Thread: Slag off

Originally Posted by AussieAub

Really?
This from an old post:

"Last edited by (name of mod removed); Reason: Removed workshop name"

This was when I named a particular place (sponsor) for what I considered shoddy work, but it didn't get removed when I gave them some praise.
Name somewhere else not sponsoring the site for shoddy work and the post doesn't get "edited".

Don't get it. Apologies for any offence, coz it's not intended.
Don't wanna cause a huge issue over it, I just don't get it.
Warning people of places to avoid shouldn't be an issue, for everyones sake.

Let me point you to the Whirlpool forum (in Australia) where the owner was sued over comments made by forum members about some software.

See Case could smother web chat, says Whirlpool founder | News.com.au Top stories | News.com.au

Legal case
2Clix Australia is suing Mr Wright for damages after two forum discussions about its products on the Whirlpool site.
According to a statement on the site, purportedly from 2Clix, the action was based on comments criticising its software and postings encouraging other Whirlpool members to avoid purchasing their products.

Do you think Incisor can afford that?

I read of a recent news article that the Police could not close down a website that allowed school bullies to attack their victims electronically because of the "freedom of speech".

So the same "freedom of speech" in this country has no leg to stand on if someone posts on a forum about shoddy work done by a workshop. Sounds like this country has no "freedom of speech" if the legal system works this way.

If the accusations are false and unfounded, then there would be avenues to fight it, e.g. for defamation. But if they are factual and there's evidence that can be produced, then why are the victims gagged?

I'm not for one second suggesting that AULRO be used as a forum to slag off vendors or workshops - I'm just questioning the principles of the legal system which allows the website to be sued for comments that comes from it's members. I'm thinking of a scenario like the newspapers - Can the AGE news paper be sued if one of the advertisements that their customers put in contained incorrect information, e.g. wrong or misleading price for a product? Why would the paper be held responsible for an advertisement that their customer had intentionally put in?

Anyway, I'm glad I don't have to depend on workshops in Sydney, as I live in Melbourne! So I don't need to know which shoddy workshop was the cause of all of this discussion.

Now, if you ever need to know which workshops to avoid in Melbourne, just PM me!

As has been said above and numerous times, the policy is to protect the forum from legal action.

Any posts that are not deleted aren't a result of any kind of favouritism, simply that some Mod somewhere has been sleeping on the job, or doing something more fun than editing posts and sending PMs explaining why.

Help us out, press the give-way-exclamation-mark button at the top right corner of the post .

Simon

Originally Posted by tempestv8

I read of a recent news article that the Police could not close down a website that allowed school bullies to attack their victims electronically because of the "freedom of speech".

So the same "freedom of speech" in this country has no leg to stand on if someone posts on a forum about shoddy work done by a workshop. Sounds like this country has no "freedom of speech" if the legal system works this way.

We don't have freedom of speech as do the Americans in their Constitution. We don't have a Bill of Rights.

Originally Posted by tempestv8

If the accusations are false and unfounded, then there would be avenues to fight it, e.g. for defamation. But if they are factual and there's evidence that can be produced, then why are the victims gagged?

The aggrieved may be right but the costs - mental, physical, and financial - of defending an action in Australia puts it beyond most people.

A very difficult issue. As a person serving clients, my favourite saying is: "if you are happy with my service/work, tell your friends; if you are not happy, tell me". I know how boiling mad I can get with being ripped off but, if truth be told, half the anger is at myself for not controlling the situation properly from the start. If I or one of my staff had upset a customer, I would really want to know about it so that I could try to retrieve the situation; I would be really hurt if someone started knocking my livelihood without even telling me why.
I would venture to say that 99.9% of businesses do not deliberately set out to give bad service and rip people off but all employ real people as staff who have off days. I would also suggest that most businesses charge as much as they can; that's why they are in business and that is why I avoid main dealers wherever possible and shop around.