I need advice regarding being sued because of a question I asked on this forum. I asked regarding anyone having dealings with an anonymous company and got some feed back. But now this company is saying he is going to sue me for slander because of damage to his company. Can he do this.:help:

If you asked a question regarding a company and you kept their name back how can you be sued? You have asked for an opinion surely its the feedback they should be concerned with????

Originally posted by danum
If you asked a question regarding a company and you kept their name back how can you be sued? You have asked for an opinion surely its the feedback they should be concerned with???? I asked about a company but don't want to use its name again because of the problems Im having with them. its a posting I placed a few days ago.

Originally posted by Bikertec
I need advice regarding being sued because of a question I asked on this forum. I asked regarding anyone having dealings with an anonymous company and got some feed back. But now this company is saying he is going to sue me for slander because of damage to his company. Can he do this.:help:

no they can't, or at least if they try they will loose.
They are just trying to scare you.

Asking for peoples opinions can't possibly be slander (which has to be spoken anyway) nor can it libel.
To Libel someone or a company you have to represent as fact something that is untrue and causes material damage to their reputation.

well, as far as I can see you stated the facts as you saw them.

It's not your fault that they went on holiday and didn't bother to change the answerphone message.

Let him sue you, he'll loose, and I doubt he has anymore money for solicitors than you do.

Did you get your money back (had it been cashed?)?

Originally posted by Bikertec
I need advice regarding being sued because of a question I asked on this forum. I asked regarding anyone having dealings with an anonymous company and got some feed back. But now this company is saying he is going to sue me for slander because of damage to his company. Can he do this.:help:

IANAL but...

You certainly can't be sued for slander since slandar is Oral communication of false statements injurious to a person's reputation.

Now libel is a different matter, however I would also think that would be difficult to make stick if it wasn't you that made the comments in question.


Nomme

Originally posted by Cyclone
no they can't, or at least if they try they will loose.
They are just trying to scare you.

Yes. If there was any weight in their claim they would have contacted Geoff and threatened the forum.

I understand now, sorry. I don't know but surely the forum is for people to share experiences with etc, as long as you haven't slagged them to high heaven or said untrue things I don't see how they can after all can't recomendation by word of mouth be taken as slander? Ring the citizens advice though just to put your mind at rest.

If what you have said is true (and I'm sure it is!) don't worry, especialy as you didn't express an opinion, you simply stated facts! :thumbsup:

K x

Is this the bike place ???

I just did a quick a quick search and found a posting of yours re. a named shop and it ended something like "Steer clear of this shop" or something - posted earlier this month. If this is the one you are refering too, then he may feel he has a cause to sue for libel (written) rather than slander (verbal). I believe you would have to be able to prove the statements made were true and legitimate to defend yourself. Has he asked you to retract the statement or apologise or anything?

Surely there are some solicitor types on here though who are able to help. Good luck.

Thankyou to everyone for your help because we were getting very worried because of his phone calls.

Originally posted by LottieWat
I just did a quick a quick search and found a posting of yours re. a named shop and it ended something like "Steer clear of this shop" or something - posted earlier this month. If this is the one you are refering too, then he may feel he has a cause to sue for libel (written) rather than slander (verbal). I believe you would have to be able to prove the statements made were true and legitimate to defend yourself. Has he asked you to retract the statement or apologise or anything?

Surely there are some solicitor types on here though who are able to help. Good luck. No not that one the one where I sent PO and heard nothing back.

saying steer clear of this shop is not stating something as a fact that is untrue.

I can happily say that I dislike B&Q (actually I don't, but can't think of anywhere that I do) and that my advice is for people to steer clear. Because it's not stated as a fact it's not libelous.

If I said however that shop X produce inferior quality goods and will try to rip you off, or that Person Y is gay, then i'd best have some evidence to back up my statements. (nothing against gays, just an example).

Your comments regarding the phone and email are easily proven, especially if he claims to have been on holiday as he clearly wouldn't have been responding.

The only grey area is that you sent the postal order. Since neither side will be able to prove whether you did or didn't you'll be fine (unless he can produce character witnesses to show you as an incurable liar).

IANAL by the way.

I have had the offending thread deleted and hope now he will see sence and go away. Thanks again for all your help we feel a lot better now.

Mick & Brenda

Shame, looked forward to reading it :heyhey: Just tell this person where to go anyway...

Discussed it with Mick and the bloke was a complete to***er and he han't heard back from him since.:thumbsup:

if you keep getting harrassed by phone calls, it's you that should be taking action against him!

Right this person has sent my PO back. Do you know how hard it is to get PO cashed when they don't have your name on them. Last week we sent the stubs of to the post office to say they had been lost. This was going to take upto 6 weeks to get our money back. Now we have just spent nearly an hour on the phone trying to sort out getting the returned PO cashed. Because we now have no stubs it could take over 6 weeks to get them cashed. We have to send the PO to wales with a letter explaining what happened, and then they have to tie both PO and stubs together and get back in touch with us to tell us they are going to reimburse us. So now I am sat with £50 in my hand I can't touch for upto or over six weeks. Which will probably get lost in the post again. :rant: