Help, they want to take legal action against my blog??!!

Adrian B · Jan 23, 2008 2:14 pm

ahuang

Adrian B

Just a question, why have they decided to approach you now?

Don't know, may be the "to-be-fixed" list is a bit long and it looks very embarrasing as they can't fix them??

Here is a suggestion, maybe the could fix the issues, and the list would be smaller? just a thought.

mattwalker · Jan 23, 2008 2:23 pm

Adrian B

ahuang

Adrian B

Just a question, why have they decided to approach you now?

Don't know, may be the "to-be-fixed" list is a bit long and it looks very embarrasing as they can't fix them??

Here is a suggestion, maybe the could fix the issues, and the list would be smaller? just a thought.

AdrianB,

Dont be silly!

Thats the easy way out....much more fun to threaten the little guy!

Adrian B · Jan 23, 2008 2:39 pm

mattwalker

Dont be silly!

Thats the easy way out....much more fun to threaten the little guy!

A thousand apologies,

I shall bang my head upon the floor until forgiven your holy ruthlethneth.

(name that movie)

Casa2 · Jan 23, 2008 2:40 pm

ahuang,

I would remove people's name, but keep the company name there. As long as what you've said is factual, you have every right to say it.

Cheers,
Casa

Perth_Euro · Jan 23, 2008 3:42 pm

Stuff em. They have done **** work and you have presented the facts. Too bad

Tell em to fix it in an effecient and timely manner and then you will pass suitable positive comment after.

ahuang · Jan 23, 2008 3:56 pm

Perth_Euro

Stuff em. They have done **** work and you have presented the facts. Too bad

Tell em to fix it in an effecient and timely manner and then you will pass suitable positive comment after.

Well, I would do that if it's after hand over. Our biggest concern is they might stop all work until this issue resolved.

ahuang · Jan 23, 2008 4:06 pm

ahuang

Adrian B

Just a question, why have they decided to approach you now?

Don't know, may be the "to-be-fixed" list is a bit long and it looks very embarrasing as they can't fix them??

Forget to mention one thing, actually our builder was aware of this blog since Sep last year. We were using it as some sort of extra pressure hoping they would be more careful about our construction work....

davinci · Jan 23, 2008 4:51 pm

if they threaten to take action tell them you will goto a current affair and plaster there name all over australia there is nothing they can do to you unless you have made personal remarks or false statements
if they produced top quality work etc then they should not have an issue with anything you say
if they are sub standard then they deserve to be rubbished those sort of companys/tradesmen should not be opperating

also tell them all issues you have with the house will be referred to builders practitioners board dont back down an inch

i dont have an issue with telling clients etc about poor quality suppliers, tradesmen etc neither should you or anyone else

ahuang · Jan 23, 2008 5:04 pm

davinci

if they threaten to take action tell them you will goto a current affair and plaster there name all over australia there is nothing they can do to you unless you have made personal remarks or false statements
if they produced top quality work etc then they should not have an issue with anything you say
if they are sub standard then they deserve to be rubbished those sort of companys/tradesmen should not be opperating

also tell them all issues you have with the house will be referred to builders practitioners board dont back down an inch

i dont have an issue with telling clients etc about poor quality suppliers, tradesmen etc neither should you or anyone else

Understand where you coming from, but I think to be reasonable, that would be the last option only if nothing works...

As the owner we are always in a weaker position, for my case, this house is costing me thousands of dollars every month (mortgage + rent of current place I live, ...etc). And I think that's the main thing they are betting on. They know we can't afford to delay the construction for too long, but it doesn't matter that much to them...

ahuang · Jan 23, 2008 5:06 pm

Casa2

ahuang,

I would remove people's name, but keep the company name there. As long as what you've said is factual, you have every right to say it.

Cheers,
Casa

Thanks for the info, I am working on it now. After some family discussion, we decided to remove both...

ahuang · Jan 23, 2008 5:52 pm

Thanks to the hint from davinci, I checked the current affair web site (http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/), click on the link at upper right hand side "Tell us your story" and found that it's actually quite easy to submit your story. I guess whether they accept it or not is a different story.

Anyway, at least I got one more weapon for negotiation then...

By the way, is there any other TV shows like Current Affair that could help me on this, in case things get out of control??

Michelle · Jan 23, 2008 6:02 pm

You will be fine!!!!!

Its like someone said earlier, they are just flexing the power over you…..

They will ask you to remove whatever it is in your blog that bothers them, threaten you to never do it again, they will be watching you.

AND THAT WILL BE THAT!

Just make sure you are very careful with what you say on your blog from now on!

And don’t go to the meeting fired up, builders can get real stroppy when they want to.

Don’t loose sleep over this Allan, things will be ok!!!

ahuang · Jan 23, 2008 6:43 pm

Michelle

You will be fine!!!!!

Its like someone said earlier, they are just flexing the power over you…..

They will ask you to remove whatever it is in your blog that bothers them, threaten you to never do it again, they will be watching you.

AND THAT WILL BE THAT!

Just make sure you are very careful with what you say on your blog from now on!

And don’t go to the meeting fired up, builders can get real stroppy when they want to.

Don’t loose sleep over this Allan, things will be ok!!!

Thanks!

I am not worry about them, it's my other half that I am worrying. She is already in panic mode and driving me crazy....

homeone · Jan 23, 2008 6:44 pm

Michelle

You will be fine!!!!!

Its like someone said earlier, they are just flexing the power over you…..

They will ask you to remove whatever it is in your blog that bothers them, threaten you to never do it again, they will be watching you.

AND THAT WILL BE THAT!

Just make sure you are very careful with what you say on your blog from now on!

And don’t go to the meeting fired up, builders can get real stroppy when they want to.

Don’t loose sleep over this Allan, things will be ok!!!

Thanks for posting that Michelle.

blackmax · Jan 23, 2008 7:02 pm

If you've stuck to the facts then you'll be right. They would be stupid to take legal action against you. Think about it, if they took action against you then all the forum users would find out, and the message will spread about it. The mere fact they are threatening to take action against you without meeting with you in person to discuss it & solve it is silly.

If you were interested in buying a new tv or washing machine you can do a search on the net and find endless amounts of comments, reviews, etc. It hasn't been so easy for home builders.

Without forum sites & blogs we have very little to go by when chosing a home builder. Builders have had it too good for too long without the scrutiny afforded to every other product on the market.

Legally I doubt they have a leg to stand on & will just try to bully you. HOWEVER, you still have an unfinished house that needs to be completed. If it was me I'd be waiting until after the house is completed before posting about the experience on the net.... The last thing you want is for them to be any more difficult to deal with then they currently are.

Michelle · Jan 23, 2008 7:06 pm

ahuang

Michelle

You will be fine!!!!!

Its like someone said earlier, they are just flexing the power over you…..

They will ask you to remove whatever it is in your blog that bothers them, threaten you to never do it again, they will be watching you.

AND THAT WILL BE THAT!

Just make sure you are very careful with what you say on your blog from now on!

And don’t go to the meeting fired up, builders can get real stroppy when they want to.

Don’t loose sleep over this Allan, things will be ok!!!

Thanks!

I am not worry about them, it's my other half that I am worrying. She is already in panic mode and driving me crazy....

Allan….your wife is no different to the rest of the females on earth….we worry about everything!

She is doing what comes natural to us! :lol:

Michelle · Jan 23, 2008 7:14 pm

homeone

Michelle

You will be fine!!!!!

Its like someone said earlier, they are just flexing the power over you…..

They will ask you to remove whatever it is in your blog that bothers them, threaten you to never do it again, they will be watching you.

AND THAT WILL BE THAT!

Just make sure you are very careful with what you say on your blog from now on!

And don’t go to the meeting fired up, builders can get real stroppy when they want to.

Don’t loose sleep over this Allan, things will be ok!!!

Thanks for posting that Michelle.

Thanks Jason,

The internet is a wonderful world…..but it has its pit falls.

As we are all now finding out about! :wink:

homeone · Jan 23, 2008 8:11 pm

Michelle

The internet is a wonderful world…..but it has its pit falls.

I know, I've got you lot to deal with. (jokes) :wink:

Blogs and forums draw pockets of people with similar interests together. When you're a member of a forum, or if you run your blog you may forget your publishing your information to the public at large, rather than that "small interest group" in mind.

In fact, this is where we sometimes also forget that publishing this information is publicly viewable and therefore likened to publishing your comments in your national periodical.

A few members might recall, that In the past we had removed information by request of a couple of building companies, and they are actually quite fair. One had even gone as far as querying why we'd removed the entire thread, as opposed to just editing out a couple of lines in a single post - which we immediately restored.

I do urge that we be discrete when discussing sensitive issues, and without "waving a big stick", but I only encourage this with the interest of protecting all parties concerned.

Allan, choosing an optimistic perspective, I think you'll be asked to remove any information they find perplexing. I also believe you could take that opportunity of working towards a solution, putting your distress to rest.

Michelle · Jan 23, 2008 8:20 pm

Ohhh yes…..I leant this big mistake when I first joined this forum!!!!

I made a SMALL comment about a certain building company, only to then find it up on Google for the whole world to read!!!! :shock:

I quick smart got back in and deleted my comment! :oops:

Cabinfever · Jan 23, 2008 10:13 pm

I have some excellent contacts in the media. If anyone has been directly bullied by a builder over web-based material, or told take down material from blogs etc then PM me and I will onpass details to several journalists I know.

If builders or construction companies think they can get away with this crap, then they may be surprised when the sh*tstorm of bad PR bulldozes their way.

People are entitled to report the facts. They are entitled to an opinion on work done (or not done). The web is absolutely full of such reports and opinion.