name & shame - have I done wrong?

[redrosette]

Okay so I used a local hairdresser who was very rude and I'd never use again. I mentioned on facebook and twitter that I'd had a bad experience and that I'd PM the name to any of my friends who wanted it.

So I sent the name to several people via PM. It wasn't public at any time, however said hairdresser has now contacted me threatening legal action for slander!

I didn't put anything publicly, only through PM to who I thought were friends, so I thought that wouldn't be illegal, its called PRIVATE message for a reason, right? Plus, my comments & experiences were 100% genuine.

This woman threatens legal action to everyone I'm told, and sends lawyers letters to everyone but nothing further happens, she seems to like causing trouble, however I'd hate to have to fork out for lawyers letters back and forth.

Thoughts welcome.

Oops X - post

@ ZigZag

Sorry for brief derailment of this thread - normal service is now restored.

Fucking ouch Esta

Half ashamed/half pleased that I had to google what a merkin was

here you are - the legal side of it. It's not all that clear cut.

You did link her website on your initial post which I thought was a bit dodgy considering you hadn't spoken to the manager yet to give her the opportunity to put things right. So now anyone who saw your original post will know the hairdresser and if I lived in York I would be wary about giving them my business. So like it or not you have to be incredibly careful about naming and shaming on these types of forums as they can be very powerful

As I understand it though, libel is not to do with whether what you write is true or not. It is simply that in writing it you are damaging the reputation of the person, without having given them the opportunity to deal with the accusation.

I am not a lawyer, but I think that is the case.

This is exactly what is the problem with social networking. Even if it is a private message it is still there forever, in writing and capable of transmission to whoever and wherever, without your control. So, best to just use old fashioned speaking for stuff like this.

You named the company on MN? That IS unwise.

Doesn't this all come under the defence of "fair comment." she'd have to prove what you said was not fair comment. That would be tricky for her by the sound of it .

I haven't named the company or the person on MN. I did through PM on facebook and twitter though. She had the opportunity to respond to my complaint as I gave it to her verbally, however she preferred to respond with 'f*ck off' and 'grow up'.

Oh right, sorry. I misunderstood.

Maybe put this in Legal, and see if anyone there knows.

I had a disastrous hair do at my local hairdressers, and when everyone saw it I talked about how it had been messed up and who had done it. Surely even spoken in rl, it can't be slanderous if you are just explaining what has happened?

Actually is there a 'hair' section on MN, or is it just covered in S&B? I needed to ask if there were any hairdressers around as I need to check something. Sorry for hi-jacking your thread redrosette.

I really hate the way everyone has to sue/have a solicitor as soon as anyone gets even slightly derogatory about them. No it's not nice having people saying nasty or even false things about you (I should know, I was the target of the bridezilla thread on here a few months back, amongst others by the same poster, which was COMPLETELY false) but I'm not going to go running to the police or lawyer with it! In fact the lady who posted it was saying I was the bully and she was going to do take legal action against ME! It's a lot of hot air and money and people should just realise that you can't please everyone all of the time. Someone else may be raving about what a great job she did on FB, swings and roundabouts.

Were your initial comments by PM or publicly posted?

You did name the hairdresser on your original MN post by linking her website so I and everyone else who answered your post will know who it is. I have no desire to get you into more trouble than you already seem to be in by saying the name of the salon. You do strike me as someone who doesn't think through the consequences of their actions and then try to deny what you've done to get yourself out trouble.

my initial comment on facebook was that I'd had a bad experience and would let people know who with by PM if they wanted.

Orbinator - not quite the same thing. People squabbling on a public forum is meh - but this woman's business is being criticised. It is how she makes her living. It she loses custom because she is being unfairly accused of something then she has every right to take action.
(I am not saying that she has been unfairly accused of something BTW.)

Well, firstly, it wouldn't be slander, it would be libel, as you put it in a permanent form (or wrote it in a PM to be technical).

And since she was only identified in private communication, I would say you're fine.

A colleague of mine was threatened with a libel suit for passing on an e-mail that criticised a public figure. She hadn't even written it herself. She had to hire lawyers and issue an apology.
Once you circulate defamatory comments to a couple or more people, that counts as publishing the libel, so it's irrelevant that you considered it a "private" message.
Even if your comments are true, they're still libellous if they damage her reputation. Truth is a complete defence, however.

I think you crossed a line if you posted about it here, with a link to the salon website. That is not the same as identifying the salon 'privately' only.

Hopefully the salon owner won't find out about your thread here.

BTW, I have no legal training or qualifications (suppose that is obvious).

Actually the burden of proof is on you to prove she's crap if you're in the UK. Only in the states would she have to prove she's good, that's why stars always sue in the UK. Also it's libel or possibly malicious falsehood, not slander as it's in a recordable format. And it doesn't matter that it was only PMs, she could sue as you've told a third party. Even if it's one person it's enough.

However, it's incredibly expensive to sue for libel so the likelihood of her doing it is remote.

Isn't this two different ops? The one in York and this one??

Yearning, yes it could, once the store is identifiable (whether or not you actually used the name). Or even a group of stores: if you said "a store on Smith Street, Jonestown," it might be possible for any store on that street to sue you.

What a load of rubbish, it's only a problem if it's not true.

People are always posting about mothercare, tesco, heloise in yorks bad service or bad experience. And gltc gets a right pasting on here.

And in the money advice part Of the Times people posted today about Santander making cock ups.

It's fine, providing it's true.