Ducati Dealer Service (or lack there of!)

[Cousin it]

Unfortunately many times in the past forum administrators and members have been threatened with legal action and several very good forums have closed down due to legal pressure from less than reputable companies.

Originally Posted by Cousin it

Unfortunately many times in the past forum administrators and members have been threatened with legal action and several very good forums have closed down due to legal pressure from less than reputable companies.

I didn't know that. Have you got any examples of when that has happened?

[Cousin it]

If you google 'forum members sued', 'forums sued' you will quickly see the kind of reactions that happen, the most recient uk based forum was a uk vapour forum closed down after a legal threat by a company, that sent a shock wave around every forum dealing with electronic cigarettes.

the case that made me very wary was about 10 years ago when several members and the owner of a forum were threatened with being sued the total amount was in the region of £6-7,000,000 plus costs, this eventually was dealt with with out the huge amount being paid but that did not remove the concerns caused to the individuals while this was going on, not really something the administrator and moderators on this forum deserve as repayment for allowing us to have a place to talk about the bikes we hold dear.

As said, if isn't libelous they can try to sue me. I wouldn't like to get anyone in trouble from the forum but hey, if a simple threat makes people all wary we're going downhill fast without brakes (or out of date ones )
End of the day if the OP wants can name and shame, if not word will get around quickly in the Ducati community eventually..

Originally Posted by Cousin it

If you google 'forum members sued', 'forums sued' you will quickly see the kind of reactions that happen, the most recient uk based forum was a uk vapour forum closed down after a legal threat by a company, that sent a shock wave around every forum dealing with electronic cigarettes.

the case that made me very wary was about 10 years ago when several members and the owner of a forum were threatened with being sued the total amount was in the region of £6-7,000,000 plus costs, this eventually was dealt with with out the huge amount being paid but that did not remove the concerns caused to the individuals while this was going on, not really something the administrator and moderators on this forum deserve as repayment for allowing us to have a place to talk about the bikes we hold dear.

I had a quick google and couldn't find much to be honest. I did find the UK vapour case. That looks like they were allowing a consistent attack on one particular company and the moderators were even perhaps implicit in it. Certainly they did nothing to regulate. The forum was never actually sued but closed after threats. It's not really a good industry to get examples from. Brand new, unregulated, wild claims from fly by night companys who possibly employ online tactics to rubbish competitors. Very different to this and many other forums that publish personal experiences of service or lack of from vendors.

As Pomp says as long as you stick to the truth you'll have nothing to worry about. Remember that means saying what actually happened rather than what you think happened. Good moderation is of course the key too. Allowing members to mount a concerted campaign against 1 entity could cause issues however if allowing bad reviews on your site was an open invitation for lawyers to get rich then Tripadvisor better get a couple of spare cheque books ready.

Ones persons facts can be anothers fiction. We have a customers bike in for servicing , checked the shims ( which were out ) reported the facts and the customer is "thinking" about doing them. If he does not , sells the bike "with oh yes just had a full service" and then the new owner checks them , whos going to get the bad name ? ( ok we can mention it on the invoice/service book ) .
If any dealer gets something wrong its how they deal with the issue which is best reported in the forum ?

[utopia]

The above is a good example of exactly what I was trying to say.
Its all too easy for a reputation to be unfairly tarnished by this kind of thing, which is why I prefer to just recommend the good guys rather than criticise without being absolutely certain of the full facts.