Horse and Hound, Above the Law ?

WelshD said:
This. Absolutely this.

I have now had a pm from the OP asking for my grievance against them to be detailed within 48 hours.

I will be replying to say that i am not a customer as they well know and that i do not plan to be

I hope no one else has had a message, would be very poor show to send demanding messages out to everyone who dares to comment! You dont have to be a customer of a company to have an opinion on things reported by its customers and this thread did invite opinions.
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Wouldn't bother replying, TBH. You'd be rewarding bullying behaviour.

This thread is a classic in showing how not to run a company.
 
_GG_ said:
All companies make mistakes and get the occasional bad review. It is a drop in the ocean and a good company will resolve any disputes and save their reputation swiftly.

We enjoy freedom of speech. That does not mean we are allowed to lie and that is clearly what you are getting at with your current action. Unfortunately, that brings with it what can be some very unpleasant proceedings unless you and your company are absolutely above reproach.

In order for you to prove that the words printed within the pages of theses forums are lies, you have to allow full access to all communications in and out of your company. That means that everything will be reviewed. You can't simply delete the ones you think might get you in trouble and only leave the ones where you have behaved impeccably. They will know. Every part of your business will be picked apart by the opposing legal team. They will also contact everyone they can find who has written a bad review or posted negative comments about your company anywhere and they will either gather evidence in support of their clients or, if you're unlucky, they may begin to gather additional clients and start a counter suit action against your company.

All of this will be in the public domain. Anyone will be able to walk into the court, if it got that far and follow the proceedings. That includes the media, so you need to think long and hard about how perfect your conduct has been in every communication, how fantastic your products have been, how wonderful your customer service has been and how diligently you have refunded any monies owed, dispatched items and dealt with genuine complaints.

Let me also say...the law does not like to be used. It is a tool that is available to those who have been wronged. It is not a tool for people to use when they are angry and wish to seek some sort of vengeance, especially not a company seeking to claim against individuals.

It's a very slippery slope when you decide to take this path. Your legal advisors will of course tell you that you have a strong case and you are more than likely going to come away the victor. They are always going to say this, for many reasons...the most common being that their clients don't usually tell them the whole truth, I know, the hypocracy!

By all means, if you feel you have a strong case and you have never failed in any way to provide excellent customer service, go ahead with the action.

Just remember...when you have opened a door like this, you can never close it behind you.
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Bloody well said GG
 
gemstoneflyer13 said:
I made a new account as I did not want what was said to reflect the thoughts of my company however was meant to reflect what peoples opinions on Horse and Hound allowing small business's names to get thrown in the dirt.

I have asked for the forum about my company to be taken down on many occasions as I do not believe it is fair or just to have, for all i know a bunch of complete random people posting slander about my company. It has happened to many other companies and Im sure they would love to see some sort of action being taken to stop this in its tracks.

It was not the criticism I was bothered about on the thread, however was the amount of people who felt they need to contribute after what i thought was, professionally trying to solve the problem.
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I'm sorry op, but this absolutely takes the biscuit! Seriously, you didn't want it to come back to your company, and it was meant to show HHO in a bad light for allowing small business names to be thrown in the dirt so you use a name that can be directly linked to another persons business?! You yourself could be negatively affecting the very good name of their business!!!
 
I will leave it to the experts to comment on the legal aspects of this, but a lot of wise words have been said in the replies and I would caution the OP to heed them.

However, from the POV of someone who worked in customer service for a large company for years - I am shocked at the approach and attitude a lot of these new, smaller companies seem to have when it comes to running a business. A successful company always, always begins and ends with a satisfied customer. Without customers you would have no company at all! "The customer is always right" was the mantra we were taught to have in mind when dealing with any customer - satisfied or not - and our personal opinion on each case didn't matter one jot: When you deal with customers you represent the company and the product and to that end your own personal feelings have no place in the situation, however hurt you might be or however much you might disagree with the complaint.

In my experience VERY FEW customers complain for a reason that is not legitimate. In fact why would anyone spend time and money complaining if their expectations were being met? Furthermore if a customer is unsatisfied, the reason does not matter so much as the fact they are unsatisfied! Therefore: No matter how big or small the complaint is you listen to what they have to say and you offer to find a solution. You do not shut the customer's voice out. The customer's opinion is what matters. And that is IMHO the only honest way to run any size business. You might end up with a few minor losses to make an unsatisfied customer happy, but boy does it pay off to handle those complaints right in the long run.

It only takes once to alienate a customer that could have been a return customer for years had you listened to their complaint. I am only saying.
 
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Maiko said:
I have to say I am finding this whole thread hilarious!!!!!

Also, I had absolutely no idea of the existence of Bespoke Equestrian, but now I do, I will be steering well clear for fear of being threatened with anything the OP doesn't quite like the look/sound of.

Thanks OP, this has really given me a chuckle today.
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Agree completely will not be touching this company with a barge pole.

OP you just making things look worse for yourself and your company
 
I haven't read all of this thread but as others have said if someone has posted the truth, not embelished, just plain fact then there is little that the company they have posted about can do legally.

There again if someone has posted lies & this can be proved then that person can be prosecuted, sued etc.

The main issue is cost, taking someone to court for defamation etc is extremely costly. This is why the majority of cases involve rich filmstars etc as they are the only people who can afford the costs of such action.

Additonally any solicitor will tell you that never sue on a point of principal because it will cost a fortune & there will be no return. Only sue if you can afford the cost & the person you take action against has got something of value to sue for. ;)

Just taken another look at this thread & realised it's another company run by a young person who believes that because they are young & they are at college & they can't afford to hold stock that they are not bound by company law, distance selling regulations etc. Also that no one should be unhappy with the service offered because 'They are trying their best'

At any level if you are running a company run it professionally & within the law & you will have no problems. Deal with customer complaints promptly, efficiently & ideally deal with the orders correctly in the first place so that you don't get many complaints. The customers come first & as has been said befotre without customers you don't have a business so you must have great customer service & deal with people curteously & promptly.

No one wants a business to go down the tubes but if the business isn't run right then that's the only way it will go. I wish the company well.
 
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Meanwhile, back over on OP's FB page where she is apparently responding promptly to all queries, people are still waiting for replies to such basics as "Where are my goods?" dating back to 16 April . . .
 
As an add-on to initial comment - you have chosen to provide a service and quite frankly you either fully commit to providing that service in a satisfactory manner or you quit. It is not the customers' job to satisfy you with good feedback; you have to earn that satisfaction yourself by providing what you advertise. It is a cycle and depending on how you feed it it will either be good or bad for everyone involved. If it is bad it can be turned around but that change has to begin with you and it will take time. It all comes down to commitment.
 
End of the day you can't force people to accept shoddy work/service by throwing legal action about. People will just avoid you if you have been proven to go to the extremes. I avidly avoid a certain company because of the threat of legal action on me, twice, for no reason.
 
This post is quite extraordinary. I have just returned from a market research clinic in the States and many potential customers were quoting problems that happened over a decade ago and have long since been resolved, as a reason not to buy from a particular company. Customer satisfaction and reputation are critical, and it can take a lifetime to recover from bad publicity. I mean no negativity to the OP as I have no reason to, I am truly confused however by what was the OP hoping to gain from this post as it has only served to further harm their reputation.
 
Haven't read thread, will when home.

Has anybody else received a rather passive aggressive pm from the op?

I posted a generic 'wouldn't buy off a company with no contact details' on the original thread.
This has been interpreted as having a grievance against them.

Are they clutching at straws, or what?
 
quirky said:
Haven't read thread, will when home.

Has anybody else received a rather passive aggressive pm from the op?

I posted a generic 'wouldn't buy off a company with no contact details' on the original thread.
This has been interpreted as having a grievance against them.

Are they clutching at straws, or what?
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Yes I did, not the best worded pm and it rather got my back up. I responded and received a reply to say that they (I guess after legal advice) were trying to establish who on the original thread was a customer. I suppose that is fair enough and I have no problems with that.
 
:eek:I only clicked on this thread because the OPs user name is actually my pony's name.There is no truth in the old saying that 'there is no such thing as bad publicity',it has certainly warned me off buying from them.
 
Whatever happened to the saying 'the customer is always right' (even if there not:)) seems as if many new businesses could learn from it.
 
its not how many positive reviews you have but how you deal with the bad that shows you for the true business you are
 
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The power of the web. I've bought from various companies after seeing good reviews on here, Premier Equine, Ruggles, Viovet. If you search anything horsey on google, HHO is always in the top 3 replies. It would be a foolish company to ignore/alienate such a well used popular forum.
 
Regandal said:
The power of the web. I've bought from various companies after seeing good reviews on here, Premier Equine, Ruggles, Viovet. If you search anything horsey on google, HHO is always in the top 3 replies. It would be a foolish company to ignore/alienate such a well used popular forum.
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Like you I google companies I want to use and also check against HHO its like my guide to good and bad of equine world
 
I have nothing worthwhile to add other than this is exactly the reason I love this forum.

I will join the 'I had never heard of them before but I won't buy from them now' brigade.
 
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