being sued for defamatory statement on a forum

[Smelly-Cash]

I don't have a law suit against me yet but the company is threatening to do it. I got a product from them then used it and it caused me a seizure. Here is what I posted

" be careful using the #### last week I used it twice and I had a seizure. thank god I have insurance. again be careful raising the intensity of the ####"

This company is paying people to post good reviews about their product and it looks like this is their only advertisement method. their attorney sent me a letter that I refused to accept then I called the owner who gave me a refund in exchange to remove the comment. the forum refused to remove it unless it's untrue.

I didn't return their item in case they sue I will have it tested.

My question is did this ever happen to anyone here?
How is my comment defamatory if my comment is a warning not to raise intensity of their product?
Do you know anywhere where I ca seek legal advice for free or cheap?

the owner has been harassing me for the past couple of weeks.

 

[Duffers5000]

If any person or company makes an insinuation of legal action against you then it is time to cease discussions and get a legal view.

If what you said is true you might be perfectly within your rights to say what you feel is true and possibly seek damages however you might also view it as not worth your time and effort. The law usually favours whoever has the deepest pockets.

If you feel the product is dangerous and dont want to pursue legal action then you should report the company to the trade board or trading standards that operates in your country.

 

[Techxan]

The truth is complete defense, if you told the truth and you ca prove it, you are in the clear.

If you look the refund to remove the comment, you should have removed the comment.

If they are paying for good reviews, it is probably against the law in UK,so they are unlikely to sue you because of discovery. If it become public knowledge they are buying reviews, the damage can be severe, and the law likely to get involved.

Next time you have a coversation with him, just tell them to leave you alone, or you might build a sirte dedicatd to his product and the way he has treated you. Don't do thi in writing, or if you have been informed that the phone call is being recorded.

If you took the refund to remove the comment and return the product, you have nothing.

 

[meinewelt]

this would fall under free speech everywhere in the whole damn world, except iran maybe when its a company by their tyrant. just relax and remove nothing.

 

[gypsyr0ad]

I would contact the people that handle this sort of thing , not sure what you call them, but they don't take sides with those that have the deepest pockets, at least I would hope not.

I wouldn't worry about them suing you, them doing so will severally back fire on them.
I assume you have a hospital record of said events and if you are sued, I am sure some high class lawyer will jump right at the chance to represent you.

IMO, you have them by the go-nads, don't let them fk-tards threaten you, and hey, if they continue, that's more pain and suffering for you.

I can see the headlines now
"man almost dies from said product is threatened by the makers for exposing the heath risks of using said product"

 

[NulledCode]

I would contact the people that handle this sort of thing , not sure what you call them, but they don't take sides with those that have the deepest pockets, at least I would hope not.

I wouldn't worry about them suing you, them doing so will severally back fire on them.
I assume you have a hospital record of said events and if you are sued, I am sure some high class lawyer will jump right at the chance to represent you.

IMO, you have them by the go-nads, don't let them fk-tards threaten you, and hey, if they continue, that's more pain and suffering for you.

I can see the headlines now
"man almost dies from said product is threatened by the makers for exposing the heath risks of using said product"

This right here.

Usually the people who are affected by a product and the ones who sue. The company of this product does not sound too legit.

 

[Smelly-Cash]

but my comment has nothing defamatory about it. you should see the thread, everyone is writing awesome stuff about the product and once someone mentions something like headache everyone starts replying as if that person is bad.

It's a beauty product, I didn't want to sue because I don't have time but right now I feel harassed by the company. maybe they forgot I'm the one in a position of power or they think I'm some stupid gal who doesn't know what to do. ow I really feel I want to sue them. But one thing is for sure, when this is all over they will have a nightmare of anonymous negative reviews all over the net. let's see how they can handle this.

The stupid owner is asking for an emergency report saying his product caused my seizure, how stupid is that?

they also said they want to communicate with me only thru their lawyer but called me 3 times today. I'm keeping their communications for my record in case I sue because it's harassment to call me ad email me as much as they're doing

please if you have any advice or know where I can have legal advice for free let me know

 

[saber210]

First gather all of your evidences that the product really caused you the seizure.

Ask for legal help, I know that there are some board that regulates and check all of the products, ask for help.

Record all of the threatening message that the company sends to you, incase you need it on the case.

Is the company well known or only a small time company?

 

[elschlongo]

I would contact the people that handle this sort of thing , not sure what you call them, but they don't take sides with those that have the deepest pockets, at least I would hope not.

Are you talking about a mediator?

 

[gypsyr0ad]

I would call a few high class lawyers, if they think for a sec you have a case, they will beat your door down to represent you.

I am willing to bet, said lawyer could get you $$$ real fast to settle this mess.

But, I am well aware that if this product is unsafe, the main concern should be to get it taken off the market, and not sell out humanity for $$$.

But you cant have it both ways.

You must ask yourself which is more important, the truth or getting paid off?

BTW, them refunding you only helps your case, it does nothing to get them off the hook.

 

[Nick Flame]

I would avoid starting a litigation in this case.

Implying that you had a seizure because you used their product is a grave accusation, and it will be on you to prove it: even if you prove you had a seizure, you will also have to prove the correlation that the seizure has been caused by their product. It's not on them to prove their product is safe - especially since if they are registered as a company and distribute the product on the market they probably already passed some basic health and safe regulations. This is quite different from saying the product does not work for me.

 

[catardat]

Chill out man. They are trying to scare you. I don't remember the law's name but you did nothing illegal and they don't have shit on you.

 

[alexistheboss15]

You did not break the law, relax, I would sue.

 

[Wilson Grant Fisk]

Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, or traducement—is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation.

Source [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation[/URL]


Did you see a Doctor after your seizure?
Can you prove the product caused the seizure?
If yes, then you have nothing to worry about.

Do you have concrete evidence that the company is paying for positive reviews?

If not then you need to tread carefully.

Firstly, write to the Admin of the forum and request they remove the comment.
Explain the situation and tell them that it was your belief and opinion that the product caused the seizure but you have no evidence to prove it.
If they refuse to or are unable to remove the post then notify the company, that you have done everything in your power to have the post removed and that they should contact the forum owners directly.
Also tell them that, if they continue to contact you, that you will consider this harassment.

Defenses to claims of defamation include:

• Statements made in a good faith and reasonable belief that they were true are generally treated the same as true statements; however, the court may inquire into the reasonableness of the belief. The degree of care expected will vary with the nature of the defendant: an ordinary person might safely rely on a single newspaper report, while the newspaper would be expected to carefully check multiple sources.
• Opinion is a defense recognized in nearly every jurisdiction. If the allegedly defamatory assertion is an expression of opinion rather than a statement of fact, defamation claims usually cannot be brought because opinions are inherently not falsifiable. However, some jurisdictions decline to recognize any legal distinction between fact and opinion. The United States Supreme Court, in particular, has ruled that the First Amendment does not require recognition of an opinion privilege.[SUP][29][/SUP]

Source:4 Defenses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation#Defenses

 

[Smelly-Cash]

Wow guys thank you all for these very helpful replies. I only realized I was the one i power after I read your posts. The owner was calling me 3 to 4 times a day. last time I talked to him I told him I feel he's harassing me with his calls and threats to sue me. he wants his device back but I told him that I was keeping it because I tested it ad it's defective. I said I was keeping it as proof. then he goes to say that he checked if there was any 911 calls from my house ad there was none which is not true. he also said he would pay me to tell the forum mod I lied so they ca remove the posts. anyway I will get legal advice. I told him not to call me again because I'm keeping record of everything and will sue for harassment. I don't know what he's up to now.

 

[RetroT]

Well have never came across any such situation. May be when you agreed to remove the comment , you should have informed the owner for the forum is not allowing to remove the comment. It's a free world I wonder how such thing would even happen when you are expressing your views.

 

[boombap]

I think your fine.

There just trying to scare you into removing your bad review. It's not a crime to tell an honest story, if anything you should be suing them for the product giving you a seizure !

 

[lmxftw]

i have to ask... what kind of ass intruding dildo was it ?

anyways. they can't do crap to you... i just asked a friend who's in law school and he said that you should let it get to court because nothing will happen to you, you will easily win the trial and then sue them for moral damages and disclosure of private seller-buyer information

 

[Trepanated]

You have nothing to worry about. Stating you used the product and then had a seizure is perfectly fine as from what you say, this was the case. If you have any history of seizures however, you need to worry.

If he could prove you were making it up and that your intentions were malicious things may be different, but from what you say that is not the case.

The fact he is calling you and attempting to bribe you to take down the review will go against him if he were to initiate legal proceedings.

The same thing with him bribing you to say you lied. Whatever you do, do not take him up on that offer.

If you can get any documentation showing his attempts to bribe you, you will have him bang to rights.

You should definitely get legal advice, especially as you have received legal correspondence from him, but I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, unless there is more informtion you have not told us.

 

[yensidtlaw]

This makes me laugh! I would definitely have taken the refund... Nay... DEMANDED the refund. And then I would have pressed charges against the company for supplying a health hazardous product... Would you go into a restaurant and eat a burger with a cockroach on it? And then not complain about that restaurant? And then NOT expect a refund? Tell the company to GTFO!!!

PM me the name of the company and product. I will destroy their good reviews!