Roofing Company Sues Over 1 Star Review

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

"A Vancouver, Washington, couple says they are being sued for a six-figure settlement after they said they received poor service from a roofing company and gave them a one-star Google review.

Autumn Knepper and Adam Marsh told KGW-TV this week that Executive Roof Services (ERS) sued them for $112,000 after they each left one-star reviews of the company's services.

Knepper and Marsh were reportedly served a lawsuit by ERS that accused them of defamation and intentional interference with business expectancy.

Knepper and Marsh wrote in their respective online reviews that the receptionist of the roofing company, which was sent to their home by their landlord to fix a leak, was "rude" and that ERS allegedly didn't follow through on the services they were tasked with completing.

The couple also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, which a lawyer for the roofing company told KGW-TV is proof that the two went out of their way to cause harm to the family-owned roofing company."

Couple Says They're Being Sued $112K for Giving 1-Star Review to Roofing Company

Wasn't there a law passed recently to prevent this kind of thing?

 

[Fenixgoon]

Someone needs to tell this company about the Streisand Effect

 

[Steltek]

Someone needs to tell this company about the Streisand Effect

Wouldn't matter if you told them - some people just have to experience it for themselves up close and in living color before they understand and appreciate it.

And, something tells me that both the owner of the roofing company and his law firm are those kind of people.

Moral of the story? Don't leave a bad review somewhere without using a reliable VPN service, and "don't know 'nuthin 'bout it" when confronted....

 

[cytg111]

Ancestry proximity with Devin Nunes?

 

[Moonbeam]

Good

 

[owensdj]

Dumb move on the roofer's part. This lawsuit's bad PR is going to hurt them far more than some silly review about the receptionist.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

It does suck though, frivolous lawsuits against individuals IS a problem.

This can ruin the reputation of the company (potentially, if it gets enough press) - but the individuals still have to hire lawyers to fight it.

 

[sandorski]

1 Star - tries to bankrupt unhappy Customers

 

[JEDI]

what happened to that restaurant owner who sued patrons over 1 star reviews a few yrs ago?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

1 Star - tries to bankrupt unhappy Customers

One-star reviews are a problem too, not sure what the answer to it is though... There's just general consumers that call up businesses and have unrealistic expectations -and if they don't do precisely what they are asking then they will leave those types of reviews.


Sites need to make some kind of change in their ratings / algorithms to differentiate between those that are giving reviews with no business conducted - and those that did have business conducted....Because there is a huge difference in the value of the review.

 

[bbhaag]

Good for them I hope the roofing company wins this lawsuit.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

One-star reviews are a problem too, not sure what the answer to it is though... There's just general consumers that call up businesses and have unrealistic expectations -and if they don't do precisely what they are asking then they will leave those types of reviews.


Sites need to make some kind of change in their ratings / algorithms to differentiate between those that are giving reviews with no business conducted - and those that did have business conducted....Because there is a huge difference in the value of the review.

- Its the cost of doing business.

Business should always make sure they set the right expectation out the gate for what services will be rendered and how the final product will function work, and any inconveniences the customer will experience on the way. Disappointment = the space between expectation and reality, business' responsibility to bridge that as much as possible.

Then you're gonna get the jackwads that leave bad reviews for everyone, but they're just part of the system, leaving 1 star reviews cause their McNuggets were the wrong shape and shit like that. They're hitting everyone.

So you just need to make sure you're drawing out as many positive reviews from the non-assholes out there and just work those angles to pump up your positive review numbers so the crappy ones don't hurt as much.

 

[esquared]

"The owner of ERS, Michael Mecham, contacted the Vancouver couple and told Knepper that her negative review needed to be taken down immediately before "more damages were done" to their reputation.

"He told me that he knew where I lived. He said he had forensics guy and that he would gladly spend a hundred thousand dollars suing me,"
"

Sounds like a threat to me. Fuck that company

https://www.yelp.com/biz/executive-roof-services-vancouver

One review:
"Beware of this company. They had the shady practice of suing customers who don't agree with their work and leave poor reviews. If they make a mistake and you talk about it expect to be sued. What a disgusting practice. "

If this is true, they are the douchebags

 

[MrSquished]

Good for them I hope the roofing company wins this lawsuit.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

- Its the cost of doing business.

Business should always make sure they set the right expectation out the gate for what services will be rendered and how the final product will function work, and any inconveniences the customer will experience on the way. Disappointment = the space between expectation and reality, business' responsibility to bridge that as much as possible.

Then you're gonna get the jackwads that leave bad reviews for everyone, but they're just part of the system, leaving 1 star reviews cause their McNuggets were the wrong shape and shit like that. They're hitting everyone.

So you just need to make sure you're drawing out as many positive reviews from the non-assholes out there and just work those angles to pump up your positive review numbers so the crappy ones don't hurt as much.

If someone goes to a restaurant and there is a 75 minute wait - someone says fuck that, leaves, and then leaves a negative review saying they were rude and had a ridiculous wait... is that justified? You can say "Oh it will blend in with all the good ones" but it's still bringing down their overall average.

Keep in mind, the majority of people look at average ratings - not reading specifics.


Also understand - I'm not in favor of suing for freedom of speech. At all. Just playing a little devil's advocate. I think there DOES need to be some differentiate on sites - similar to Amazon - where people can leave a BUNCH of negative reviews on a political-based book.... without even reading it. It's very similar to restaurants that you haven't eaten at, services you haven't tried and only got a quote from, etc....

 

[HomerJS]

There should be an avenue to appeal 1 star reviews. People who are dissatisfied with 1 thing often make up something else to justify their rating.

 

[bbhaag]

There should be an avenue to appeal 1 star reviews. People who are dissatisfied with 1 thing often make up something else to justify their rating.

As a small business owner you have no idea how frustrating internet reviews can be. There is no fucking recourse on the business owner side except for leaving a reply that most people don't read. They just see the star rating and move on.

 

[sactoking]

I mean, when my kitchen was remodeled the granite guys broke the slab while they were installing it. We told them that was not acceptable and they needed to replace it. They came in and put in a new piece from a different slab that didn't match the existing piece. We told them to replace it. They came in and used the extra piece (that we had already paid for and were planning on using as cutting boards) to replace it. They did a shitty job fitting it around the stove. Their incompetence (breaking the slab, installing an unmatched piece, wasting our spare) put us weeks behind schedule. Constantly moving the range scratched the shit out of my new floor. I told the guy his team was garbage and I'd pay him only $500. He accused me of being too poor to pay him the full amount and he'd rather rip it out than accept $500. I told him he could come and remove it when I was present or he would be trespassing. I was in the process of hiring a new stone guy who came to do an estimate. He looked at the other guy's work and called him up, told him to take the $500 and consider himself lucky we weren't suing him.

That's * review worthy in my opinion.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I mean, when my kitchen was remodeled the granite guys broke the slab while they were installing it. We told them that was not acceptable and they needed to replace it. They came in and put in a new piece from a different slab that didn't match the existing piece. We told them to replace it. They came in and used the extra piece (that we had already paid for and were planning on using as cutting boards) to replace it. They did a shitty job fitting it around the stove. Their incompetence (breaking the slab, installing an unmatched piece, wasting our spare) put us weeks behind schedule. Constantly moving the range scratched the shit out of my new floor. I told the guy his team was garbage and I'd pay him only $500. He accused me of being too poor to pay him the full amount and he'd rather rip it out than accept $500. I told him he could come and remove it when I was present or he would be trespassing. I was in the process of hiring a new stone guy who came to do an estimate. He looked at the other guy's work and called him up, told him to take the $500 and consider himself lucky we weren't suing him.

That's * review worthy in my opinion.

Absolutely it is. Because you attempted and actually saw their services. Thats entirely reasonable to leave a review - because you experienced their services - and their services were shit.

Now imagine someone calls you - and asks for a quote - but your quote is too high for THEIR expectations. Is that a justified review?

 

[Steltek]

There is actually a very important point here everybody (including myself, at least initially) has probably missed.

Reading the original story, the roofing company is probably going to win IF it goes to court. It might end up being a totally pyrrhic victory by the time the Internet social media mob gets done with them, but they probably have a very strong case.

Why? Well, the people being sued are not the owners of the property but are in fact just tenants who live there.

As a result, they as tenants had no contractual business relationship with the roofing company, and thus had no expectation of receipt of any kind of services from them (i.e. it isn't their property, the tenants don't have a contract with the roofing company to do , well anything, and they certainly aren't paying for it to be done).

As tenants, if they had a problem with the repairs being done or not done, their problem was with the landlord they rent from. Period.

 

[nOOky]

As a small business owner you have no idea how frustrating internet reviews can be. There is no fucking recourse on the business owner side except for leaving a reply that most people don't read. They just see the star rating and move on.

My wife got a bad review on Google for her vet clinic. A crazy cat couple claimed she said they were starving their cat. She said no, she didn't say that. They went as far as to contact the state vet board and complain. It's an obvious case of people that didn't take care of their animal (she didn't claim they were starving their cat. They said they left food out all day, and the cat chose not to eat it, that's why it was skin and bones. She politely told them to try another type of food because their cat wasn't getting any calories, and looked malnourished). So now the state board is deciding if she did anything wrong or not, from a crazy cat lazy and her husband. Fuck Google reviews.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

If someone goes to a restaurant and there is a 75 minute wait - someone says fuck that, leaves, and then leaves a negative review saying they were rude and had a ridiculous wait... is that justified? You can say "Oh it will blend in with all the good ones" but it's still bringing down their overall average.

Keep in mind, the majority of people look at average ratings - not reading specifics.


Also understand - I'm not in favor of suing for freedom of speech. At all. Just playing a little devil's advocate. I think there DOES need to be some differentiate on sites - similar to Amazon - where people can leave a BUNCH of negative reviews on a political-based book.... without even reading it. It's very similar to restaurants that you haven't eaten at, services you haven't tried and only got a quote from, etc....

-We agree there, "review bombing" based on some meta issue that does not intrinsically affect the performance or quality of a product is a disservice to the consumer for sure. All the same, it's also on the consumer to understand the limitatIons of the rating system they are using to make decisions.

On Amazon, I naturally am going to pay closer attention to the "verified purchase" reviews and reviews with images or videos than the low quality or unverified purchase ones.

I like that Steam implemented a "3 hour minimum playtime" requirement on leaving a review for a game. I mean I guess someone could just sit on the title screen for three hours if they had anough spite in their soul, and it does screw some people out of a voice because they played the title on another platform, but it's a generally fair standard.

 

[MrSquished]

I had a small business for a couple years. Food. Tough world. Back then Google Reviews wasn't so big. We had close to 30 reviews and we averaged 5 stars. A couple 3 star reviews in there. One lady complained about something that was pretty clearly written on the menu and she just didn't read. I politely replied to her, but I didn't think about suing.

Seriously, a dumb review here or there just reply to it as a business owner. If it becomes an epidemic, investigate. But suing over a bad review? Stupid.

 

[bbhaag]

I had a small business for a couple years. Food. Tough world. Back then Google Reviews wasn't so big. We had close to 30 reviews and we averaged 5 stars. A couple 3 star reviews in there. One lady complained about something that was pretty clearly written on the menu and she just didn't read. I politely replied to her, but I didn't think about suing.

Seriously, a dumb review here or there just reply to it as a business owner. If it becomes an epidemic, investigate. But suing over a bad review? Stupid.

How long ago did you own this business? 2002, 2010, 2016, ect?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I had a small business for a couple years. Food. Tough world. Back then Google Reviews wasn't so big. We had close to 30 reviews and we averaged 5 stars. A couple 3 star reviews in there. One lady complained about something that was pretty clearly written on the menu and she just didn't read. I politely replied to her, but I didn't think about suing.

Seriously, a dumb review here or there just reply to it as a business owner. If it becomes an epidemic, investigate. But suing over a bad review? Stupid.

You were never a business owner. Quit lying to yourself or anyone else lol.