Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S9
OCTOBER 17, 2016 ❙ 9
A reviewer claimed Huntington Beach Mazda staff
blocked an elderly woman from receiving medical
attention - a story the reviewer heard thirdhand
about a different business. The dealer sued
and was awarded $4,000.
continued from previous page
"That speed was important because it was
so incredibly damaging," said Nelson. "That
review can be a customer's first impression
of us."
Patterson estimated the false review cost
him about $500 a day in reputational damages, plus his attorney fees and private investigator costs.
Patterson said
Review and
the factory even
retaliation
heard about it.
When an online
"I was at a
review accused
seminar,
and
Huntington Beach
one of the MazMazda staff of
da
executives
attempted murder
said, 'What hapand elder abuse,
pened with that
dealer John
review? That was
Patterson hired a
terrible,'" Patterprivate investigator
son
recalled.
and successfully
"Plenty of peosued the author of
ple saw that, so
the false review.
not only is our
reputation being
threatened with our customer base, but with
the manufacturer as well."
Patterson sued the reviewer in small-claims
court.
He cited a case from a New York civil court in
which a flooring company sued a customer for
making false statements online, he said. In that
case, the judge said the online rant crossed the
line from opinion to libel when the false statements referenced criminal wrongdoing.
Accountability
In court, it was revealed that the woman
who wrote the false review of Patterson's
store had heard the story thirdhand about a
different business allegedly committing
such acts and mistakenly ascribed the behavior to Huntington Beach Mazda's staff.
She offered no apology, Patterson said.
In March, the judge awarded Patterson
$4,000. He plans to donate it to charity.
"For me, it was about letting someone
know that if you're going to be writing something entirely false online, you should be
held accountable for it," Patterson said.
"I owe the 50 employees that work in [Huntington Beach Mazda] a great workplace. That
means doing everything we can to generate
traffic to the dealership and not allow people
to tell false things about us," he said.
Patterson said nearly 1,000 people a day
view Google and Yelp in Orange County.
That's why it's important to him to have a
mechanism that alerts him to reviews.
For him, this was a learning experience.
"Now we have a history of what to do if
something is a total lie." He added: "It was a
pain going through the process of filing a
small-claims case. But it was a victory for the
small business." c
Yelp: Review or libel?
A woman posted the following review of
Huntington Beach Mazda on Google and
Yelp. In court, it was determined that the
woman had never been to the dealership
and had heard the story thirdhand and
mistakenly ascribed the behavior to the
store's staff.
"The Mazda employees are nothing short
of human garbage. Trying to swindle an
old lady into a car deal she told them she
couldn't afford to the point where she
started getting chest pains. She later
had a heart attack at the dealership. The
daughter tried to call 9-1-1 on their
phone lines. The EMPLOYEES
DISCONNECTED the line and wouldn't
allow the daughter to call for MEDICAL
ATTENTION. What kind of monsters do
that? That is not customer service that is
borderline attempted MURDER. To make
matters worse when paramedics arrived
they made the poor women walk out to
the paramedics. Paramedics and the fire
department WERENT ALLOWED TO GET
HER TO GIVE HER THE NECESSARY
MEDICAL ATTENTION?!!? PLEASE DON'T
SHOP HERE. by shopping here, you are
condoning the mistreatment of senior
citizens and supporting terrible customer
service."
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - Intro
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S1
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S2
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S3
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S4
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S5
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S6
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S7
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S8
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S9
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S10
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S11
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S12
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S13
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S14
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S15
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S16
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S17
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S18
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S19
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S20
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S21
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S22
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S23
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S24
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S25
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S26
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S27
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S28
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S29
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S30
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S31
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S32
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S33
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S34
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S35
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S36
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S37
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S38
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S39
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S40
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S41
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S42
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S43
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S44
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S45
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S46
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S47
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S48
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