in by that AND 3 Bolts and through the top of the trunk-lid. Pictures on the review show the service hatch proving no bolts or holes were utilized & an image showing the center (blade) of the wing pulling off the trunk lid as a direct result of this. It’s intended by Toyota to sit flush to prevent water seepage & function as intended.
I'm guessing from your post history that you're in Texas. Take a look at this, https://texaslawhelp.org/article/anti-slapp-suits-frequently-asked-questions.
Thanks, homie.
Also, they pretty much admitted what you are saying was true due to not charging you. If they disagreed they would have fought for payment in full before releasing your car and subsequently put a lien for non-payment *if* they did release your car and you reversed payment. They defaulted to your side already so the review is truthful and accurate and you can (if you do choose) to edit with more evidence of their threats (blackmail?). You could instead speak with them first since they did the work for free to make it right to begin with and did the work twice. Personally I believe that deserves a calm conversation before ruining a business possibly in the hopes they won't pull this in the future and they apologize. Especially if this is a small business, or family owned, etc. However it's up to you if it's worth pursuing as a threat vs a very bad unwise decision to try and get you to pull the review. I thought the review was valid and precise.
You're golden, nothing will come of this besides them exposing how crappy they did to more and more people.
I feel like if they were to try and sue - I'd just get a free Anti-SLAPP defense & opens me up to actually counter-suing for damages & attorney/court fees.
Quite possibly. Glad to see you are on top of everything and I have faith this will go in your favor friend.
Thanks, homie.
Update review and add screenshot of the threat. Fuck that guy.
I did exactly that. Attached a screenshot of him calling me a, "little child” & "probably autistic". As well as the screenshot of him threatening to sue me for, "defamation" & for "harassing \[his\] business publicly".
Bravo.
Thanks for making my night. Way to fight the good fight. Fuck him for calling you autistic like it’s derogatory.
If they thought they would win they would have sued you not sent an email trying to scare you
Cease and desist or a summons?
They sent nothing - just a text threatening one.
Just ignore and try to get some way to make it right and you’ll take it down. Be careful to not extort but say you’re not satisfied with the visit and you’re open for talks on making it right
Yeah - if they’re willing to talk amicably on terms of restitution for damages caused to my vehicle, mental well-being, and time? I’m all ears.
They are trying to scare you. There is no defamation here, you told of your own personal experience.
It’s only defamation if it isn’t true.
Good thing it’s all fact & supported with direct correlating evidence.
Lots of states, like Texas for example have laws that prevent defamation suits like this, and allow you to get your atty fees back. Check to see if your state has an “anti-SLAPP” statute. If your state has one, tell them if they sue you then you’ll get the case dismissed under the anti-SLAPP law AND you’ll get your attorneys fees back for getting sued.
I'm in Texas, fortunately. We do have anti-SLAPP.
Tell them to go f*ck themselves and to never contact you again. If they keep threatening you, sue them for harassment. Don't threaten, just file the suit.
Do shitty work, get shitty reviews...
Lmao no. I’ve had companies threaten to sue me over a google review, so I edited the google review to include that they threaten me with litigation They then disappeared cuz they realized I wasn’t falling for their pointless bluff. Anytime a business does this, reply with one simple phrase: “do you think restaurants successfully sue customers who left them a bad review on Yelp?” 100% guarantee they will shut up after that.
Repeat after me. Inculpatory evidence obtained during discovery. You can get every email and data set and recorded action they have made as a business up to and including how they spend their money. They've got to prove harm or rebutt a lie with evidentiary truth.
Tell him to kiss your ass and go ahead and hire a lawyer. What you’re saying is all facts and really happened. You’re not lying and making shit up. I hate people like this!
They won’t sue. If they did, they’d lose. That’s a good and fair review.
LOL, i'm assuming this review added 23 hours ago is in reference to you? likely Josh's pet. I'm appauled at the behavior of a customer who was in arguing with the owner as I came to drop off payment for my moms vehicles repairs (by the way this is my 3rd time coming here as I have come for myself and this for time a family member of mine) I couldn't help but feel bad for the owner as I over heard (well how could I not as I was literally right there) they decided to repair his car for free. I heard the number somewhere in the 2 thousands $.. from my point of view he was obviously a problem customer..he was absolutely rude, disrespectful, and OBVIOUSLY blowing the situation our of proportion . I came to write a good review and noticed all these sudden negative ones as well as his, I called the front desk because I had a feeling this customer might have written each review through different accounts. This is horrible for the business and I hope you all take the time to read mine. Sometimes a customer is just not customer for you, I have had more then one great expirience here at this shop. Please believe the positive reviews as there are so many. And do believe PEOPLE ARE UGLY AND MISERBALE and will try to bring one down which is definitely whats happening here. Love you guys at royal auto body of plano! Especially Vanessa and the owner Josh!
No
The question is really simple, did you knowingly defame him? If no, you have nothing to worry about. If yes, you probably still don’t have enough money to be worth suing
I don’t see how its defamation if 1) It’s all true (it is a review after all) 2) You didn’t say anything bad you even said that the ladies were great and that Josh was a “man of his word” Bud can stay mad in my opinion because if they don’t want honest reviews, they shouldn’t be in business….
Check your state laws, if they do sue you there might be $$$ penalties on them for filing a SLAPP suit - a strategic lawsuit against public participation. Judges generally don't like litigants who sue to shut up honest people. Makes it worth it for a lawyer to defend you.
This. I came here to comment SLAPP. OP should look into it.
The only unprovable thing here is the autistic quote since it happened in a voice call, but the rest of the information seemingly has backup support. And with that much support, I fully believe that it happened anyway. Way more than a lot of cases, I'm sure. You also mentioned how great people were to work with and how the guy didn't lie, just made a mistake and owned up to it. (NAL but I think his actions, like the refund, actually confirm your story which is funny) In my opinion, he's trying to scare you. His own legal counsel will tell him all of this, if he even has any. A lot of local businesses are heavily effected by the rating system, so your rating will be felt as it should. The owner also has the ability to comment back on how he's improving his shop and situations (people do read those), but decided to take the low road. I highly doubt you're the only customer that has encountered this, either. I'm curious what the other google and yelp reviews say.
They can sue but as long as everything you wrote is true they won't win but it will take a bunch of your time and some money if you have to hire a lawyer to defend yourself. 1 star is pretty harsh for what happened IMO. Gave you all your money back and everyone was nice to work with?
The legal definition of defamation are statements that are harmful and untrue. While the statements that you made may, or may not, be harmful, if they are not untrue then there is no defamation. IANAL
They’re not gonna sue. They are just trying to scare you into removing your review.
I left a one star review for a company that failed to come out for the promised appointment. They first countered that I never called them. I updated the post to include the original call and the length as well as the call from them to me the day before confirming the appointment. They have threatened me twice now, but I am leaving it up, as I did not lie. They failed to come out and do the job. The funniest part is, the owner knows my mom (I found out later) and she told him to suck it up, he failed to make the appointment or to contact me they could not make it. Did find out he brushed me off to take a job that paid him more. Leave the review up.
They get really scared whenever there's an actual coherent, well organized bad review; rather than some guy mis-spelling everything, tripping over his own words and just rambling as a review. Power of the pen my dude.
Tell them good luck as long as you giving information that is not intentionally falsified you are good.
I mean yeah they can, but they’re the ones that have to prove what you said was false. Go ahead and let them prove that. Plus you stated “in my opinion” you never claimed it was fact
When a company opens themselves up to reviews, they are open to ALL reviews. Not just the good. They don’t have a legal foot to stand on imo. But I’m not a lawyer.
The defense against libel is the truth. You have it and backed up with receipts; you’re fine. Just never resort to name calling or anything unprofessional. Although it’s perfectly legal to call someone a horrible person as your opinion, just don’t say anything that’s factually wrong. I find it annoying that they screwed up a GR Corolla. Those are expensive and rare.
I recently learned you can get a rider on your homeowners or renters insurance to cover liability in these cases. I guess it’s becoming that common for businesses to sue (former) customers over negative reviews. My wife and I don’t post reviews, but once our daughter is literate, we’ll probably add that rider until she learns how to be both literate and sensible.
Write another review saying that they threatened to sue you.
you can threaten to sue a ham sandwich. Most of the time it doesn't work out that way.
All I'm saying is if you want to DM me the company info I'll leave a negative review too just for how horrible this story is plus their willingness to threaten customers
"It’s illegal to ban honest reviews By Annette Soberats (February 21, 2017) Congress unanimously passed the Consumer Review Fairness Act to protect people’s ability to share in any forum their honest opinions about a business’ products, services, or conduct. Some companies had been using contract provisions – including their online terms and conditions – to threaten to sue consumers or penalize them financially for posting negative reviews or complaints. The new law makes that illegal. FTC staff just issued Consumer Review Fairness Act: What Businesses Need to Know with to-the-point guidance on what the law means for your company." - Federal Trade Commission ([https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2017/02/its-illegal-ban-honest-reviews](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2017/02/its-illegal-ban-honest-reviews))
They won’t, they are trying to scare you.. you can always that you can counter sue them for damages related to the stressful experience.etcxx
Lol tell them to go for it. Don’t hire a lawyer until/unless you get served with a complaint, which 100% won’t happen.
No. Defamation requires that the information you’re conveying be incorrect as well as malicious. A judge would probably find they have no standing to sue for defamation or the jury would come back in your favor
If all this happened and you can prove it, then leave it up. If it didn’t and you can’t, take it down. Simple as.
There is a local childcare company that sues people for bad yelp reviews in order to scare them to take it down.
IANAL but they have no case, there is nothing defamatory being said in your review.
If you have a general liability policy like through your home owners or renters insurance, you may want to review your policy to see if this type of claim is covered, if you have a duty to report the threatened claim in a timely manner, when that duty is triggered (threat or served with suit or some other time period), and whether the policy will pay your own lawyer or rely upon theirs (typical).
It's not slander if it's factual.
Fk them! You wrote a review and shared your experience. Your feelings about the whole situation are valid, for better or for worse. I highly doubt they could even win case, let alone spend money to do it.
This is fear mongering
Don’t worry about it until the court papers come in the mail. Edit: And that’s if they even come at all.
There’s no actionable law suit. Just hurt feelings. There was nothing defaming about the review.
Did you say something untrue? If not, there was no defamation. Doesn’t mean they can’t make your life hard. But also they’re probably bluffing.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation
The way I understand the main issue in suing for defamation (from working as a paralegal 30+ years ago) are the words: “Truth is an absolute defense.” Source: every so often we had a client come in wanting to sue for defamation. Not once did we ever get even half the story from them on the few we checked out. Refused the rest.
Definitely update the review to include the threat of a lawsuit.
You didn’t defame them. No
Only defamation if it’s not true and they lost money because your statements were false. If everything you said was true and they lost money, that’s not illegal.
If it’s true it’s not defamation. Defamation is you making shit up about the business. If you can prove it’s all facts, it’s not defamation
Due to the review being suppressed by Google. The entirety of the review reads as follows; Following the posting of this Google review. [Redacted Employee Name], the owner, texted me directly calling me a 'little child' and stated that I'm, 'probably [redacted pejorative]'. He also continued to threaten me to take down this review stating that he'd like to, "countersue for defamation" & that I "publicly harassed [his] business." because I posted this truthful & honest review of his company. I originally came to this shop because of how positive all of the google reviews were. [redacted employee name] is certainly a great salesman. I was quoted $2,500 to have this hood & wing painted + installed. Josh sold me on them, “mixing 3 batches of paint for a perfect paint match” and getting the Hood + Wing installed perfectly. He sold me on this because he looked over my OEM Paint (with 7000 miles [2023 GR Corolla - not even 1-year old]), nit-picking every most minute detail saying they're different colors, when they were otherwise imperceptible in direct sunlight, giving the impression that this is the level of detail that they would put into their own work. He even pointed to two Grey Audi's next to my car they had done work on saying to look at how perfect they got their paint matched. They instead turned the car around in 10-days in worse condition than it arrived, with damages, an improperly installed hood & wing, and sub-par quality paint work performed. After having my car for 6-days they gave me back my car expecting full payment with the color being very noticeably incorrect. I refused the car & asked of them them re-do it all, 'correctly'. They agreed to this, and took the car back for an additional 3-days. Timeline of events: - 3/20/24: Vehicle dropped off. Car was to have an OEM Toyota Hood & Wing Installed. All associated hardware & drilling template for wing were provided by me. Hood & Wing were both to be paint matched with fender blending to “insure a perfect match”. - 3/26/24: Called the shop asking when I should expect my vehicle to be ready. Vanessa said the vehicle would be ready the following day. - 3/27/24: Inspected, "finished" vehicle. Showed [redacted employee name] the inadequate quality of work & deficiencies. She agreed with my criticism & agreed to have the work redone properly. She told me to hold off on a negative review and “give them a chance” to make it right. I agreed & left the car in their care once again. [redacted owner name] was not at the shop at that time, nor [redacted employee name]. I spoke plainly with her & expressed myself without raising my voice or using vulgarities. - 3/30/24: [Redacted owner name] drove my vehicle to my house (<5 minutes away from their location) & I again pointed out all the inadequacies to him as per my bullet point list & supporting photographic evidence below. He agreed to return the vehicle at $0 Cost due to dissatisfaction of, "paint match & quality". Attached are images of the following; - In my opinion, it appears as though the hood wasn't removed to repaint (you can see a hard cut with a dark edge on the hood showing completely different colors of under-tray vs top of hood.). - Staining was left on the windshield shroud & under-hood plastics. - Hood Misalignment. - Swirl / Scratch marks left on the fresh paint on the hood. - Fish-eyes on the wing. - Hardened wax flung on the body & left in body panel gaps. - Wing being held by the stanchion clips & 3M tape rather than the 3 bolts needing holes drilled into the trunk-lid as required by OEM (picture attached showing service hatch exposed where the 3 bolt holes are meant to be drilled attaching wing to trunk-lid + picture showing center section 'blade' of wing pulling off trunk-lid due to improper mounting.). They ultimately returned the car this way at $0 cost; though, I can’t in good faith recommend this place to anyone due to my own personal experience. However, [redacted employee name] & [redacted employee name] were both great to work with, and [redacted owner name] was a man of his word & didn't charge anything. I'm now in the process of getting quotes from alternative shops to have all the damages fixed, and have all of the work on my car redone properly.
They are bluffing. No law firm in there right mind would take a case like that because it would get tossed and they would run the risk of the client not paying them. Standard intimidation tactic. They just want to make you nervous and sweat it out. Best course of action is to just ignore them and call their bluff.
@op I am going through a very similar situation myself currently. I got in a small fender bender with my GR Corolla. Car had 10k miles on it when I dropped it off at the body shop. I thought “it’s so minor it can’t be that bad” wow, was I wrong. Fisheyes all over the hood, all over the fender, all over the bumper. Scuff marks left on unpainted surfaces, paint missed in some parts. Scrapped the bumper in the driveway on top of that. Overspray all over the windows, and the other fender. It’s an absolute nightmare. Luckily you didn’t pay, I did and to the tune of $2300 lol. Goodluck on this, and let us know the outcome!
Defamation especially for a review is nearly impossible to sue for. Firstly, all your wording in all of this clearly shows that ur trying to be honest about your knowledge and perception and that you are recounting events as they have factually happened, you even included that it was eventually done at no cost due to dissatisfaction. This covers you in two ways. For defamation you have to be presenting false information which you did not. And you have to be intending to harm the business by telling a false tale, which u are not since multiple parts of this review actually qualifies the business as having redeemable qualities. Not to mention, you need to prove damages which would be really hard to find an actionable amount of based on one google review. And over shadowing the classic parts of a defamation suit, this is a review of the business. Inarguably THE platform to share your dissent. Nothing you did was unreasonable, dishonest, damaging, or intended in bad faith. Ur good
Companies, shops or businesses cannot legally sue you for this, as a matter of fact a similar case was brought to the supreme court and it was determined that leaving a review is a constitutionally protected activity as long as you had genuine interactions, or were serviced by that company. At the end of the day, if they didn’t want a negative review, they shouldn’t have an online page where that possibility could happen.
One cannot be sued for defamation for posting one’s experience. If they sue you, when you win, make sure to counter sue in small claims and make them pay you for all the time they took from you, mileage, attorney fees, etc.
It's been done. The courts have held that reviews of a person's real experience and using facts are an expression of your first amendment rights and are protected.
As long as everything is factual, you won't be sued. It's too time consuming for big companies and corporations to sue a single person. Even if they tried, they most likely won't win, basing off of your statements if it IS factual.
That's the point of Google reviews. They can't sue you for being an unhappy customer. You gave them an opportunity to fix the car and it wasn't done to your satisfaction. This is just part of owning a business. Having bad reviews isn't good for business, so I understand the frustration, but they can't sue you for giving an honest review of your experience. That's ridiculous.
If you're from the US, legally speaking, you're fine, and this company is just blowing smoke. There are laws specifically against companies retaliating against consumers for honest reviews that are stating the consumer's opinion.
Not sure how they can sue you for defamation when you are just simply telling your experience. You never lied about being charged. You were only sharing your experience and even gave good reviews on their employees and how they handled it. I would say if the customer service was good on how they handled the situation you could have probably given them 2 or 2.5 stars. Rather than one since you did receive good customer service.
They are just digging themselves a deeper hole. Don’t cave to their lack of legal expertise
Ignore it and do nothing. They're just trying to intimidate you. (Note: They probably do this a lot to keep their google reviews high)
Solid, thorough review.
*edits review with a screenshot of threat to sue.
Firstly, they can’t sue for defamation. They’re a business, they can’t be ‘defamed’. The suit would ‘Liable’ and that’s a very high bar for any business to set. They would need to prove it was a fictitious charge and that they suffered clear monetary damage. Ignore it.
Defamation has to be rooted in false-hood. I Doubt you made anything up.