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Can companies sue for bad reviews?

by reddiep
30 replies
I am working on a new site where I will be reviewing products and running tests on the products - think consumer reports. I will present the test data on the site. For the products that perform poorly, can I get sued by those companies or can they force me to remove the test data from the site? Thanks for the help.
#bad #companies #reviews #sue
  • Profile picture of the author BradVert2013
    Yes. It can and has happened. Do a Google search for being sued for bad reviews.

    That said, it's a pretty complex topic. I'm not a lawyer so I can't give any advice on how to prevent it.
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  • Profile picture of the author DavidOlsen
    Anybody can sue anybody for anything. However, suing and actually winning the lawsuit are two different things.

    That said, if you're concerned then check with an attorney.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Logan
    Of course they can. But winning it is other question. Review has to be honest and true, no matter how 'ugly' is it...
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  • Profile picture of the author mrgoe
    They won`t win. If you buy and have something bad to say about a product. You can keep invoices or other evidence of the purchase if you really want to be covered.
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    • Profile picture of the author BradVert2013
      Originally Posted by mrgoe View Post

      They won`t win. If you buy and have something bad to say about a product. You can keep invoices or other evidence of the purchase if you really want to be covered.
      They already have won:

      Posting Negative Yelp Reviews Can Get You Sued -- Grub Street New York

      The jury awarded plaintiff $750,000. Fortunately for the defendant, the company owner was an idiot and proceeded to slander the person on online social networks, which voided the award. But even if the defendant is off the hook for the 750K, she's still out legal fees and other expenses. It adds up.
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    • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
      Originally Posted by mrgoe View Post

      They won`t win. If you buy and have something bad to say about a product. You can keep invoices or other evidence of the purchase if you really want to be covered.
      That is not true

      Taiwanese Blogger Gets Jail Time For Negative Restaurant Review
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Whisonant
    A company can file a lawsuit about any review you write. They don't have to even go to court to win. All they have to do is create a situation where you have to spend a lot of money defending the suit.

    Their goal is usually not to even get to the court room. Their goal is to make you spend a ton of money you don't have until you take down the review.

    Now let's look at a typical review site that makes... Let's say $20,000 a year. Now long comes a lawsuit and you have to defend it. Lawyers, research etc may cost you $30,000 to get the ball rolling. Now you have already lost $10,000 for the year.

    Do you take down the review? Or do you continue to fight the lawsuit? Can you afford to spend the $30,000 to defend the lawsuit? Is it worth defending it or is it better to take the review down? What can you afford?

    Just food for thought.

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    • Profile picture of the author mrgoe
      Originally Posted by Rob Whisonant View Post

      A company can file a lawsuit about any review you write. They don't have to even go to court to win. All they have to do is create a situation where you have to spend a lot of money defending the suit.

      Their goal is usually not to even get to the court room. Their goal is to make you spend a ton of money you don't have until you take down the review.

      Now let's look at a typical review site that makes... Let's say $20,000 a year. Now long comes a lawsuit and you have to defend it. Lawyers, research etc may cost you $30,000 to get the ball rolling. Now you have already lost $10,000 for the year.

      Do you take down the review? Or do you continue to fight the lawsuit? Can you afford to spend the $30,000 to defend the lawsuit? Is it worth defending it or is it better to take the review down? What can you afford?

      Just food for thought.

      Re's
      Rob Whisonant
      I don`t know where are you from, but in my country, you win a lawsuit, the loser pays the costs for the lawsuit.

      I don`t know where OP is from either, but it`s something to look into. If you get paid back when you win, and you know you can win, why not fight ?
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      • Profile picture of the author Rob Whisonant
        Originally Posted by mrgoe View Post

        I don`t know where are you from, but in my country, you win a lawsuit, the loser pays the costs for the lawsuit.

        I don`t know where OP is from either, but it`s something to look into. If you get paid back when you win, and you know you can win, why not fight ?
        I'm in the US... Yes you can counter sue for the lawsuit costs, expenses etc... BUT... Here comes the but.....

        You have to spend the money first. Then win. Then get a judgment that you have to TRY to collect. Collecting a judgment can be extremely difficult and costly.

        So if you are the typical guy running a typical review site.... Would you have $30,000 or more to spend out of YOUR pocket to attempt to win the suit? Or is it cheaper just to take down the review?

        Plus I did not even mention all of your time you have to spend.

        When someone sues you over a review, they usually know you don't have the money to defend yourself. So they win, even if they are wrong.

        Now if you run a very rich and profitable company, the game changes.

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    • Profile picture of the author Sinistar
      Originally Posted by Rob Whisonant View Post

      A company can file a lawsuit about any review you write. They don't have to even go to court to win. All they have to do is create a situation where you have to spend a lot of money defending the suit.
      I thought attorney's work on a percentage basis where if they take your case, they only take a percentage of what you win with nothing up front.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rob Whisonant
        Originally Posted by Sinistar View Post

        I thought attorney's work on a percentage basis where if they take your case, they only take a percentage of what you win with nothing up front.
        Only on very rare occasions where they know they can win a lot of money and collect it easily. Here in the US these type of attorneys are called ambulance chasers. Most want their money from you upfront.

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  • Profile picture of the author palmtrees
    Check this out: MMM Receives Legal Threats – Great Lawyer Wanted | Mr. Money Mustache

    In a word, no, not if you are honest in your opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author sarah23
    They can sue you if they want but for them to win they have to prove that reviews were fake.
    If your reviews are true, there is no way they can win from you.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Unless you are giving them a bad review, I don't understand why they would if you get them sales through your review pages.
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  • Profile picture of the author ptcrefko
    It's a review. How can someone sue you for your personal opinion, unless you doing it for your dirty tactics.
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    • Profile picture of the author BradVert2013
      Originally Posted by ptcrefko View Post

      It's a review. How can someone sue you for your personal opinion, unless you doing it for your dirty tactics.
      It can be considered slander. It's a tough case to prove. But read the story in my earlier post. A company did successfully sue a woman for a bad review on Yelp. The company owner then made the mistake of posting nasty things about her, which the jury decided was also slander. She barely escaped paying $750,000.

      This is only in the US. Laws in other countries vary, and can be much more strict.
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  • Profile picture of the author brutecky
    People can sue for anything. I can sue you for suing me lol. Does not mean anything. One thing though that you have to keep in mind is that MANY suites initiated by the creators of products (companys) have no intention of winning at all. The whole reason for the suite is to make it so expensive for you to defend yourself that you just give up and retract your negative reviews.

    What is a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP)? | California Anti-SLAPP Project
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  • Profile picture of the author reddiep
    Thanks for the responses everyone. Let me add a little more context around my question. Let's say that I wanted to compare lawnmowers by testing to see how well they cut grass, how easy they are to use etc. Obviously some lawnmowers will not perform as well as others. I just wanted to make sure that the companies who manufacture the poorly performing lawnmowers won't come after me. From the responses, I suppose they can. I guess I need to decide if it's worth the trouble.
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  • Profile picture of the author workoutstuff1
    I agree with others that have said this, you can get sued, but if you have the test data to back up your claims you should be fine.

    I would be more worried about giving a good review for a crappy product. The best defense against this is to either buy the product yourself, or if you get a product from the company to review, return the product after the review has been completed.

    You may even want to think about contacting the company first before giving a really bad review to let them know why you were planning on giving them a bad review. This would help them to improve their product.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    When you're finished wading through all the unqualified advice
    in this thread call a lawyer.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicheblogger75
    Wow. I think it's pretty sad when you have a crappy product and you basically can't say anything bad about it for fear of being sued. Maybe the company who owns the product should spend the money on improving the product instead of on legal fees and lawyers to sue people who leave bad reviews.

    I wonder if anyone on Amazon has ever been sued for leaving a bad review because there are some scathing reviews on that site.

    I guess basically what the company wants is a bunch of people writing good reviews even if the product sucks...

    I was under the impression that it's only slander if it's a lie. If you can stand behind & prove every negative point you wrote about about a product then what's the problem? Isn't that just freedom of speech?

    I'm no lawyer so I don't have the answer to this one. It's certainly worth thinking about for anyone who has review blogs.
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  • Profile picture of the author brettb
    Some lawsuits have been filed over bad TripAdvisor reviews. To my knowledge though, these lawsuits haven't been successful.

    To protect yourself, the easiest thing is just to take down any review that somebody complains about. One review adds little to your site, but it can attract a disproportionate amount of hassle.

    I had this one one of my sites once - somebody was accusing somebody else of something. I just deleted the review in question as I didn't want the hassle.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    There's a HUGE difference between a review and slander which the case turned out to be about, slander.

    If Perez would have just stuck within the area or talking about that the contractor was actually hired for and not have accused the contractor of criminal activity she most likely would have won the case.

    But she slandered which is illegal, then the contractor slandered her. What an IDIOT!

    Slander is not protected speech in the USA.
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  • Profile picture of the author Graham Darch
    Honest review wont harm you but if there are fake reviews, then it might drag one into the court.
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  • Profile picture of the author EPoltrack77
    Thats the whole point of the review! They can be bad and steer people away.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sweersz
    Go for it. Don't fret over lawsuits.
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  • Profile picture of the author lukeblower
    i would say don't go into something worrying too much about what comeback you will get.

    Most companies will give you 'take it down' warning first anyway. Suing people costs time and money so it only if something is very high profile will they bother suing.

    Just go for it wight your honest, from the heart reviews and you will rock it.
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  • Profile picture of the author chris07
    Yes they can... In America you can be sued for farting... you better believe that!!
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    Instead of dealing with problematic situations, don't review bad products. Write reviews only about good products, showing the advantages of each one.

    Tell your visitors that you don't review bad products because you cannot recommend them to the public.

    And finish with this matter, without looking for lawyers, and without fearing anything.






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  • Profile picture of the author AlexRent
    It could be.

    You'd better buy the product and provide a HONEST review for it.
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