Man Sued Over Bad Online Review and Loses Everything

[@Lovuschka]

Nothing says "trustworthy business" like suing their customers into oblivion.

[@drjay7465]

Ya, I'm curious what business this is. I'm not exactly in the market for that type of thing, but I certainly want to steer clear of them nonetheless

[@Cheepchipsable]

It must have been contained some falsehoods, otherwise it would not have gotten off the ground. I'm going with the guy just ignored the letters.

[@patsemchism]

@@drjay7465 I looked up the lawsuit and it said the plaintiff was Kevin O’Connor and Internet Money Limited, d/b/a “The Offline Assistant”

[@roryross3878]

@@Cheepchipsable Quite a charitable assumption in favor of the judge and plaintiff. Assuming this dubious assumption is true what merit is there to say an internet business review with falsehoods is punishable?

[@andrewalexander9492]

@@roryross3878 " what merit is there to say an internet business review with falsehoods is punishable? " Uhhh, longstanding law. Legal principle that has been in existence longer the the United States has been in existence. If you make public false statements about someone, you can be sued for defamation. If the false statements are spoken, it is slander. If they are written, it is libel. This principle comes from English Common law whcih is what a lot of US law is based on. the fact that you publish your falsehoods on the internet doesn't make it different than if you published them in a book, or in a newspaper, or on a sign beside the highway. If you make a false statement about somebody that portrays them in a bad light, you can in fact be sued. This is nothing new.

[@kennethmiller2333]

Got defaulted by the City of Virginia Beach. Got served, tried, and sentenced for uncut grass and trash on my lawn... ALL while I was deployed. Code Enforcement tried to fight me re-opening the case to reverse the judgement until I pointed out that the trash charge potentially carried jail time, which meant that the service MUST be in person. I asked to see the plane ticket to Rota, Spain, for the LEO who signed that he served me. After all, an LEO wouldn't falsify an official document would he (I also had a letter, on command letterhead, showing that I was deployed on the day I was supposedly served). They changed their tune quickly.

[@FunkmasterRick]

What happened to the LEO? My gut tells me nothing at all, but I thought there were pretty strict laws against screwing with deployed military personnel like that.

[@Riverrockphotos]

@@FunkmasterRick Nothing i'm sure.

[@kennethmiller2333]

@@FunkmasterRick Your gut tells you correctly. Written off as an "error."

[@rayr268]

@@FunkmasterRickthere will be no accountability for police.

[@AlBirk-m1p]

I got served thru the mailbox, cowards wouldn't come to the front door, I guess a mailbox can sign papers these days....

[@justinthyme7275]

I was sued in 2013 for dozens of reviews of one company. They sued me for libel seeking damages in excess of $50,000. I studied the law for a year and a half. I defended myself and won. I even won my counter claim. Make sure everything you write online is true.

[@Calendyr]

Yes, it's not defamation if it's true, tha is the way I understand it.

[@abacab87]

Can you tell us which business?

[@someone-ji2zb]

@@abacab87 The one he made up in his head

[@Aaron-ej9ql]

Why did you leave dozens of reviews for the company? One review, if legitimate, is fine. Dozens sounds like you're purposely trying to tank them

[@Aaron-ej9ql]

@nahbro3240 not sure why you replied to me here. I didn't say anything supporting leaving reviews or suing anyone. I criticized someone for leaving dozens of reviews. So basically, I said the exact same thing you just did. Suing people for reviews is dumb, and spamming a company with dozens of bad reviews is also dumb. Is reading comprehension not a big thing where you're from?

[@DW-nf9qe]

Just remember....this same judge saw the complete facts of the case and could've dismissed it. Shame on the judge.

[@sam805236]

No he didn't. Did you not listen? The defendant defaulted, meaning he never showed up, never presented facts. Basically ghosted the whole court case. Some people close their eyes and think the monster in the closet will go away, well in this case it didn't.

[@CHDean]

Absolutely

[@jaredgarbo3679]

@@sam805236 He wasnt given a court date, so couldn't attend. Thats his defense.

[@ThePatynight]

Judges are a disgrace of this country

[@DonziGT230]

Just remember....you had access to all the information needed to know not to leave this stupid comment. Shame on you.

[@EricThompsonClimber]

Corporations and companies are wildly out of control and lawyers are just evil.

[@jjminor]

And it’s only going to become worse

[@Eddie-qq5kq]

I don't feel that lawyers are the problem, but it's the laws designed to favor corporations (which fund political campaigns of candidates who adjust laws to favor companies).

[@bosshog8844]

These corporations are staffed with people who have names and addresses. Their kids go to schools. Their spouses are out in public running errands. This guy in the story is considering suicide. He can leave this world in better shape with the right planning.

[@EricThompsonClimber]

​@bosshog8844 our populace deals with a lot of knives in the back from the powers that be. I feel you

[@Sebmpg]

Why are lawyers evil? They are doing their job.

[@steveniemyer9288]

I was a victim of a default judgement and never knew anything about until they tried to collect. I simply went to court and filed a motion stating I was not aware of the lawsuit and was never served. They reset the court date and when I had my day in court the case was dismissed.

[@johnstack5008]

Did you have to pay a lawyer?

[@stephanbranczyk8306]

Yeah, it sounds like we're not getting the entire story. I'm not saying there aren't abuses going on, but I wouldn't be surprised if this guy just buried his head in the sand every time he was served with a notice.

[@stephanbranczyk8306]

@@neilkurzman4907 "Is that the law in all 50 states?" You mean for filing a motion in a court of law? How would he know that? Even most lawyers wouldn't know that. But ask yourself, what's the most likely scenario? That the guy just ignored everything thinking that it would just go away? Or that he was prevented from filing a motion in a court of law?

[@HypnotizeAmerica]

We had a 3 hour hearing where every lawyer involved from my side told the judge I was personally never aware of the court date, and there was zero proof I had received any of the documents from the court. They still denied my request for a new trial.

[@HypnotizeAmerica]

@@stephanbranczyk8306 my lawyer quit the case (to go into a different line of work) and they kept sending him the electronic notices of everything, but never contacted me. I did not have a new lawyer at the time because I was waiting for the court to send me information about the court dates, etc. I hired one immediately upon notice of the default judgement BUT that took MONTHS due to COVID and the fact the case was so far along.

[@KabobHope]

He needs to write another negative review and say that X company sued him and give them another negative review.

[@brandexample1776]

I would have. I would have made a web site laying everything out.

[@danieldaniels7571]

That would be a really creative way to possibly get it back into court.

[@blackhawk7r221]

You mean they guy who levied an accusation of a criminal act who is now trying to say it was simply a bad review? Nope. There are repercussions when you put pen to paper.

[@KabobHope]

@@blackhawk7r221 As long as what you write is true, there shouldn't be a problem. Truth is a defense vs libel.

[@blackhawk7r221]

@@KabobHope Sure, it may be true. Now he gets to spend tens of thousands in legal fees supporting his truth.

[@LincolnRon]

This very common. I had the same exact thing happen to me several years ago. I had an "overdue" bill that I had already paid and had the physical canceled checks to prove it. They threaten to take me to court. About 6 months later I get a summons from the Sherif's department. I show up with my canceled checks and all correspondence from that company ready to defend myself. I get there and the judge had already ruled in favor of the company because I did not show up to some court date that I had never been informed of. That was when I discovered just how corrupt our court system is in this country. Years of legalized bribery of our judges and politicians have made a joke of our corrupt "legal" system

[@UpnorthHere]

In theory, courts are not totally immune from "discipline" for corruption.

[@linardskinard8199]

'Shakedown System '

[@sunchips5]

Sounds like you didn't have a good attorney or an attorney at all.

[@LincolnRon]

@@sunchips5 How would I have an attorney when I had no idea there were court proceedings/actions scheduled?

[@sunchips5]

@LincolnRon I don't know the details of your case. The fact that the judge didn't even let you present your case when u did show up is sickening. I'm just saying that a competent attorney should know how to protect against default judgments and further proceedings way way better than just a regular citizen. If for some reason you had a lawyer go with you, I think it would have been much less likely this would have happened. (Not to discount that a lawyer is expensive and u couldn't have foreseen the unfairness with how your case went.)

[@therundi100]

The story of a company suing a customer over one bad review will do more damage to that company's reputation than the review ever could. Once their name is out, no one with any sense will want to do business with them.

[@adotintheshark4848]

something's fishy about this story. We're not getting all the facts. If he, in fact, did defame the company , then he deserves what he gets.

[@cdc19845]

Irish company.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@thomasmaughan4798]

@@adotintheshark4848 "If he, in fact, did defame the company" Their demand for $300,000 in hush money seems like extortion to me and is without honor.

[@adotintheshark4848]

perhaps on one hand, but on the other, he has no business defaming a company or someone for that matter. The damage caused could be immeasurable. I don't think I'd ask for such a huge amount, but I would require he post a new review disclaiming his old one.@@thomasmaughan4798

[@lonniehutchinson4310]

@@adotintheshark4848yes, the specifics of what the review said are key. Was it a simple opinion, or did it rise to libel or slander? I’m not sure why that key detail was not included…

[@scottgresham6759]

I'm getting a bit sick of living an honest life with such a threatening legal system there to 'protect' people.

[@andy52709]

Damn this is real. It really isn't rewarding to be honest in this world of cheaters and thieves.

[@patsk8872]

Then do something about it

[@vampiresquid]

@@patsk8872 Like what, assclown? The legal system works to benefit people who have money for lawyers.

[@paulis7319]

@@patsk8872 Doing something about it is what gets people sued into oblivion and/or jailed.

[@scottgresham6759]

A legal system 1000s of years in the development, yeah nothing is too late, is it. @@patsk8872

[@cohort6159]

I sued a company and they didn't answer. The judge still made me prove my damages. It's not like you can play this game of suing people without proof hoping they don't respond.

[@NeoTechni]

it only worked cause you didnt have money, the company did. Had they sued you, they wouldn't have had to jump through those hoops /s

[@adotintheshark4848]

Well, if you kept records of your damages, there's your proof. You should never go to court, either as a plaintiff or defendant, without documents.

[@mrwonk]

The judge shouldn't have done that. I'm guessing this was small claims; as, a decent lawyer would have handled that request by the judge correctly.

[@cohort6159]

@@mrwonk Bingo. Small claims. I got the judgement but it was a Pyrrhic victory. Never could collect.

[@blackhawk7r221]

@@cohort6159The collecting part is a different court case. Gotta follow up with the payment order.

[@karenstein8261]

Default judgements, asset forfeiture, confessions - three things simply begging for abuse. They ought to be minor legal trivia, not the “go to” shortcut for abusers.

[@andrewalexander9492]

I guess I'm, not seeing the inherent problem with the basic concept of a default judgment. If someone brings a complaint against you and you don't respond to the complaint in court, what do you expect the court to do? They have to make a decision based on what they have, and if you've chosen not to give then your side of the story, then they more or less have to accept the complaint. It really can't be any other way and still have a functioning court system. If you could just not respond to a lawsuit, and have it dismissed because you didn't respond, then nobody would ever respond to a lawsuit, and they'd all be dismissed, including the ones with merit. There's obviously some problems with the system of notifying someone, but that's a flaw in the process, not a flaw in the fundamental concept. How do you think that the courts should treat a lawsuit that the respondent ignores?

[@davidmuth4571]

I got sued by a mortgage company 4 years after I surrendered my home without a foreclosure. I was never served or notified of any hearings, but I got notification letters from the court, and it seemed to me the judge was taking my side, as the plaintiff could not find any documents with my signature. The whole thing concluded without me having to do anything. Thanks Judge!

[@davidmuth4571]

@Frank Heuvelman I agree. By all means, move to Europe. It's government as if Disney ran it. Leave us knuckle draggers to our misery.

[@dondiego2262]

@@andrewalexander9492 The trouble isn't with the default judgement itself but with all the crap that goes with it. IE: documents written in legal ease so the average person can ' make heads or tails of it and then needs to not only find a lawyer but the right kind of lawyer to translate for them. To call what the courts do these days "justice" is really stretching the definition of the word and needs to be revamped so all can get justice. That is my opinion anyway.

[@andrewalexander9492]

@John Smith Yep, totally agree. Serving summons by US mail is just ridiculous. But that's a defect in the system, not in the fundamental concept of a default judgment.

[@rogers4845]

I had a negative review that I asked google to remove because I had no idea what the guy was talking about. They did remove it. About a year later I found out it was posted by a competitor. One of their former employees came to me and told me it was their common practice. The competitor closed their business and filed bankruptcy, they have a mountain of unpaid taxes. My only revenge was playing on a rec league hockey team. The competitor was on another team. It was no check, but I did hit him with the puck 3 times.

[@swatkins9391]

Nice return

[@jchapman8248]

Congrats on the hat trick, bro!

[@kentharris7427]

I had an attorney give me a negative review and I had never did business with her. This looks like an option. I should send her a demand letter to have it taken down, if not I will take her to small claims court. She has given several negative reviews on several other companies. Even gave a negative review to a restaurant since her parents had an argument there!

[@threeriversforge1997]

Going down a similar road right now. It's a painful process!

[@NiceMuslimLady]

@@kentharris7427 How long ago? You have Statutes of Limitations to worry about.

[@GregPrice-ep2dk]

The court, on its own, should have thrown the case out. Reviews are opinions, and thus protected Free Speech.

[@rogerlimoseth4790]

Free speech is no longer free

[@andrewalexander9492]

Ummm, *opinions* are protected, false claims of fact are not. It's important to understand the difference. If I say: "I think that Greg Price has poor fashion sense and isn't very intelligent" That's an *OPINION*. If I say: "Greg Price had sex with his 12 year old nephew on October 17th, 2022" that's not an opinion, that's a factual claim. False claims of fact are absolutely *not* protected Free Speech. And yeah. if I publicly made that claim of fact and it was false and you could prove that it was false, you absolutely *could* sue me for making that statement. There's nothing special about a review that makes it inherently an opinion. It depends on what you say in that review. If you leave a review for Fred's Kosher Vegan Restaurant that says "I think that Fred's food doesn't taste good and their service is slow" that's an opinion. If you leave a review for Fred's Kosher Vegan Restaurant that says " Fred's Kosher Vegan Matzoh Balls are not Kosher and Not Vegan because they are deep fried in pork fat" that is not an opinion. that is a claim of fact. And if your claim is a lie, and your lie causes Fred to lose business because people believe your lie, Fred absolutely can sue you for the damage that your lie caused.

[@MewtwoStruckBack]

Reviews are opinions, yes, though there are limited situations I could see a review being legally actionable - if it can be proven that you are claiming things that didn't happen (libel), or you never made a purchase from the business (e.g. company does/believes in things that are not popular, or has an employee who said or did such things and the company doesn't fire them, and people who never bought anything from that business use online reviews as a weapon to attempt to force social justice/levy extrajudicial consequences - in those cases the people who misused reviews should be able to be sued, and the judgment should be significant to make the company whole from any potential lost business, or the amount the employee would be out, over the course of their life, if they were to have lost their job.)

[@andrewalexander9492]

@@MewtwoStruckBack In the case at hand, the respondent in the laws suit posted claims about the plaintiff on, (in his own words) " Facebook My Business Blog My Business Podcast My Business KZbin A marketing forum where people leave reviews on products and services they buy from there. " He was posting comments on this video when it first came out. So this wasn't just a Yelp review, but by his own statements, a multi platform effort to pass on negative information about the company. And he was not just posting opinion. I don't recall the specific details but he stated that the company failed specific obligations, and their failures cost him some significant amount of money ($8,000, I think, but it's been a while) I have no idea if his statements about the company were true or false, but the point is, it wasn't just opinions in a reviews. He made very specific details claims about wrongdoing on the part of the company. If they were true, he was justified in publishing them. If the were false, well, that is libel, and you can damn sure get sued for libel. this comments forum is full of outraged idiots who think that you can say anything you want and the first amendment protects you. It ain't true. You seem to get that, but a whole bunch do not.

[@anothersquid]

It seems like there's more to this story than has been reported here. That's not a slight on this channel but rather a general dig on the internet... the internet is seeing one side of this only.

[@stevenebesni2432]

The court should have never even entertained it. What is the point of a review if you cannot leave a negative one?

[@Fusion008a]

Was sued a couple years ago, I was never served with a summons I only found out after I was sent a default judgement, I challenged the default judgement immediately on the grounds I had not been served. The biggest problem is that they allow the person that stands to gain financially to serve the notice, instead of the State that has a duty to both parties to a fair hearing.

[@evensgrey]

That depends entirely on the jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions require a sworn officer (usually a Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff, as everywhere in the US not under exclusively Federal jurisdiction has those) to do things like serve the notice papers. Such a limited pool can create some problems when things like the housing bubble bursting in 2007/8 led to huge numbers of foreclosure actions, but they also jammed up the courts rather well and certainly the Sheriff can serve notices faster than the courts can adjudicate.

[@jamegumb7298]

Sometimes they will serve by public notice. They often do this for paternity court when mom knows no address. Come home from another state, owe 100K.

[@evensgrey]

@@jamegumb7298 And one of the nastier things about that is the law in the US specifically state that already accrued child support must be paid, regardless of the validity of the claim. So, the mother misidentifies the father, accidentally or maliciously, and he still has to pay. (He might, perhaps, be able to recover the money from her, but that would be a separate civil action. Then there's the circumstances where the state can sue for child support WITHOUT the mother's consent, as can happen in some states.)

[@jamegumb7298]

@@evensgrey Or where the mother makes up a name, and the state goes after random guys. Was in the news, is is on yt somewhere.

[@evensgrey]

@JOHNSON Chodenseider That definitely has NOT been happening in the UK. Police numbers are WAY up from what they were in 1991. They've managed to stop an already violent country getting even more violent, but that's about it.

[@nicholas_scott]

Tim castleman has a whole website devoted to the issue. The Irish company over billed his for $8000. Leading to many court dates, that he won. The one he missed happened while switching lawyers and never got the date. Seems like an easy appeal. But the crazy part was HE was personally sued for $300,000 not his LLC.

[@kjnoah]

Definitely crazy. He luckily won't be forced to pay while fighting it.

[@anthonydurling4093]

How did they pierce the corporate veil?

[@joeyscleaninglady2877]

@@anthonydurling4093 alter ego probably

[@g-man2507]

Wow, that is nuts. I am guessing they claimed he wrote the negative review and not the LLC but it's not clear how they make that distinction.

[@williamwilson6499]

I talked with a lawyer about forming an LLC and he said the idea of the “corporate veil” was essentially meaningless. It doesn’t protect you from anything.

[@Fake.plastic.guy.]

I nearly had a default judgement against me. I got served at work one day. Was from a landlord in a place i moved out of about 6 mos earlier. My 3rd and final notice. Judgement against you pending!! blablabla. Odd thing, when i moved out there were no outstanding balances and no disputes with them and they had none with me. They were claiming 4 months of unpaid rent plus costs. I gathered my paperwork and showed up at the hearing. The look of total surprise the prosecution and the judge's face said a lot, but the fact one was wearing track pants and the other in regular street clothes said it all. They were in no way expecting anyone to show up. I told them my name and showed the summons and the judge (sweatpants) said to the other guy, The defendant has arrived and it appears he is ready for trial.I had receipts, I won in a couple minutes. They had a pile of cases just like mine that nobody ever shows up for and would just plow through piles of them, in runners and sweatpants. It turns out the process server had my details already on file. So instead of going to some bogus address the landlord gave them, they showed up at my work instead. Heres the thing, if every week these guys sit down and run through a few dozen defaults and nobody ever shows up, ever, (once) shouldn't that raise some attention? It is one thing if the prosecuting lawyer was shady and ran a scheme getting defaults. How to explain the judges attire then? Is that what a judge wears in his courtroom while waiting for litigants who may arrive momentarily? The whole thing was blatantly obvious, laughable. I was just glad I won, i think they were seeking $4999. which was exactly how much I didn't have.

[@jayhache5609]

Where was this?

[@Fake.plastic.guy.]

@@jayhache5609 in canada, toronto.

[@papatutti59]

I had ordered an expensive book online. I was given the video (email) of the book being boxed, labeled and paid for shipping at the post office. I was tracking the delivery every day. On the day of delivery, I sat outside the house waiting for the USPS to deliver the mail. Yup, I got mail, but no package. A few minutes later, I got an email saying my package was delivered. I went looking for the mail carrier and when I found him, he said he delivered it to my address. I filed a complaint with the postal service and they did nothing about it. About a week later, a neighbor came over and dropped off the book, saying the mail carrier delivered it to the wrong address.

[@patndave4919]

Your mail man was Cliff Clavin? (on CHEERS)

[@truckmann1762]

Says allot about the company that wants to sue their customers instead of working to do the right thing for them.

[@mikehilbert9349]

Why fix the problem with your company, when you can just sue the person you did a disservice to?

[@KabobHope]

Yeah. You're assuming that the man was truthful. I'm not usually in favor of a big business, but there are too many missing pieces to make that statement written as a question.

[@Riverrockphotos]

Got to love America.

[@Hirpeeda]

Certified America moment. The rent ain't gonna seek itself. Courts are just another revenue stream

[@robertwilber1909]

there are many neurotic asses to take you seriously

[@NorthernKitty]

Next time you see someone or poor or homeless, realize it could very easily be you if you fall victim to an unjust judgment levied against you. You may ultimately prevail in court and still losing everything in the process defending yourself. It can happen to anyone.

[@CapnSnackbeard]

People prefer to judge. It's interesting where in society the real human trash hides, and how much of it there is.

[@MrCharlesEldredge]

​@@CapnSnackbeard You proved your own point. Bravo!

[@justme5384]

Why don't you just.... buy a house?

[@blackhawk7r221]

So, do not post accusations of a criminal act and try calling it simply a bad review. Got it.

[@rhuttrho88]

Nope! Don't let a bad company bulky you! He only had to keep up with the court dates. Just keep calling the court house. When the date is set, you ate supposed to get a summons. Just keep calling until they tell you, your case has been set. The advantages of growing up in the hood. You learn the democrats dirty games they play against citizens.

[@Zandanga]

Five days before court date, I had someone put a letter in front of me to sign. This was the first I knew about being taken to court. I discovered this someone had signed for receipt of a summons in my name many days before. Bottom line, I got a lawyer.

[@jeremyhubbardTX1]

Fraud with a document.....hope they found out who it was and charged them with it.

[@prioris55555]

how much did you have to pay the lawyer many people don't have the money

[@michaeldarr225]

There is a video for that.

[@jeremyhubbardTX1]

@@michaeldarr225 Link?

[@jeremyhubbardTX1]

@ Wow...did they find out who forged the signature?

[@henxinggan]

Why does there not have to be proof that someone was served? How are we supposed to prove a negative if we don't receive a notice? Ridiculous.

[@bob456fk6]

It seems ridiculous for a company to be able to sue someone for $100K for hurting their feelings.

[@stormshaman]

If it hurt their feelings but not their business they have no standing to sue XD

[@robertwilber1909]

100k was cheap

[@shekharmoona544]

I had Virginia send a process server and the process server never showed up. Virginia asked me how long have I lived at this address. They called the process server they were contracted and started an investigation. I have a feeling that process server is not working for that state any longer.

[@rhoonah5849]

The process server was probably promoted to a supervisor.

[@sergiosergio12345678]

Courts should be requiered to send letters with a tracking number and return signature, otherwise they will destroy people's lives.

[@chrisnamaste3572]

The courts are asinine. You get at MOST 30 days to respond and THEN the courts take usually AT LEAST months to do ANYTHING! It can takes years. Finding an attorney and responding is VERY difficult in MANY cases. The courts are in serious need of modernization. My ex wife tried to get a default judgement against me through trickery of a false address....

[@phatzwave4424]

This only proves how corrupt our court system is. Constitution? ROTFLMAO!

[@Matt-yg8ub]

Had a coworker pick up a girl in a bar, one night stand and she was gone the next morning. All he remembers is that she said she was a lawyer ..but about a year later he got picked up for failure to pay child support. Apparently he missed court for a summons he never received, and the default judgment against him was 100% child support and complete loss of all parental rights. To this day he’s not even sure this child actually exists because he has never met It, isn’t sure if it’s a boy or a girl and has no idea if it know who he is or not…. he just keeps paying $1200 a month to the court (direct garnishment of his wages, since he is a city employee ) …anticipating further demands when college rolls around.

[@jaredgarbo3679]

@@Matt-yg8ub Seems made up, no court will remove parental rights for no reason.

[@jaredgarbo3679]

1st Amendment doesnt apply to civil cases.

[@JoeyBlogs007]

WOW I would not buy anything from that company. So spiteful.

[@brt5273]

It amazes me that there is no consideration for the veracity or legitiacy of the suit before entering a judgement, regardless if the defendant failed to respond properly appear. Seems like the court should take extenuating circumstances into account and there should be a postponement, at least to review whether the case has genuine merit before entering a judgement. I understand that in a situation like this, that is the function of the appellate court to sort it out, but the way the system is currently set up it seems imbalanced in favor of the plaintiff and ripe for abuse of the dendant.

[@SmittyAZ]

Wouldn't a lot of 'bad' defendants just not show up? Once you've 'proven' that you've served them, what more should you do? The defendant could have contacted the court for a postponement? (Of course, if they're in the hospital, or overseas. etc., that would be a reason for reversal.) OT - I've actually seen a crooked Judge NOT dismiss a traffic ticket when the cop didn't show up. He made the poor guy come back. In my case, he made me wait until lunch to dismiss even though my case was called early. The other CHP officers spoke up and tried to say 'my' guy had an emergency. I was doing 60 in a 55 - he could find nothing else. I just wanted to see his face in court.

[@Cheepchipsable]

@@SmittyAZ In case you haven't notice, this "proof" of delivery seems rather flimsy in many cases.

[@SmittyAZ]

@@Cheepchipsable I know, I was just reminding everyone that there are screwballs on both sides. The judges should be smart enough to see what's going on, but sometimes the law is clear cut when you don't show up.

[@cj09beira]

@@SmittyAZ my father almost lost his office because of exactly this kind of thing, he was away from the country and had rented part of the place to a stationery store, the store owners were lazy and bankrupted the company, so they sued for the price of the whole office claiming that the rent was too high and forced them to go bankrupt, when there wasn't anything preventing them to leave, the rent hadn't increased, and they were only renting part of the office space. my father only kept the place because his mother happened to die a week prior to the last day he had to respond, and by sheer luck he decided to pass by the office before going to see the family, it was already friday, and the laywer had to stay up to midnight to respond. how a court/law would allow this kind of situation to be even a possibility is beyond me.

[@TheMelnTeam]

@@SmittyAZ In a functional system, it should depend on whether plaintiff or defendant is the no-show. If plaintiff no-shows, that's a dismissal. If the defendant no-shows, plaintiff should still be required to present evidence that sufficiently proves damages on the merits. If plaintiff can't demonstrate damages based on uncontested claims, they should fail regardless of the defendant's presence.

[@dagonming1319]

this is the 5th "online negative review gone wrong" video. one from Australia ( photographer?), Thailand ( American being arrested for hotel review), America ( American review of a US business), America ( American review of a judge), now this one from an American review of a Ireland company. thank you for the videos

[@tonytee.1864]

I feel sorry for this guy. I hope he prevails. The company that did this to him sounds evil. Karma will be at their doorstep .

[@Pfsif]

No he will succeed and vacation in the French Rivera.

[@N1njaSnake]

You still believe in karma in this crazy world?

[@edie4321]

And it's coming very soon. They've had it set for them. Let the reversals/shift begin. That's why its going to get rough for many. Karma's coming, and she's a Righteous bitch.

[@EllaNonimato]

i dont believe in karma.. sadly, many awful people gets good things in life and get away with evil.

[@edie4321]

@@EllaNonimato You're right, it has been set in evil's favor, but no more. The return is part of the shift.

[@stanley1554]

The post office is complete trash. at least once per month they drop mail of mine (sometimes important) off at my neighbors.. that's ridiculous

[@DFCAlaska]

I had a similar situation to this except when they told I would owe them hundreds of thousands of I didn't take my review down I told them go ahead and out would counter sue them for so much money they wouldn't know how to go to the bathroom, they then apologized and vanished, I never got another bill from them or Heard from them again, but they also knew I was on to them and had recordings of every phone call we had as well which at the time was new for me. I had just got that set up a few weeks before they made contact with me. Thanks God.

[@shekharmoona544]

Do these process servers just purposely screw up? Someone should be held responsible.

[@virt1one]

Process serving is a business, they are paid for every person they serve. There are examples of corrupt servers padding their paychecks by just signing off on having served when they couldn't find the person. Those papers are dated, timed, locationed, and signed. One example steve did awhile ago the server had a *stack* of papers that were all date AND time stamped the same. (hard to serve several people at the exact same moment at addresses miles apart!) So basically everyone that server said he served were the people said they didn't get it had to be thrown out because they had no way of knowing which of the "I didn't get served" were real and which were fake, they just had to give the litigants the benefit of the doubt and consider them all fake servings and out they went. And you can't be served by mail, it had to be done in person, by a certified server, who has to find you, identify you, and physically hand you the papers. If servers try very hard and still can't get you served, they'll finally give up and post it in the newspaper or something, but that doesn't look like what happened here. And once you get served, you'll be MAILED a court summons with a date on it to be in court. If the postman loses that one, you may be in trouble. Normally you'd be watching your mailbox for the summons after being served, but with covid delays, it wouldn't be difficult to expect a long delay of weeks or months, and not be concerned yet about not receiving the summons, only to find out that your court date was in fact NOT seriously delayed, you had been summoned, and your court date had passed and got you defaulted. If this happened, there's a good chance he'll get it set aside, but at this point a lot of damage has already been done. I think if it were me, once I'd been served, I'd be calling the courthouse every week (or other week) to see if I had a court date yet. And paranoid ME would probably record those phone calls and make sure I verbally stated the current date to the clerk so it was on the recording. Especially with this big of an amount on the line! I do wonder though if he can recover any of the damages here. If he was fraudulently served, I'd assume he could sue the servers, and the servers may also find themselves in criminal trouble. If he was properly served and never received the summons I doubt he can get damages from the post office as they really don't "guarantee delivery". (it seems like a bad idea to not send summons via registered mail, for this reason, those are *important* ! ) This may just be a "one in a million" really bad luck thing. and not something that happens with any regularity, but I suspect there have been quite a few examples in the last year, mainly down to covid screwing the court schedule and varying wildly from people's expectations. And it's sad that so many important documents go through the post office, which has had a bad track record lately regarding lost mail. I've failed to receive property tax notices due to lost mail, and it's surreal and a bit frightening to come home from work to see a neon sheet taped to your door saying the city's going to auction my house off in 30 days to pay unpaid taxes! But thankfully I had 30 days and was able to run to the courthouse the next day and pay, but I shudder t think of what would have happened if they'd just MAILED that 30 day notice and the postman lost that too? Would i come home from work to see an auctioneer selling my house? Sure I have some fault there not paying attention to not having received the tax bill, but it would still seem to be very unfair! So what happened to this guy hits a bit too close to home for me.

[@bruced.370]

@@virt1one too long to read....give us the Cliff notes version, 😆

[@davidmuth4571]

In my state there are quite a few hoops you have to jump through to become a process server. It's also very easy to have your permit suspended or revoked. I applied for a job, but would have had to work as a contractor. Too much negativity, so I decided against it.

[@billybeemus3929]

@@bruced.370 - Disregarding something because it is too long to read will end you up on the wrong side of a default judgement someday.

[@adamgray1753]

Chances are the Corrupt Courts have protections against their victims easily protecting themselves, @John Smith. We can not possibly have a reliable and Pure Court System, now can we? lol

[@cat637d]

Justice is a purchased product, not for the common citizen!

[@ApesAmongUs]

I just received a package yesterday that USPS claims they delivered in April. Until it showed up, it was the 3rd package they had lost (but officially claimed to have delivered) since September. You should attack them every chance you get.

[@BillPalmer]

@Sum-Tin Wong “demonrats?” Really? You expect people to take your claims seriously when you lead with name calling and the BIG LIE? The USPS was allegedly sabotaged in order to HELP trump. All the actual cheating to date has been on the republican side. If you have some substantiation of these rather unusual claims, please provide some proof. USPS “actively monitoring US citizens on-line activity for revenge”? Revenge prosecutions from the USPS? “Billions of supporters?” You know the saying: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”

[@matthewk6731]

@@BillPalmer Yes. Demonrats. One person's testimony can send a killer to prison, yet when hundreds of people come forward, testify under oath, and submit affidavits under penalty of perjury that they witnessed improper things happening, the courts rule that is not evidence. Other people find strange things happening via statistical analysis such as Biden surging ahead between 1 and 4 AM in multiple districts. Etc. Biden hid in his basement most of the time and would draw 20 people at rallies while Trump would draw 50,000. None of it passes the smell test. So yes. The demonrats.

[@NotApplicable555]

What pisses me off is that they're signing for packages now in your name because of "covid". I had a delivery driver mark a package as delivered and signed for, and they told me that my package was likely stolen by a neighbor. I know my neighbors and they wouldn't have stolen, but the delivery driver likely delivered to the wrong address.

[@dalepres1]

Yes; I've had that problem. I had some valuable coins shipped and never received them. Months later, they showed up even though the USPS had been claiming it was delivered to the local UPS Store where I get my mail.

[@UpnorthHere]

@@dalepres1 the tracking on your registered mail should show not only where they were but who signed for them at each location.

[@boataxe4605]

A huge blow to freedom of speech.

[@southwestxnorthwest]

I did this myself! I had contested a traffic ticket I received by mail and a court date was set. I completely forgot about it but after 10 days had gone by, I suddenly remembered it and in a panic. I emailed the court and explained the exact situation to them and they deferred the ticket for a year. They said if I did not receive any more tickets for another year, it would be wiped off of my record.

[@DarkKnightBruce]

Cool. I am starting my own traffic law firm as soon as I get licensed (hopefully before the end of March). Please let me know what state that happened in. Thank you.

[@NYCZ31]

This story doesn’t pass the smell test

[@dsm5d723]

International jurisdiction. Of Skynet on your phone. If he did ignore the court date, it was an open door to kill him from the social world and his search for value. Y2K Bug reporting to the lower life forms.

[@mikew6765]

Agree. We've got some facts missing here.

[@Mewse1203]

Thank you. There's something weird here.

[@betsybarnicle8016]

He didn't get a notice of a court date? Sounds like the default should be overturned.

[@Mewse1203]

@@betsybarnicle8016 maybe...maybe not. If he knew there was a lawsuit pending, he should have contacted the court to find out what the deal was about not getting anything. It's a fine line between Excusable neglect and "should have known".

[@brianwest2775]

How could someone claim that one bad review damaged them to the tune of $60,000?!

[@jquest43]

Thats part payment on a c8 corvette

[@Marvin_R]

one bad review could do as much as millions in damage, all depending on the exposure the review gets, how shocking the contents of the review are, and how big the company is. imagine a guy claiming there was rat poison in food he was served at a restaurant, and several websites and newspapers picking up on this. many people would be afraid to go to that restaurant. and a small business doing large transactions(a video game developer for example) could lose a lot of income from losing a single client.

[@andrewalexander9492]

Brian west, plaintiffs claim ridiculous damages all the time. that's why it's important to respond to the lawsuit, so you can show the court *why* your comment didn't cause $60,000 in damages. If the court doesn't have your side of the story, they have to accept the side of the story they do have.

[@briangoodie3420]

@@Marvin_R many years ago I was at an Italian restaurant, I cut into my meatball and there was a hammering nail in there. If I didn't cut into it and just stuck my fork picked it up and bit into to can you imagine the lawsuit and review. We got are whole meal for free, which was for 5 people.

[@ClockworkGearhead]

@@Marvin_R Eh, regardless of losses, the review should be protected free speech. Losses are on the company for earning a bad review. That's how business is supposed to work. If profits are protected by legal coercion, then we might as well just say rights are dead and go on to calling ourselves a corporate tyranny.

[@jameshanna8762]

Ironically, they actually did increase his online presence by suing him. I would have never heard of him otherwise. Sounds like one of those twisted wishes granted by a genie.

[@freedustin]

after his company tanked...

[@mymusicaccount1456]

My fed tax return was mailed first week of April 2020, spent nearly 2 months in Detroit. I was told by my local post office that there was literally a mountain of mail stuck in limbo because of the major shortage of postal workers because lots of postal workers tested + for covid.

[@devilsadvocate1597]

So it's actually financially beneficial for a company to deliberately do a terrible job then sue their dissatistifed customers! Only in America!

[@TEAMPANIC42]

I had a default judgement against me. The collection agency stated that I was delivered a summons. The problem is, I was at work the day I was supposedly served, and they listed the date and time "served". They also stated that it was given directly to someone. I live alone, so... Ended up having to pay over $3000 plus fees to the collection agency. Could have sworn that was illegal.

[@Justbecause7777]

Yes that's because what they did is illegal.. the law is a joke.

[@rosacam6765]

Why didn’t you get an affidavit from work stating you were at work at the time?

[@TEAMPANIC42]

@@rosacam6765 Didn't/ doesn't matter. The court made it's decision, and I lost.

[@chegadesuade]

@@rosacam6765 Great point, I'd think this would be easy enough to prove. Your employer can prove you were at work, and your landlord can prove you don't have any roommates.

[@Matt-yg8ub]

@@rosacam6765 I don’t think it would’ve mattered

[@aquarius9491]

The guy being sued should leave another review that he's being sued for his review.

[@HypnotizeAmerica]

I did, he has tried to have my website shut down and videos removed from KZbin.

[@dilsoncamacho4100]

I really wish someone created a website where we can review courts and judges. Heck, gotta tell the people when a judge is a complete moron and when court defaults on people without properly serving. Leave a 0 stars review on this court/judge.

[@roryross3878]

Not to mention lack of merit

[@swatkins9391]

I am dealing with a moronic judge now. When the case is over, I intend to blast that SOB right off the bench through social media. He can sue all he wants. I don't care because I have nothing for him to take.

[@sunnohh]

That’s not how it works, that is not how it works at all

[@ATSucks1]

In Texas, Guadalupe county, judge William Old is dirty. When he was my public defender back before he became judge he told me that he could provide better legal representation if I offically retained him but I was poor and just accepted whatever he would provide as a public defender which was a plea bargin of course. SO WE GO INTO THE COURT ROOM PRESIDED BY HIS FATHER IN-LAW Judge Peaschul and I accept the rimjob that was my first rodeo. Later on Judge Peschul would retire at time when nobody else was running for that particular judge seat and william old was able to run and win unopposed.

[@matthewalkman386]

There is a website already. Google it, can’t remember the name but it’s popular

[@stevenrichards1539]

Every time I have posted a review that was less than 5 stars, immediately there were a dozen 5 star reviews posted with no narrative.

[@tessa7778]

Yeah! 😒

[@w8what575]

I did a review on the veterinary clinic in town that was a positive but noted the fact that I was charged over $1200 for my pet to be put in a cage over night and then sent home…he passed away shortly after of what I could only assume as kidney failure…the vet has raised his prices to an obscene amount and no one can afford his services…that don’t include an actual diagnosis for ur pet so u can adjust the pets diet as needed etc….they took it down. As if I hadn’t been truthful. I currently live in the edge of town where people dump off their elderly pets to die alone and afraid because they can’t afford to have their pet put down. Needless to say they end up living in my yard until they pass away. I can at least provide food and comfort for the animals….it’s sickening that greed is the cause of these innocent pets being abandoned like that.

[@elainec6989]

Trying not to get off the subject but my vet charges $380 to spay a cat! No wonder we have so many feral cats running around.

[@b.arborio2404]

"Freedom of speech...just watch what you say" - Ice T vs. Tipper Gore ('Phil Donahue Show' circa 1990)

[@3rdFloorblog]

Freedom of speech is beautiful until someone ruins it with bullshit accusation & other lies...

[@hojo70]

Freedom of speech is only the right to speak without censorship or restraint by the government

[@TheMegalusDoomslayer]

@@hojo70 until the government decides you owe someone

[@Cheepchipsable]

You have freedom of speech, just don't expect there to be no consequences.

[@TheMegalusDoomslayer]

@@Cheepchipsable I'm so glad we have punishments for practicing speech. See how free we are?

[@Andrew_Sherman]

Just the idea that you can sue for a negative review is just ridiculous. Is this normal?

[@jt4369]

I’m a lawyer. In America, one can sue another because it’s Tuesday. It’s asinine. But it’s the system we have. As a society, we need to resist this kind of baloney. It’s creating a world no sane person would want to live in.

[@gordonshumway7239]

One question. When someone is defaulted, does the court take no notice of the AMOUNT of the claim. On its face, $30,000 for one online review seems outlandish. To collect you need to show actual damages don’t you? Can this company really show $30k?

[@suzannehartmann946]

HE SAID they told him you owe us 30,000 then they sued him. It is possible he really owed them that and that is what they sued for. Not the bad review.

[@pansepot1490]

We have only heard one side of the story. Steve has covered in the past stories of people who claimed that they had just left a negative review and then during trial turned out they had organized a large scale defamation campaign. The fact that this guy basically admitted he didn’t bother to defend himself (or at least paid very little attention) makes me think he’s either very naive about the law or he’s not innocent as he would have us believe. It would be interesting to dig deeper and find out what actually happened.

[@fishimust4766]

@@chrismarek7864 I see bigotry is alive and well. I often wonder why people are fleeing the failed State of California, the mecca of secular progressivism, and moving to Texas. It must be all that religion they have in Texas.

[@outdoorsguy]

@@fishimust4766 If California were a sovereign nation, it would rank as the world's 5th largest economy. Not exactly a failed state.

[@icanrememberthis]

Where are you getting $30k from? Steve said $300k in the video. Or was the 30 just an example.

[@Bucketmanhead]

I have some personal experience with this. Years ago, I received a default judgment in the mail for about $600ish in credit card debt. I thought it was a scam at first, because a police officer never served the papers and I never received any kind of mail indicating I was being sued and needed to appear in court to begin with. I always believed it was the law that an officer or sheriff had to personally deliver the documents to you, because otherwise it’s unethical to presume that a non-answer means you’ve chosen not to contest the issue. I literally never received a court summons, so how was I supposed to know? Fortunately, I did not wind up losing everything like this guy.

[@DrKnowsMore]

I work for the postal service and I can tell you right now that you should absolutely blame them. Stuff is frequently lost, often at the processing plants where it is destroyed, lost, or simply forgotten about. During covid, male sat for months because the postal service was so short staffed that it couldn't deal with it. It's also the case that mail will often get to the office that delivers it and then be sent back by someone who is inexperienced and doesn't know what they are doing.

[@lawfulmasses]

Hey, Steve, congrats on 200,000 subs!

[@metaldetectingnmore8763]

Been here since 30k woah

[@admiraladama5877]

A random Lawful Masses makes an appearance

[@alaric_]

4k subber here!

[@Speedy2222]

wonder when i got unsubscribed, multiple channels i use to follow are unsub'd :(

[@timroden6617]

I got my court date and showed up. I told the judge I was not ready since I received notice of this court date yesterday. The judge chewed out the other side's attorney and then I filed bankruptcy. They never got the money.

[@paulmartin2499]

This gentleman's communication skills are impeccable. He ticks all the right boxes for effective communications that not only get the message across to others clearly, persuasively and affably. The targeted audience not only understands the message in a memorable manner, but he also motivates listeners to agree with him and do something about it - or carry it further. Pure integrity.

[@archangel3237]

All the skills of a great lawyer...!

[@artm5294]

Bull Shit !

[@williamlitsch5506]

I had a judgment default on me. It caused Bank of America to win a judgment against me for several thousand dollars that I could prove I didn't owe. It was due to an error from having bought out my Fleet account. The default was because I was a college student, and filing a response would have cost me couple hundred dollars that I could not afford. It caused me to go bankrupt as a college student despite having always paid my bills. I disagree with your position on this. It's grossly naive. I shouldn't have to pay to not get harassed by a large corporation. If the government wants to work on behalf of banks and corporations, it should be the one to prove that I'm guilty and not passively assume a corporation is correct. Otherwise, it means the courts are for the rich and against the poor. The courts are pay to play, and that totally de-legitimizes them. I have no reason to respect a single law from such a system.

[@shaunhall9319]

Steve, two things: I once had a default judgement because I did not get notice of the filing. I'm convinced it was just a dirty trick from my ex's attorney in that she didn't mail it to me, and I say that because she pulled other stunts as well. Also, in my life I i have twice missed showing up to court on time because I woke up that morning and had simply forgot about court that day.

[@stevejohnson174]

From what I understand, Texas used to have some of the strongest Anti-SLAPP laws up until a few years ago. Had he referred it to a lawyer earlier, I'm guessing this would have turned out far differently.

[@kevenwoods7939]

that's what happeneds when Texas turns democratic

[@prioris55555]

@@kevenwoods7939so you think Texas was not run by criminals before that

[@idminister]

@@prioris55555 Of course during and prior to the Civil War the southern states, texas included, were democrat. It was about reagan's time when they switched.

[@Punko1969]

​@@kevenwoods7939 Texas has been where patent trolls have been filing lawsuits for years because their courts are so corrupt and slanted against the individual. Not sure what 'turns democratic' means, but if you are suggesting Texas is now a liberal state, that's laughable. Texas citizens were more likely to go bankrupt from their natural gas bill during the February freeze (due to lack of regulation of the energy companies) than what happened in this story. A story that is seemingly only being reported from one side, since there is no mention of what the business suing the man was specifically accusing him of, or any attempt by the person writing the article to contact them to ask. The man could have made flat-out false claims about the business, which both the reporter and man being sued seem to be obsessed with the fact is Irish owned. Suing over a bad review seems a long shot at best, and more likely a waste of money if the person you're suing actually shows up to court. For someone to take the trouble, I'd like to hear their side. I'd like to read the actual review for starters, and I'm far from convinced that this guy wasn't notified of the court date. Something seems off about this whole thing.

[@kenc2257]

@@kevenwoods7939 Which world are you living in? "Texas remains a Republican state with Democrats not able to win any statewide race."

[@nohopeequalsnofear3242]

So...start a business, rip off your customers, then sue them for all they have when they complain. We are a broken country

[@betsybarnicle8016]

Very lucrative for evil people.

[@adamgray1753]

Something similar happened to MxR Plays two or so years ago, @@betsybarnicle8016. Unfortunately, the ones who sued MxR Plays are the same ones who have KZbin channels devoted to "viral" videos. You know those pet channels that have oddly business sounding names type of thing.

[@Airplane_Willy]

Yeah, there's a problem with patent vultures too. You create something, maybe the patent ran out, or you had unexpected success with a product. There are people out there that look for these situations, quickly file patents on said product, and then sue the creator of something that isn't even the plaintiff's. Is grotesque.

[@everettsykes1774]

The complainant company was out of Ireland.

[@sitdowndogbreath]

@@everettsykes1774 what's the name of the company

[@TheGravityAxe]

From what I've heard about Service (from other cases) is that sometimes just having it land in your mailbox is considered 'being served'. Even heard someone say it could be sent into the void and would still being considered served, as long as it was posted to a last known address.

[@blackhawk7r221]

So in review, it sounds like this guy accused the company of a criminal act. That’s far more than a mere bad review.

[@HypnotizeAmerica]

No, I didn't.

[@phototristan]

This is why you don't use your real name on Yelp.

[@mehameha4453]

There are many opportunities in life to keep your mouth shut. Take advantage of every one of them.

[@christophermoore7707]

That's my problem . The web site says leave a review, like they really care, and I do. Look I couldn't even read the comments without posting.😁😂

[@ez1913]

Always take out the other companies owner before suicide.

[@TacDyne]

Always.

[@xtranormal2350]

And the Judge.

[@richardm3023]

Two words Tank-Dozer!

[@luigi55125]

@@richardm3023 Killdozer

[@richardm3023]

@@luigi55125 Yeahhhh...that too.

[@NIGHTSTALKER0069]

It seems like we might be missing part of the story.

[@grobanite4ever85]

Companies suing customers does happen in the US it just happened in Washington state against a family for $112,000. These lawsuits are called SLAPP judgments. They are used to silence customers

[@LindaG858]

That is outrageous & no one uses any common sense anymore… this guy was taken/ruined by a company not even in this country…outrageous!!

[@blindsquirrel7802]

He should counter sue for violating his right to free speech for $500,000,000.

[@AnnSisuLiv]

Free speech is constitutionally protected with the government.

[@grahvis]

Your right to free speech is the right not to be sanctioned by the government for what you say. It is not a right to defame another person.

[@edennis8578]

@@grahvis It isn't defamation if it's true.

[@grahvis]

@@edennis8578 . I was simply pointing out that while speech may be free, consequences may not be. You have no right to avoid them.

[@Golfnut_2099]

@@grahvis BUT... in a defamation lawsuit, the person being defamed has to prove what was written is not true!

[@CAPFlyer]

Sounds like there's a lot of missing information here - like not having a lawyer.

[@mercdragons]

Agreed. Because I can leave any review I want that is truth due to the first amendment.

[@joesterling4299]

Yes, that is my guess as well. Defendant doesn't even know about court dates or proceedings? No lawyer worth his JD would let that happen.

[@andrewalexander9492]

@@TheBooban No, you can't write untrue things. If you write something that is untrue, and derogatory about someone or a business, you can get sued. If you get sued, and you don't respond, the person suing you may get a default judgment, because the judge only had their side of the story to render a decision on.

[@andrewalexander9492]

@@TheBooban Not sure if you're being tongue in cheek or not .. if you are, apologies. Anyway, you do have a right to lie, if you'd like, but if your lies cause damage to someone else, you can be held liable for those damages.

[@RayleighCriterion]

Most lawyers are grossly incompetent

[@84greenbear]

There should be a way to find out whether he was served or not. That would prove a chain of custody for those papers. And hey, you SURE can blame the post office for things being lost or destroyed when those things are in there custody. When dealing with ANY government agency, FILM them.

[@snowfreeze]

OK, so I called the clerk of court (because their website SUCKS and has been down for years) and a clerk there told me it was INTERNET MONEY, LTD. Internet Money Limited was the plaintiff. There have been "several" lawsuits with them as the plaintiff and him (and his company) as the defendants. He is also the plaintiff in several eviction and other cases. He couldn't respond on behalf of his company if he didn't have a lawyer (since this was not small claims court). But they also sued him personally.

[@vbachris]

people begging to be "more like Europe" well, remember, we left Europe to establish a more equitable society. This is evidence that we are regressing

[@tomb504dog]

I don't know about the details of this case, but as a business owner, I can tell you that a very small percentage of the public try to use negative reviews to get free stuff. They know it works because you need to get over 20 five-star reviews to cancel the effect of just 1 one-star review. We don't sue them though, we just keep doing our business and over time that review gets buried by all the good ones.

[@andre1987eph]

Anything 4.7 rating and above is good. I'll even go to 4.6 if the negative reviews clearly not related to product.

[@desertgecko4549]

7:15 Steve, I love the way you approach this (and all cases). You break this one down to fundamental points then logically and orderly analyze all possibilities in a manner that is easy to follow. A less-talented man would confuse viewers. You even add Covid to the realm of possibilities, showing us you've thought this through. I tell ya, if ever I need a lawyer, I'd want you.

[@johnnolen8338]

If an Irish company sued me in Texas (and won), I'd countersue them in Ireland claiming that they stole me pot o' gold. 🍀

[@HypnotizeAmerica]

I haven't tried that but I have switched to eating lucky charms.

[@prjndigo]

Why you gotta make this shit racist?? What do you call an Irishman who doesn't drink at a social event? _The Deceased_

[@jayalejandro324]

Steve! Some people shouldn't have the money. Apparently this poor American soul didn't see the NEED to be concerned enough to keep his money. Thanks for teaching me something about the internet.

[@kirklanyoshinaga8953]

I guess the moral of the story is to not deal with any sort of “growth” company. It’s just not worth it in the end.

[@SusieAspen]

My ex, an attorney who specialized in family law, forged his divorce. leaving me homeless and without my child who grew up thinking I abandoned him. I tried for years to get the fraud set aside, and the problem was finding an attorney to go up against their colleague (conflict of interest), plus, I had no money since I was homeless. It's been decades and I still tried to find an attorney to file "void on its face" due to the statute of limitation is long expired. They just think I have a problem. This was in California in 1978. Yes, he won by default, since I was unaware of a court date.

[@Matt-yg8ub]

That’s basically impossible in this day and age… a man filing for divorce is rare enough, let alone the woman not showing up to court. The judge would immediately flag it.

[@Zach-sg5uu]

Well men lose against women in divorce big-time all the time. So why would anybody feel sorry for you when it happens to hundreds of thousands of men and hardly ever women anymore!

[@Matt-yg8ub]

@@Zach-sg5uu I of course, have sympathy for her if she was screwed in a divorce, the same way I have sympathy for all the men who get screwed in divorce…. But I also acknowledged that she is rare because it’s almost always the other way around in this day and age.

[@jt4369]

I’m a California family lawyer and the system is a steaming pile of inefficiencies and red tape. I personally think the service of process system is a bunch of crock. Anyone can attest to anything they want. I’ve seen licensed process servers lie. Personal service with a Go Pro is the way to go. But of course, few people want to go that route.

[@dray1842]

Loss of life for a bad review, seems excessive to me.

[@samrobinson3949]

Ive had a default judgement placed on me without ever being served!

[@cedricbillingsley3960]

If service isn't made properly, the judgement should be void.

[@adamgray1753]

Now, now, @@cedricbillingsley3960. If you keep making intelligent and reasonable suggestions the Judge will sent a SWAT team to your location to permanently silence you.

[@cedricbillingsley3960]

@@adamgray1753 All too probable in these times we're in, sheesh!

[@dalepres1]

@@cedricbillingsley3960 You have to prove you weren't served - and proving a negative is impossible. The service company will swear in court that they put the notice in your hand.

[@cedricbillingsley3960]

@@dalepres1 Which of course calls the impartiality of the whole legal system into question. The first mistake is getting involved in the whole system of legal maneuvering. The great majority of us have no clue what law is all about and just simply get burned by others who are better acquainted with the system. I begin to see what that guy at ChristianRemedyinLaw channel was talking about...

[@TomPauls007]

And why did not the reviewer answer the company's contact (to take the review down) with proper foundation and counter damage claims right there? Preferably by written,. registered mail. So many inept folks out there....

[@nahbruv3621]

I went to jail for 30 days after a Google review for a bike shop in denver man tried to pop me a 50 dollar bill after hiring me for custom graphic reproduction decals for a 10k black phantom. and he tried to get me to give up my supplier. he told the copsbi vandalised his shop. no trial I was arrested and tried with no defense.

[@Akutukananu]

Wow thats insane!

[@dandailey1857]

Been there, lost house, business, all assets, wife left me, because of someone with similar name, bad criminal record, I was wrongfully accused and now have zero trust in court system & govt.

[@bobriley8102]

The courts are 1 way, I've been sent complaints before but never got them, the judge says " We at the courts believe once papers are sent in the mail, we believe that they made the delivery of said papers".

[@csanadbarczy9153]

So he lost everything through technicalities. It's like an unpaid parking ticket that compounds over the years.

[@DarkKnightBruce]

He should have hired legal counsel to get it dismissed and then countered with an ANTISLAPP.

[@thedude232]

Rule no 1 when doing reviews: Never use your real name or use a picture of yourself .

[@chrisw698]

Are we living in a post truth world now??? A good reason to stay far away from social media

[@dondiego2262]

I get it that justice is a goal that can never truly be reached but in the modern world we seem to be no longer trying to reach it. There are so many double standards (If we're lucky it is only 2) that the courts are on the cusp of useless and NOTHING should ever be tried in the court of public opinion like is so often done on /in social media. We need to collectively take a step back and reexamine if all the tech stuff is truly worth it since it seems to just bring out the worst in the species.

[@robertthomas5906]

I understand newspapers will allow people to after the fact change stories including erasing them. A socialist dream. They can lie about the past.

[@royalchamberlain4176]

I signed up with one of those companies to improve the online presence of my small business. When I received the contract, buried in the fine print was a provision that IF A CLIENT MAKES NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOUT THE COMPANY, THEY ARE ENTITLED TO LIQUIDATION OF DAMAGES. I think the Amount was about $2,500. Needless to say, some time later, after I canceled the service, I didn't express what I thought of their performance (or lack thereof.)

[@boondoggle4820]

It's shocking that that's even illegal to have in a contract. If it's an opinion about their services and not a matter of fact, you should have a first amendment right to say whatever you want.

[@creanero]

@@boondoggle4820 Probably depends on the jurisdiction. The government can't stop you saying things, but you can agree not to do so in a fairly negotiated contract with another private party. This is the basis for non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses and such which are fairly common and have been upheld by courts.

[@boondoggle4820]

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

[@zaphod77]

A non disparagement clause. This was a serious abuse of them. A non defamation clause wouldn't have prevented posting of the review, because defamation is false. The situation, if true, is a textbook case of bad faith, and is a prime reason for such stuff to get thrown out in court. Which is why he was never informed of the court date. Which was even MORE bad faith. If that's truly what happened, this will 100% be overturned on appeal. Here's an example of proper use of a non disparagement clause. The company lets you go, and receiving severance pay is contingent on signing the non disparagement clause. But having a non disparagement clause in just so people cannot post a factual negative review is NOT what they are supposed to be for, and you shouldn't deal with ANY company that has one in a service contract. A non defamation clause is sufficient to protect against review fraud. The other catch is that the standards of proof are GREATER if you missed the court date. There is no guarantee that you will win the appeal, and if not it gets tacked onto the judgement. You need another reason besides "you were never served". it has to be "you were never served and actually have a case". By asking the default to be set aside you are representing that if you are given your day in court, you can win. You missing the case doesn't matter if you were going to lose anyway, and asking for it to be set aside when you know you don't even have a case is contempt of court. Also, if you do get it set aside, the other people WILL go over everything with a fine tooth comb and correct any procedural errors that you would have won with had you called their bluff and showed up for the original date, knowing they will get all that they spend doing it back if they win. While they may have been hoping you missed it before, they WILL fight back if you get it set aside.

[@shekharmoona544]

These companies need to be exposed.

[@Bobs-Wrigles5555]

Offline Assistant

[@SaucemanSauceman]

Its the courts and lawyers too you know!

[@zonuts]

The company is named Internet Money Ltd d/b/a Offline Assistant; the proprietor is Kevin O'Connor.

[@infinitelink]

You can look up the public record and find the name of this company.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

The defendant's admission of, "be more proactive with the courts next time," tells me he was served and failed to respond in a timely manner.

[@LJinx3]

Scammed by a company in a tax haven? Sounds about right.

[@donquihote6023]

This is why society is getting more violent.

[@J3AD]

lady in Australia got bad service from vet, for her dog, so she left bad review, she ends up being sued for 1000s and now is over 100k and going higher. she and husband are fighting it.

[@Cheepchipsable]

Depends what the review said.

[@HalkerVeil]

He probably didn't think it was serious since it's a review. "You can't be sued over a review in America." Except you absolutely can.

[@LiquidToast12]

Who is this evil company? Name them and shame them.

[@DarkKnightBruce]

Internet Money Ltd. I spoke to the court clerk on the phone because their website has been down for years. I hope you read that quickly because Lehto appears to be scared of them. My comments disappearing...

[@kylemiller6765]

What's the name of the company?!? It's VERY telling that no one will mention the name of this company anywhere.