Out of state guy who bought from Barlows

KiwiBro · May 10, 2015

Of course TBN will act if requested/instructed to do so, or in a pre-emptive manner. They'll cave, like most of us would, regardless of whether any comment is actually libellous or not simply to avoid the economic consequences.

I don't pretend to know exactly how the law in USA works in this regard, but one of the most abhorrent failures of the law in NZ is how the consequences of defending a wrongful defamation action can be so manifestly unjust, favouring the plaintiff for no other reason than they have deeper pockets, even if they have almost no chance of winning the case. It happens all the time. I've been there, twice, and both times settled with no compensation payable and no apology needed. Why? Because I stood my ground, stood up for the right to hold an honest opinion and publish facts. I'll do so again and actually have a 'rainy-day' emergency fund I trickle $ in when can (which has not been lately I must admit) so I can afford to take a principled stand without it bankrupting me.

I only wish here and around the world, we could recover the full costs of defending ultimately losing actions various parties feel inclined to pursue. It would help, rather than hinder, full and factual exchanges of information. I for one, if I lived in the prospect's area and was interested in a Kubota, would like to know who was giving the alleged bad service, so they could be given a right of reply and upon that base a decision about whether or not to risk dealing with them or perhaps more diligence is due.

It really does bug me how easily lawful dissent and opinion can be smothered by legal action positively endorsed by a system that is plain broken. Broken because it does not serve society well to sell justice to the highest bidder or for the law to be used as a plaything or weapon of those with deep pockets. It also amazes me how little people seem to care about fostering a more equitable legal environment. Instead, they scatter around like Chicken Little claiming the sky is falling the moment they are served with anything legal, rather than stand their ground when they know they have done nothing wrong.

JOHNTHOMAS · May 10, 2015

I doubt a statement of fact as to what happened would be removed and would not be libelous.
The OP could have stated he went to "name of company" and they gave him a price for a new machine that was $$$ over all other prices and a trade in price for his machine which he felt was an insult and then the company named employee called back two days later and raised the price and bad mouthed all other brands and dealers during the process.
Messicks and Barlows are both mentioned here on a regular basis. Both pay for ads here but I don't think their paying for ads gets them special treatment. I've seen some negative remarks about them here and knowing the posters and seeing the posters past posts pretty well show their bias and we are old enough and smart enough to figure it out without a moderator making those decisions for us and they usually don't here.
I think the company name should have been named as the specific facts were given. Wouldn't do anything for me but could give other buyers in the area a heads up and could have possibly brought other customers of that dealership to stand up for them and see if it's their common practice or one bad apple that OP dealt with. In fact, I think it would have been better to have named them instead of locals in that area speculating on which company it was and maybe believing it was the wrong company.
Again, I've seen negative about Barlows and Messicks some and the loyal customers have been able to post their experiences which have usually negated the negative posts and some times customers have agreed and that is how those dealerships operate and if one deals with them it's what they can expect. I've heard Barlows doesn't instantly answer a call or even call back the same day to answer questions and I believe it's true and their method of operation because they are busy and callers have to wait till they have time for them and yes, for me. If "callers" expect instant drop every thing for them service from Barlows, well, they may need to "call" someone else. Will that negative statement get deleted? Will TBN be sued?
There is a line where a post is deleted and I've seen some disappear and they should have. I trust our moderator(s) and they have done excellent work which is why I converted from another tractor forum after a few years over here to TBN and been here enjoying myself reading and posting for a few years.

:thumbsup::cool2:

Garandman · May 10, 2015

aczlan said:
So the lawyer would sue TBN for providing the forum and failing to remove the content instead of for the actual libel. The terms of use notwithstanding, a lawyer would sue TBN anyways because TBN (or its insurance company) are more likely to offer a settlement to make them go away and they likely have deeper pockets.

Are you a lawyer?

That the site owner chooses to administer the site this way is his right. But I went to a local motorcycle forum and got detailed reviews by owners of all the local Kubota dealers - and none of them burst into flames.

wrooster · May 28, 2015

bfisherman11 said:
AxleHub, I don't get your angle. I am man enough to stand up for myself and you were not on the phone listening to this guy. Don't presume you know anything about me or what you interpreted from my post. I don't appreciate or even care what you think about your evaluation of the situation that is for sure. I was polite to this guy, as we spoke. I was exact in every way. Did you miss the part where he said "kubota" said my trade was only worth $600? I am not stupid, I know Kubota had nothing to say regarding what a dealer would offer in trade. This is a dishonest individual who I knew was lying to me. As I sat there I listened to this guy till he had said enough that I knew we could not do business. I pointed out to the dealer that his new better price was more like $200 more than his initial offer. If I was to give you advise it would be that tone and inflection of what we read is not always easy to determine when reading an email or reading from a BB. Nor is it always easy to explain a situation. The real point of the post was the question about the process of closing a deal with Barlows, not so much the dick of a dealer (unnamed).

Your exactly the kind of person I would prefer not post on my thread. I am looking for customers of Barlows. Frankly your opinions on life and my conduct are better explained to your kids. I am not interested.

To the rest, I appreciate your insight.

Bill

LoL.

You did an excellent job clearly illustrating to everyone on TBN where the problem actually resides.

wrooster <-- customer of one of the dealers in this thread