May 10
12

EBay Buyer Sued For Leaving Feedback – Another Painful Lesson In Defamation

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Michael Steadman is an ordinary guy -he owns a business and does the best he can just get by in this world.  One day he thought he could save some money  on an employee time-clock.  He decided to check eBay and found what he thought was a great deal on just what he was looking for.  As it turned out, it was a very expensive clock indeed.  And so began a series of events that has changed his life forever.  Mr. Steadman found the clock to be defective, and apparently followed eBay’s stated procedures for returning the item and requesting a refund.

His perceived unpleasant experience in dealing with this particular seller left him feeling somehow compelled to share his thoughts with the world, which he did through eBay’s feedback system.  eBay encourages buyers to use the the feedback system.  EBay, once upon a time, depended on it.  Mr. Steadman never dreamed that leaving negative feedback for the seller would result in a lawsuit.  Who would?

Yet that is exactly what has happened.  The seller filed a $15,000 defamation of character lawsuit against Mr. Steadman.  Though the sellers overall feedback score with eBay is excellent, despite the negative feedback, somehow this seller was able to determine that his losses amounted to $15,000.  While I’m not sure how he did that, I’m sure he had his methods.  Mr. Steadman is quite certain of what this has cost him.  As he has no personal injury liability insurance coverage, like most of us, he is defending this lawsuit on its own.  According to reports, he is already spent $7000 of his own money defend this claim.

We shall see what will happen with this lawsuit as I believe it will be monumental for eBay and its users.  How shaken will user’s confidence be in the open feedback system that eBay has used for years to build its business.  Only a few years ago eBay disallowed sellers from leaving negative feedback against buyers.  Now it seems that case law may stand against the buyers.  It will be interesting to see what happens and if eBay will respond to it at all.

This case is one more example of how ill prepared most of us are for the user interactive Web 2.0 reality where one voice really can be heard around the world.  Personal risk management is more important than ever, even for ordinary folks doing what they think is right.

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Posted in Homeowners Insurance Personal Insurance Personal Liability Insurance by TheGeek 2 Comments

2 Responses to "EBay Buyer Sued For Leaving Feedback – Another Painful Lesson In Defamation"

  • John Carnes says:
    December 10, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    Wow, this article is obviously in favor of Michael Steadman… I sell on Ebay and as a seller and a buyer I really doubt the seller is at fault..

  • Just Me says:
    February 3, 2011 at 7:58 pm

    I agree with the previous post. There are so many cybershoplifters who strongarm sellers for free or reduces items by extorting sellers on ebay, and ebay does NOTHING to support their sellers. Buyers use the one-sided feedback system in order to extort sellers – expecially good sellers with excellent feedback because the buyers realize that the good sellers go way beyond the ordinary to maintain their good feedback. On top of this, some buyers slam sellers for kicks, while other buyers are likewise sellers with alternate accounts who use their buyer account in order to destroy the competition with slanderous feedback.

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