Complaint about a zombie post of mine

[Chefwifelife]

I had an email from MN report team today to inform me that a post of mine from June 2019 has been reported as possible libel for defamation.

I’ve read the post several times and stand by the post as honest. I’ve informed MN that I don’t want the post deleted.

I can see today that several of the posts by other members on the thread have been deleted.

I was intrigued if there were similar posts on Mumsnet so Googled this company and found that a few days ago there quite an unpleasant exchange on Trust Pilot with a customer who had left a negative review about them.

AIBU to stand by my original (ancient) post or should I just be done with it and delete it? I don’t want to feel bullied into removing an honest post asking for others experiences.

Has anyone been in this situation?

FYI MN have been great throughout.

Houchin tell MNHQ the search facility is not working.
I am using iPhone mobile site.

They keep a very close eye on trustpilot!

I'd be surprised if they weren't following this thread.

The thread is still there

Ive had a nose as well

Can’t see what you've said wrong

I won’t add to any issues by saying what i think of the product

But I’m not having positive thoughts put it that way

This is not libel! They are having a strop!

MN really needs to learn about limitation periods and be prepared to tell people threatening litigation to get lost when those limitation periods have expired, as is the case here. In any event, your posts weren't defamatory.

Very short sighted of this company to try to bully you. They've just created a very bad impression for all the potential customers reading this thread.

If nothing else this has killed any faith I might have had in Trustpilot reviews.

I think it's pretty poor form to threaten someone with libel for a review. Surely companies don't win these cases?

As I understand it, if you express an "honest opinion" based on fact, that's not libellous. Eg OP described the contents of the bag (fact) and said what she thought if it ("honest opinion"). The company might not agree with her opinion, but that doesn't mean that her opinion is "untrue". Si it can't be libellous to express it.

Also I agree with a pp that even a cursory glance at the majority of reviews anywhere shows that: 1. Lots of people don't understand how reviews work - eg 5 stars and the text says "Arrived on time. Excellent customer service. I haven't opened the box yet because I'm still at work." Or "Really good. We're looking forward to using this on our holiday next month" or some shit like that. 2. For some people finding a pretext to write a negative review is some kind of challenge - eg 1 star review "The waiter brought everything promptly, the food was delicious and at 50p for a 22 course tasting menu was reasonably priced, but what let this place down was that my fork was set at slightly the wrong angle, therefore ruining our special anniversary meal that we'd been looking forward to for months. We will not be returning." 3. Some people are just arseholes. So negative reviews don't necessarily mean a bad company.

But a poor response to negative reviews, on the other hand ...

@Thecazelets

If nothing else this has killed any faith I might have had in Trustpilot reviews.

All online review sites go the same way in the end. The start off all swashbuckling and renegade but once they reach a certain size, they get heavily lent on by the companies and they buckle.

And yes, I agree with other posters. There are definitely made up positive reviews on that thread.even the spelling mistakes/language style is consistent.

Joe Lycett showed that you can't trust TrustPilot https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/joelycettssgotyourrback/videos/20350/fake-trustpilot-reviews/

@Chefwifelife but you received an apology from the boss last year in an e mail, any chance you still have that e mail.

This is why I keep all my emails in folders when I buy things on line. You never know when something might come back and bite you.

Yy the poster with two posts to her name -one of which mentions royal endorsement of this company and uses the exact same language as "Dan" - is hilarious.

Things like this get my goat. I gave a poor review for a business on a moderated local community site where the OP was requesting and receiving recommendations - the moderator allowed all the positive reviews to stand, but posted none of the negative ones (and admitted to me freely that there had been several for this particular business.)

They were concerned about being held accountable for defamation, but when I asked them why they considered they would not be accountable for the bad service new customers of this business received because they made the decision to use them without seeing any of the withheld negative reviews, well they didn't have any answers for that.

Having just read their trust pilot response, I am appalled by their customer service, or complete and total lack of!! It is quite ironic that they are threatening you re libel for your fair and balanced post, given that they have thrown some pretty awful accusations at the complainant. I would steer well clear of the company based upon that response alone.

I wonder if amazon bows to pressure like this. I know some reviews are complete fabrications, all too easy to spot sometimes.

Lots of companies try to buy amazon reviews or similar under the guise of copywriting services or even as part of a broader PR & content- writing package. Colleagues operating as independent PRs often get asked.

Tell them you'll have your posts deleted if their replies to it are deleted, too. 🤔

Oops @ArriettyJones has reactivated the zombie thread by accident

Oh shit sorry I should have used the “watch” thingy. It’s just force of habit to use a “.” and put things on TIO.

Everyone ignore it and it will slide back into oblivion.

Everyone ignore it and it will slide back into oblivion

Now where is the fun in that arrietty 😀😀😀😀

I wont actually do that

But its funny

Never register for any public forum with your correct address, unless you want people to be able to trace you. Its pretty easy to get a temporary email address.

Just read the TP post

@RufustheRowlingReindeer