There’s been a lot of controversy over online customer review sites lately, but one company is taking the argument a step further—to the credit bureau, that is. Martha Neil reports in the ABA Journal that Kleargear.com threatened a customer with a $3,500 fine if she didn’t remove a negative review about the company that she had posted on Ripoffreport.com. When she tried to comply with the demand, Ripoffreport told her she would have to pay $2,000, so she ignored the request.
Neil says Kleargear didn’t end up suing the unhappy customer, but the company did report her to a credit agency, which had real-world ramifications for the woman, as it stopped her from qualifying for car loans and a loan to fix her furnace. The basis for the claim comes from a provision in Kleargear’s terms of use, called an anti-disparagement provision, which bans customers from posting negative reviews. And apparently, the company plans on enforcing it.
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