Would you ever give up your right to leave a bad review about a company?
My cousin hired a company called Toscano Floor Designs in New York and the agreement states: Purchaser agrees not to attack/criticize or write negative reviews online about the seller. This should have been a red flag for what was about to come.
Yeah... that's a huge nope. I'd have walked the moment I saw that even if it's not enforceable, since they're not confident enough to stand by their own quality.
It should be an illegal clause
Is it though?
It’s not enforceable. Contract law understands that sometimes contracts are garbage.
In some places, yes, probably. It would most likely fall under anti-SLAPP protections.
IANAL though, so it could be more complicated.
See the top comment
It's weird how terms/conditions in some places can be clearly illegal but still count.
you want to know some history, companies went after glassdoor and some users for factual critical reviews, hence thats why they are doing this, trying to do a NDA on people. they are well aware of these review sites could hurt thier chances of potentially exploiting employees.
its also why indeed forums shutdown, where you can get some information based on your indsutry, or some career discussion. most of them were about thier unethical hiring practicies; includes salary baiting, or pretending to hiring when they arnt,,,etc. some niche grad program/school can be found.(probably the only place that discussing the CLS program, for example).
now glassdoor allows astroturfing with fake positive reviews, and requires datamining your account to(you can bypass this with using a fake email/temp email to look at reviews)
CLS
Canadian Light Source??
clinical lab scientist.
Sketch AF, so, no.
I got something like a 70% discount on new triple paned windows for my whole house simply to be a neighborhood "demo" house. They still told me straight up if I didn't like the work, to leave an honest review to that effect.
I had 2 sliders, 11 windows, 7 skylights replaced for under $10k and it made a night and day difference in heating, cooling, and noise. And because of my HOA at the time, I couldn't abide by the "lawn signs" agreement so they waived it. And then COVID hit so I was excused from ever having to talk to anyone about the service.
I lucked out, yes, but all that to say they still said I should be honest in all interactions. If a company is enforcing not being honest, that seems suspect.
All that aside, did they do good a job?
Amazing job. I honestly would've expected shortcuts taken due to price, but a friend's friend who had worked in that industry said it all checked out. I would have even accepted some cheapness and still been OK given the price, just to get off my single pane aluminum windows.
In the end, they were far less drafty, summer heat didn't leak through, and road noise was down. No complaints at all from me and I left them a positive review.
I would never hire a company that had a clause like this. Just find someone else. There's a reason they felt it necessary to include that.
I worked with an accountant for years and he got his ass bit by some asshole who left him a negative, and false, review.
He added a clause on renewal contracts with new language saying you won't leave a negative review and to arbitration.
I told him I'm not signing this. I never leave reviews and I understand he's trying to mitigate his losses and force arbitration but I told him that it wasn't going to work.
these companies, sued glassdoors once for letting badreviews, now glassdoors allows astroturfing of it, thats why they are doing it now. this happened around early pandemic. the employers are very much afraid of glasdoor, indeed or another site allow bad reviews of thier illegal or unethical behaviour. they want naive employees to exploit.
I prevent my customers from leaving a bad reviews by trying to do a good job. I'd never sign a form like that, it's a huge red flag and I doubt it's even enforceable.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Yeah, if you stand behind your work and make it right in the event that something does go wrong you have no reason to fear bad reviews. Only thing we can assume from this contract is that they don't do those things.
Most people will convert them to a 5 star in that event too as most companies won’t put forth the effort to listen to why you posted a 1 star in the first place. Those are my favorite anyway because 1) I don’t expect companies to be perfect (lord knows mine isn’t and I’m not) and 2) it shows you that they value their customers and want to make things right. Hard to find those these days.
Depends. For a $20 gift card? No.
Buy me a fully paid off house with homeowner insurance for the rest of my life? Maybe.
A billion dollars, tax-free? Hmmm yea I'd be very tempted, very likely to take the deal. I mean my voice wasn't that loud anyways, I mean like... my one 1-star review weren't ever gonna hurt them, might as well take the deal, I'd make sure to read through all the fine prints in the agreement.
In Japan, a person can get sued for leaving an honest, negative review. One has to be careful with wording to avoid that completely (i.e. making sure that it's clearly stated that the content is a personal opinion (as opposed to an accusation, I guess?)). Some people still do write them and some get scary take-down notices (which may or may not be real or enforceable). As far as I know, someone could leave a low rating on like a star-based system or whatever and be fine, but I am not a lawyer.
That's awful for so many reasons. How are business/products expected to be held accountable? Obviously when you let free reign of negative reviews, you're going to get some nonsensical ones or absurd ones, but people filter those out most of the time anyway. If you prevent (or there's even a threat) for negative reviews, you're just letting shitty companies and products get away with being shitty. It's a loss for both consumers and the country wanting to have good businesses, though a win for shitty companies.
Yup! It's dumb. Bonus one: one could get sued by posting on social media a pic/vid that shows someone cheating and they get caught. It's profoundly stupid
bad reviews are how i evaluate the quality of stuff. Positive reviews cant be trusted most of the time but bad reviews might be more trustworthy. Any company that does this gives clear message that whatever they are selling is scam level quality.
That's just the company expecting to deliver you bad services/products before they even know who you are. Absolute clown behavior.
You ever see a dump truck that says "not responsible for broken windshields"? Guess what. EVERY truck — this is US law anyway — is responsible for securing its load. So why do they have the sticker? So you don't bug them about it. Or at least so most people don't bug them about it. They also say stay back 200 feet. That's not a law. It's just a bumper sticker and is equally as enforceable. If they crack your windshield because they didn't secure your load, you (or rather your insurance company) can go after them. But the truth is, most insurance companies just write off so many broken windshields per however long anyway, they won't go after the company even if you have proof. But they could — and so could you.
Post the review anyway. Or at the very least post a review that says "the terms say I can't post a negative review so believe me when I say the service was acceptable." It's not a negative review. It's not a positive review either. It's a neutral review and it calls out the clause. It is heavily implied to be opposite of what you said. You said the work was acceptable, implying it's unacceptable. If you used the same tactic and said the work was great, the opposite would appear true, that it was not great. But acceptable is not great. So say it was acceptable and imply you were forced to say that. Thusly, an intelligent person will see your message for what it is.
The sign could be about missiles - rocks on the road kicked up by the truck's tires - rather than the truck spilling its load.
That’s why trucks are required to have mud flaps.
As the other commenters said, it is illegal. The most important thing is to be informed about your rights so that people and companies do not take advantage of you.
A key to free speech is the freedom to make comment, outside of libel / hate speech etc., and the right to be called out for any comments made. I treat all feedback like I would making clinical records. I must be able to defend and explain what is recorded.
Have a friend write "I had a friend who had an awful experience ..."
No, there should be a law to stop stupid things in agreements like forced arbitration, no bad reviews etc
They can stick that contract where the sun doesn’t shine. There is zero chance I’d sign it. They can remove that clause or they can remove themselves… their choice.
That keeps me from doing business with someone, for sure.
In my book no review is as bad as a bad review, in the company had no reviews as they would all be bad I would look else where
Not sure I can give up that right where I live.
1 star is not negative; it’s probably positive. So yeah. Unless it defines what negative means, the ambiguity favors me. ;)
People are mad. There are mad people on both sides.
Consumers can feel very empowered by a few hundred followers and one bad experience. And that translates more into a diss track, embelished and dramatized, than an honest review. Entrepreneurs justifiably fear this because this can hurt their businesses significantly. So they fight back with this legal retcon attempt. It's most likely not enforceable - and they probably know that too. If they wouldn't mind you speaking positively about you online, they cannot keep the negative stuff out either (as long as it is based in fact, libel is a different story). This little boiler plate serves only to give pause to the consumer. It plants a seed of restraint in their minds (if they actually read it).
Humans are a complicated species.
https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/consumer-review-fairness-act-what-businesses-need-know
They should make a law that is upheld about things like this.
Visits White House
"Felt creepy, too much gold. Zero stars."
FBI: hi there...
Leave a bad review for them breaking the law. Each time they threaten you, append it to your review.
Sadly, this act only covers "form contracts" for the sale of services or products, and doesn't look like it would extend to contracts of employment. That is, a consumer cannot be bound by a clause that prohibits writing reviews. And if a consumer of the company's products is also an employee, then this act doesn't prohibit a "no reviews" clause in the employment contract.EDIT: I goofed at reading comprehension of OP's post. What I wrote is a correct but irrelevant analysis. This act appears to void the clause of the contract.