What Can I Legally Say?

Hello

I received BAD service from an online plant dealer. The site was incorrect
about what they had in stock, the plants were shipped 2 weeks late and they
won't respond to my emails or phone calls. I also received melted plants.

What can I say or write without getting myself sued.


N8

me and the wife were talking about all that sueing that is going on, and the
legal maneuvering crap...

personally, I am not one for worrying about what I say, I 'hide' behind
"freedom of speech" and I won't name names....

Maybe you could call it a friendly warning = bad service, bad shipping and
we'll all take the 'hint'.... persay...

who was it?

--
RedForeman ©®


"Nsty N8" wrote in message
...
Hello

I received BAD service from an online plant dealer. The site was
incorrect
about what they had in stock, the plants were shipped 2 weeks late and
they
won't respond to my emails or phone calls. I also received melted plants.

What can I say or write without getting myself sued.


N8

Nsty N8 wrote in message
...
Hello

I received BAD service from an online plant dealer. The site was
incorrect
about what they had in stock, the plants were shipped 2 weeks late and
they
won't respond to my emails or phone calls. I also received melted plants.

What can I say or write without getting myself sued.

You can state anything that actually-factually happened, and your own
first-person opinion concerning it.

In other words, you can say, "my plants were late and it made me sad," but
you should probably not say, "I think they did it on purpose because they're
dickheads and so does everyone else"

(Nsty N8) wrote:

I received BAD service from an online plant dealer. The site was incorrect
about what they had in stock, the plants were shipped 2 weeks late and they
won't respond to my emails or phone calls. I also received melted plants.
What can I say or write without getting myself sued.

Unfortunately, there is very little correlation between what you can
legally say and what you can be sued for saying. Anyone with the
inclination can bring a lawsuit for just about any absurd crap. They
may not win it, but that's often not the point - their intent is more
to hassle, harass, and stifle other complaints.

My personal opinion, and I'm a hotheaded computer geek, not a lawyer,
is to say what you want, but stick very clearly to the indisputable
facts ('site said item x was in stock', 'promised shipping date was',
'actual shipping date was', 'sent email on Monday', etc). Back
everything up with documentation if you can. When you state an
opinion, be clear that it is only your opinion.

This won't protect you from some disreputable, unscrupulous person or
company suing you - nothing will if you choose to speak - but it will
make the potential cost for them higher. Their own reputation is going
to be far more damaged by bringing a lawsuit over factual comments
(see PetsWarehouse fiasco) than the comments themselves ever were, and
their chances of losing or being tossed out of court by an even
moderately intelligent judge will be higher.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

Well, unfortunately, you cam be sued for anything by anyone.
And even a baseless suit (like the Petswhorehouse suits) can
run serious bucks to defend against.

You may not want to post anything in an open forum like
this. Alot depends on how trigger happy the company is.

-coelacanth

"Nsty N8" wrote in message
...
Hello

I received BAD service from an online plant dealer. The site was
incorrect
about what they had in stock, the plants were shipped 2 weeks late and
they
won't respond to my emails or phone calls. I also received melted plants.

What can I say or write without getting myself sued.


N8

(Nsty N8) wrote:

What can I say or write without getting myself sued.

In addition to my other comments, you have the option of posting
anonymously, for example via Google using a throw-away Hotmail
account. You can still be tracked down via IP address, but doing so
requires a good amount of technical expertise, and possibly the
co-operation of one or more ISPs - in other words, it puts an up-front
burden on the company to even attempt the lawsuit, which will stop the
less rabid sorts from pursuing it.

On the other hand, comments made by anonymous posters, unless they're
well-established and respected in a group by some screen name, are
less likely to be taken seriously by the average group reader. For
example, NetMax is fairly anonymous, but highly respected - anything
he says carries a large level of credibility - whereas a newcomer who
appears to have shown up for no other reason than to gripe would be
largely ignored.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

On 14 Jan 2004, the world was enlightened by Nsty N8's opinion about...

Hello

I received BAD service from an online plant dealer. The site was
incorrect
about what they had in stock, the plants were shipped 2 weeks late and
they won't respond to my emails or phone calls. I also received melted
plants.

What can I say or write without getting myself sued.


N8

Along with what the others said -

Do you know which state/country the e-tailer resides in? You may want to
try writing to the Better Business Bureau (or equivalent) in that state or
that state's consumer affairs office. Also, does your local newspaper/TV
station(s) have a consumer help line? They can be *very* effective in
getting you a refund or replacement plants. It'll help if you've got
pictures of the melted plants, the tracking history from the shipper and
the online/email confirmation of your order.


hth,

kev

--
Civilization.

An organized system of alternatives to the stone age - CJCherryh

I agree with Eric.

In practice, a company won't sue anyone just to recover costs or lost
opportunities unless they believe you have a lot of money or are insurred
against this type of thing.

Usuallyany law suit would simply be to scare you aware or to prevent others
from saying anything similar.

If you do have enough money to be worth sueing, then say whatever you like
and let then sue. The odds are that they will not follow through because
they know they will be out of business before the thing has worked its way
through the courts.

If you don't have any money, then say whatever you like and let them sue.
Just let the legal system take its process and do everything yourself. It
will take just as long and again they will be out of business before the
case gets resolved.

In other words - they are just bluffing.

I'm an Australian, but I assume the same holds true in America.

It is very traumatic the first time you get sued.

However, if you just relax and treat it as an adventure, it can be fun.
Don't believe the LA Law shows and other TV junk.

Most magistrates and judges see right through the nonsense that is thrown up
by agressive lawyers and manage to take the side of the little guy who is
being picked on. In your case, even if you managed to lose the case, the
damages would be almost nothing.

The best part of letting someone else take you to court is that you have to
spend a few hours watching other cases and you learn a lot about how the
system works.

As you can tell, I have been involved in a few law suits. A few have been
legitimate business cases that have given me ulcers - but most have been
very entertaining.

Jim




Eric Schreiber wrote in message
...
(Nsty N8) wrote:

I received BAD service from an online plant dealer. The site was
incorrect
about what they had in stock, the plants were shipped 2 weeks late and
they
won't respond to my emails or phone calls. I also received melted plants.
What can I say or write without getting myself sued.

Unfortunately, there is very little correlation between what you can
legally say and what you can be sued for saying. Anyone with the
inclination can bring a lawsuit for just about any absurd crap. They
may not win it, but that's often not the point - their intent is more
to hassle, harass, and stifle other complaints.

My personal opinion, and I'm a hotheaded computer geek, not a lawyer,
is to say what you want, but stick very clearly to the indisputable
facts ('site said item x was in stock', 'promised shipping date was',
'actual shipping date was', 'sent email on Monday', etc). Back
everything up with documentation if you can. When you state an
opinion, be clear that it is only your opinion.

This won't protect you from some disreputable, unscrupulous person or
company suing you - nothing will if you choose to speak - but it will
make the potential cost for them higher. Their own reputation is going
to be far more damaged by bringing a lawsuit over factual comments
(see PetsWarehouse fiasco) than the comments themselves ever were, and
their chances of losing or being tossed out of court by an even
moderately intelligent judge will be higher.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

"Jim Morcombe" wrote:

I'm an Australian, but I assume the same holds true in America.

Probably, but I suspect that America holds the world title for Really
Stupid Lawsuit Abuse. It's damn near the national pastime.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

"Jim Morcombe" wrote:

Forget my previous posting.

Do I have to? It was a lot more fun

--
www.ericschreiber.com