Mazda Richmond owner looking to sue you if you leave a negative google review

[tru_blue]

https://www.richmond-news.com/local-...mation-5503977

Just came across this recently

Anyone bought or service your Mazda with them ?

Copied and pasted from Richmond news:




An online war of words between a local car dealership and one of its customers raises the question of whether a negative Google review can lead to the reviewer being sued for defamation.

A patron of Richmond’s Signature Mazda dealership was threatened with a lawsuit recently after leaving negative comments on Google Review.

The customer thought he may have been upsold on a pair of brake pads so he wrote a review commenting on the dealership’s “predatory technicians and shady advisors.”

The dealership said they welcome reviews, good and bad, but this one crossed a line, adding that the customer had agreed to the job.

Defamation for online reviews?
Daniel Burnett, a media lawyer with Owen Bird, said it is possible for a person to be sued for “a defamatory review.”

However, many reviews “would fall under fair comment, which doesn’t require fairness, just honest belief based on true facts,” said Burnett.

“Many harsh reviews … are pure opinion and tend to be protected as comment, so those cases don’t usually justify litigation. Where a review makes a factually false accusation, …it can become a matter for the courts.”

Court cases around defamatory comments, he added, depend on “how serious the accusation is” and if there are facts and evidence that can prove that.

“If it comes out that there was an ulterior motive … that also makes it even more serious.”

Burnett said he can’t answer if “predatory technicians and shady advisors” would be considered harsh enough to justify litigation for defamation. However, the decision remains with the plaintiff (Signature Mazda in this case), taking into considerations factors such as the cost of litigation and the damage to their reputation.

According to Shaena Furlong, president and CEO of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, most businesses, especially those in the retail and hospitality sectors, rely heavily on reviews.


“Google reviews are often the first impression a consumer will get, even before visiting the website,” said Furlong.

Back at the Mazda dealership, the accusations continue to fly.

Francis Tan said that while he agreed to the brake pad replacement, he later spoke to the friend who sold him the vehicle who said the pads were recently tested and shouldn’t need replacing. Tan went back to the dealership to see proof of the worn brake pads but was told they couldn’t be produced.

Marko Joannou, general manager at Signature Mazda, later told the News that Tan only asked to see the pads after his car had been picked up, by which time they had been recycled, which is typical of most dealerships.

Regardless, Tan left a review saying Mazda Signature had “predatory technicians and shady advisors.”

The next day he received a phone call from the dealership to take down the review. When that didn’t happen, the dealership posted a reply to the review threatening Tan with a legal action.

“What you are doing is illegal and has consequences. You have a choice, Francis, you can either leave this horrible review up and we will pursue legal action against you and your friends to the fullest extent of the law, or you can be civil and remove the slander,” read the response, adding that Tan had until June 2 to remove the negative review.

(Because other negative reviews regarding the situation soon popped up, the dealership assumed Tan’s friends were also involved.)

On June 2, an updated reply stated that Tan’s “slander” had been forwarded to Mazda’s “legal team and further actions will be taken.”

“Our position remains that a dealership’s reputation has been hung out to dry based on hard evidence that was all about getting brake replacement covered at no cost,” said Joannou.

Joannou confirmed that the dealership has sent in all evidence and conversation to its legal department.

[320icar]

That shît hole tried to sell my brother a mspd3 that was blowing blue out the exhaust like a Surrey dump truck. Was told “that’s normal” lol.

That 100% falls under shady advisors and predatory tactics

[Badhobz]

eruhhh we gonnna bomb that place full of bad reviews now?

[EvoFire]

I thought it was pretty well known that Richmond Mazda was pretty shady.

[trollface]

That's what happens when their pay/kpi is tied to selling as many services as possible.

Dude feeds his family with filters, trans flushes, wipers, and brake jobs.

Whoever is running Mazda's PR/Marketing is a fucking moron. As a business, never get into an argument over the internet. You'll end up looking like an asshole even if you're right. Take that shit offline.

[Traum]

Just want to point out the difference between Mazda Canada vs Signature Mazda. Based on my own experience with Mazda Canada's PR / Marketing team through the local Miata club / motorsports clubs, and their test drive programs, they are very good at what they do, and they are pretty generous.

Signature Mazda, on the other hand... I've only had some cursory experience with them through sales and service, and that was probably close to 15 years ago. But based on what they are doing now with this customer, I'd certainly say their PR/marketing team is not very smart to argue over the negative Google review.

Originally Posted by trollface

That's what happens when their pay/kpi is tied to selling as many services as possible.

Dude feeds his family with filters, trans flushes, wipers, and brake jobs.

Whoever is running Mazda's PR/Marketing is a fucking moron. As a business, never get into an argument over the internet. You'll end up looking like an asshole even if you're right. Take that shit offline.

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

eruhhh we gonnna bomb that place full of bad reviews now?

RS beat down crew on google reviews?

I mean we all remember what happened with Richmond Subaru right?

[320icar]

Was it Richmond Subaru or the one on Cambie? Funny enough I ALSO test drove a mspd3 at the Cambie/marine subie and it also smoked blue out the back hahahah

[tru_blue]

I went with a friend as they were looking at a CX-5 last year and my experiences with the sales team has been bad.

They always try to push bi-weekly payment leases without telling you the total cost of the car or how much the residual is. They make it sound like bi-weekly payments =monthly payment /2 which is not.

Bi-weekly payments =26 payments/year as there are 52 weeks in a year.

Semi-monthly payments x 2= monthly payments as there are 24 payments yearly.

Once you call them out on it, they would try to sweeten up the deal for you by throwing in a free game console or some Gucci accessories but in reality, the vehicle is probably sold over MSRP and you are actually paying for all the freebies yourself.

We found out once we asked them to break down the terms and conditions and it turns out they jammed an extra $3-$4k off insurance products in the lease.

There really is no free lunch in this world !

Off to Metrotown Mazda we went that same day and got a car there.

I hope I don't get sued by writing this

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by 320icar

Was it Richmond Subaru or the one on Cambie? Funny enough I ALSO test drove a mspd3 at the Cambie/marine subie and it also smoked blue out the back hahahah

Definitely Richmond Subaru

https://www.revscene.net/forums/6633...ichmond+subaru

Here's the legendary thread

[320icar]

Aahhh. I was thinking of the girl who had her motor fail or something and the Subaru dealership refused to fix/replace it

[68style]

That was them too... there was some issues with a BR-Z they said had been to auto-x too if I remember correctly... that might have been a girl as well

[AzNightmare]

lol, this random review...




This is the review in question:

[trollface]

Originally Posted by tru_blue

I went with a friend as they were looking at a CX-5 last year and my experiences with the sales team has been bad.

They always try to push bi-weekly payment leases without telling you the total cost of the car or how much the residual is. They make it sound like bi-weekly payments =monthly payment /2 which is not.

Bi-weekly payments =26 payments/year as there are 52 weeks in a year.

Semi-monthly payments x 2= monthly payments as there are 24 payments yearly.

Once you call them out on it, they would try to sweeten up the deal for you by throwing in a free game console or some Gucci accessories but in reality, the vehicle is probably sold over MSRP and you are actually paying for all the freebies yourself.

We found out once we asked them to break down the terms and conditions and it turns out they jammed an extra $3-$4k off insurance products in the lease.

There really is no free lunch in this world !

Off to Metrotown Mazda we went that same day and got a car there.

I hope I don't get sued by writing this

Isn't' this pretty standard? Every dealership wants you to think about small payments, not total or length.

[rb]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

eruhhh we gonnna bomb that place full of bad reviews now?

Please dont. I dont know if it still occurs but RS ownership use to get served legal papers almost on a monthly basis for threads like this. Even though they usually dont go anywhere, it does take up financial resources and time. RS execs were even served papers in person at one of the summer meets.

[teggy604]

So all of this happened because "said" friend that sold car to Mr Tan said brakes were "tested" and does not have to be replaced. I am guessing that is why he never asked to see it when the techs at Mazda have the brakes apart, and request to see it after the fact the car was already done serviced. I dont know what "tested" means? Like you drive the car and the brakes work so its good? or the friend brought car in for inspection at a garage and the tech said brakes are good? in which case they have a work order stating either in mm or % brake material left.

Do techs take pictures of every brake pad they change now? If Mazda does have pictures of the pads and showed it to Mr Tan, then he would be an idiot to still try to fight.

[Badhobz]

after watching a lot of youtube of "customer says" and how utterly clueless most people are about their cars, i'm partial to the dealer on this one. However threatening to sue a guy over bad reviews is a bit much.

[Qmx323]

Ya whatever it was supposed to be it coulda just been

"Hi Francis, please send us an email @ XXX@xxx.com to discuss this further, thank you!"

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by Traum

Just want to point out the difference between Mazda Canada vs Signature Mazda. Based on my own experience with Mazda Canada's PR / Marketing team through the local Miata club / motorsports clubs, and their test drive programs, they are very good at what they do, and they are pretty generous.

Signature Mazda, on the other hand... I've only had some cursory experience with them through sales and service, and that was probably close to 15 years ago. But based on what they are doing now with this customer, I'd certainly say their PR/marketing team is not very smart to argue over the negative Google review.

^---- prepared to get threatened with a lawsuit for these "defamatory" comments

i don't know why people think they can defeat the internet... death and the internet are undefeated man

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

after watching a lot of youtube of "customer says" and how utterly clueless most people are about their cars, i'm partial to the dealer on this one. However threatening to sue a guy over bad reviews is a bit much.

This man knows what's up

There's always two sides to the story, and whatever story is read first on the internets, is the one people believe

[bobbinka]

Their service department is shit and has been for at least the last 15 years. The employees have changed over the years, but the predatory practices are still the same.

-Supposedly did warranty work on catalytic converter, but when it didn't resolve the problem, refused to do anything else and blamed it on the suspension (dafuq). took it to another dealership who did the warranty work no questions asked.
-MAF sensor was acting up. Didn't know it at the time, but just had to disconnect the battery to reset it. They wanted to replace it.
-During an oil change on a fairly new car, they called to say that the engine filter was dirty and needed to be replaced. I declined. When I picked up the car, I opened the hood and could see that no one had ever removed the cover to look at the filter.
-They tried to push for other services to be done and said that Mazda Canada would deny warranty if you didn't do it with them. Bullshit.
-I've sat in their lounge and listened to them push for filter changes and even a light bulb change to older folks.
-Have family who leased a car from them, when it was brought in for an oil change, they pushed for all sorts of service and said that because the vehicle was leased, it must be done.
-Another instance where on a vehicle with 6000km, they tried to push for brake fluid flush.

People being clueless about their cars and the dealership being predatory are two separate things. You can know nothing about cars and still not get milked by the dealer. Just because you don't know anything about cars doesn't mean it's okay for the dealer to act that way.

[trollface]

Originally Posted by donk.

This man knows what's up

There's always two sides to the story, and whatever story is read first on the internets, is the one people believe

Three sides. Their side, his side and the truth.

[mb_]

I'll play devil's advocate as I've been on the side of the service advisor's many, many times before...

- If customer requests to keep or see their parts before giving authorization BEFOREHAND, that's not unheard of. However, asking AFTER the work has already been done with the customer's authorization and calling the dealership scammers is definitely in the Karen zone. Parts get thrown away or recycled after they're replaced if the customer doesn't ask for them back. Standard procedure.
- It's the technician's and service advisor's job to upsell (of course, only if the car needs it) so calling them predatory and shady is basically getting mad at people for doing their jobs.
- Dealership claims they have photos of the brake pads
- No mention if they replaced front or rear brakes or both. Also claims their friend "tested" the brakes before selling them the car. Such a vague description but let's say their friend replaced the front brakes before selling them the car. What if the dealership recommended the rears? What if their "friend" also lied about getting the brakes "tested"?
- Whoever is replying to the bad review is also overreacting with publicly replying and threatening litigation and is also making the dealership look bad. These things should be resolved behind closed doors if the Signature Mazda does not want to look bad

[AzNightmare]

Without knowing the history of this dealership since I never used them before, objectively looking at the facts available. It's really hard to see who's correct.

Reading the dealership's response, they were much more clear on what happened from their perspective, with time stamps of each event. While the customer's story is more vague.

I can't tell which came first: Did the mob mentality happen first, or did the dealership's threat come first? If the mob mentality came first, I can understand why the dealership got so upset over not just 1 bad review, but being ganged up by false 1 star rating from non-customers.

[inv4zn]

^the only reason "the mob" was alerted was because the dealership made a stupid comment on something they should have ignored, or as suggested above, dealt with behind closed doors.

At this point it doesn't even matter who was right or wrong, the dealership shot themselves in the foot by doing anything else other than saying "Please e-mail or call us directly".

They're gonna get raked through the coals for a while, and unless they do something monumentally stupid like threaten to sue every 1 star review that's gonna come their way, this'll all blow over in 3 weeks.