Posting a Negative Online Review of a Business

[EliteHacker]

My question involves defamation in the state of: Internet Review Posting Website, Viewed in all 50 states.

Anyway I am talking about those review websites all over the internet that are read of many who have been a victim of bad quality or poor service. Some companies have many reviews while others have no reviews.

The information that I posted at 2 review websites are as follows...

I had my hair cust several weeks ago. I specifically told the stylist and owner twice ABSOLUTELY DO NOT cut any of the length off of the back. I specifically told her that twice. I also said to just layer it in evenly from top to bottom. This person layered it in just fine. After that she dried it out with a blow dryer. Then she went around to my back and did some cutting on the bottom back of my hair. I could not see what she was doing because I was facing the mirror. After I got home I checked it out I had found that she had chopped off over 2 nches of the length in back. Not only that but it was cut so crooked it had a chopped up look. I called her back and asked why she cut it on the bottom in the back. She claimed it was not even in the back. This was not true because I checked it before I went to her and it was nearly perfectly straight. She also claimed she only cut off about half an inch. At that point in the conversation she hung up the phone with me. What had happened was her sloppy blow dry styling method left it very wavy and crooked. I could believe this fool was so ignorant not know it was her sloppy job of blow drying that made it look extremely crooked and uneven in the back. It tool me nearly two hours to fix her screw up. Maybe she should get out of the hair business. DO NOT USE HAIR SALON NAME HERE. You may be risking getting your hair messed up like mine. I never give a second chance when a stylist messes up this bad. Too many stylist in MY STATE are scissor happy and should not be in the business.

This is the best of my interpretation of the event. Can posting your experiences in great detail and giving recommendations Not to use them on these review websites even if negative be any grounds for a defamation lawsuit? Are all of those review websites considered defamation if you post an an unsatisfactory review in detail?

Thanks For Any Information In Advance!

EliteHacker

[EliteHacker]

Responses to this one should be very interesting because these online reviews are all over the internet. Some of them are review only websites. Some of them are included with the online points where you can sale goods and services in categories. Even some of the largest ones exist. There has been some controversy floating about discussing some sites that will suppress bad reviews in exchange for advertising moneys. That would not surprise me but if true it certainly would diminish the value of that websites reviews. I know I have been treated reasonably well in most money dealings but there are a number where I absolutely have been burned to a great extent and I will post the entire negative experience if bad enough.

Is it true that it matters not whether the words are are true or false as long as the writer absolutely believes them true?

Just how far can the consumer go to posting negative experiences against a company if they believe that they did not receive the product or service they believe was promised?

Thanks in advance for all who post "their opinions". Sort of a pun there.

EliteHacker

[PandorasBox]

I would only post to certain sites that are geared towards reviews. RipOffReport.com for example states they will not remove reviews; they will battle it themselves legally if a lawsuit is filed. And the company also has a chance for a rebuttal.

[Mr. Knowitall]

That site charges merchants to respond to reviews, and has been accused of trying to shake down businesses - to pull negative reviews in exchange for large sums of money.

Legally speaking, there's a huge difference between writing and posting a negative review, and offering a public forum in which such reviews may be posted.

[free9man]

They also allow anybody, no matter how freaking insane, to post anything about any company. And will not remove it even if a. it is proven false/a lie or b. it is proven to be the insane ramblings of the voices in someone's head.

[EliteHacker]

.
Yelp dot com and Wellness dot com are where I usually post reviews. I will also post on Ebay dot com and depending on the quality of service or product decides how I will review. If you really want to read some scabby reviews look at hair salons at Yelp dot com. There are some extremely unhappy people over hair stylist all over the USA. I notice a large number of bad reviews for stylists in Denver Colorado. That particular area of service seems to be having many problems with a lot of customers nationwide. So far in my life I have had five different stylists each at a different business screw up my hair bad. So I know why the bad hair stylists reviews happen and get posted. You really have to screw up my hair bad for me to make the effort to post a negative review.

I have read some controversy over RipOffReport dot com but I have never seen any of it first hand. I know they claim the reports will stay there forever. They also seem to challenge or at least goat you into a lawsuit. Maybe for the court room challenge or the continued proof that they will always win. Who knows for sure.

[Dogmatique]

Five different stylists at five different businesses suggests that you might have difficult hair.

No, it's not a criticism or accusation - merely a possibility. And it doesn't excuse shoddy workmanship. But truly - and this comes from the "other" side of the coin, too - the problem may also lie with the customer. Some have unreasonable expectations, and some just give lousy instructions to the stylists.

In an industry so fickle and subjective as hairdressing, I'm not sure I'd pay that much attention to a negative review.

[tex11]

...RipOffReport.com for example states they will not remove reviews; they will battle it themselves legally if a lawsuit is filed...

Despite any rhetoric to the contrary, such websites are far more inclined to quietly remove a review rather than spend any real money "battling it themselves".

An ISP may be subpoenaed to provide identifying information on who made the post. Once the poster is identified, a lawsuit is filed against the poster.

While there are a lot of protections for freedom of speech for reviews, it is not absolute, and some posters cross the line. Most of the time it is not worth the trouble to sue over, as there are less costly and more effective damage control methods. However, occasionally a poster learns the hard way what defines that line is when a business comes after them in court.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Despite any rhetoric to the contrary, such websites are far more inclined to quietly remove a review rather than spend any real money "battling it themselves".

Says you. AOL certainly battled it out themselves in the case that laid the groundwork for the defense against complaints over UGC (user-generated content). So far, ROR has battled it out itself. Got any examples to the contrary?

An ISP may be subpoenaed to provide identifying information on who made the post. Once the poster is identified, a lawsuit is filed against the poster.

How would you issue a subpoena to a web host (I expect that's what you meant when you said ISP) without first filing a lawsuit?

[EliteHacker]

Five different stylists at five different businesses suggests that you might have difficult hair.

No, it's not a criticism or accusation - merely a possibility. And it doesn't excuse shoddy workmanship. But truly - and this comes from the "other" side of the coin, too - the problem may also lie with the customer. Some have unreasonable expectations, and some just give lousy instructions to the stylists.

In an industry so fickle and subjective as hairdressing, I'm not sure I'd pay that much attention to a negative review.

Good point, very good points. In my case though my hair is very fine and extremely straight to begin with. Not problem hair at all. The problem this time is not my hair but the stylist. In fact several stylist before this one have commented on how easy my hair is to cut and style. Putting it bluntly I was born with good hair. Unfortunately the best stylist I have had ended up moving to a different state or changing professions leaving me to look for a new one. The last one in my above review had done my hair twice before with no problems at all taking perfect directions. This was the third time and she screwed it up bad for what ever the reasons. I figured it was the sloppy styling method that left it looking wavy crooked since it was that way when I got home. And with a chopped up look missing two inches. I normally will give a bad online review at that point and never go back like most people will do. I have hit 5 previous stylist over the past few years who do not know how to take directions. Those bad ones have cut my hair sometimes leaving it to look like the sheering of a sheep all chopped up. It makes me wonder if they got their license on the third floor of Joe's Car Repair and Hair School.

I do agree that there may be other people with hair that is very difficult to cut and style that may be a challenge for the best expert. With the very large number of complaints in the stylist market that I have read about including my experiences I believe that many should not be in the business. I can understand the expectations may be higher sometimes but with my experiences many of these so called stylist should consider doing something else. They only drive down the business value where they work. There is also the word of mouth whenever a business makes mistakes.

Here is a site that is getting big.

AngiesList dot com

There are some good and some bad reviews there as well. I do not think they will ever remove any bad reviews but will allow the business to respond.

Have they ever been sued ???

EliteHacker