Business being defamed on Craigslist. What can I do?

March 25, 2009 3:56 PM

Hi, a competitor keeps defaming my business on Craigslist, calling me a scammer and what not. This hurts because I get most of my business from Craigslist.

I've refrained from doing anything about it so far besides politely asking him why he's doing it and requesting that he stop, because I didn't want to escalate things, and I hoped that if I seem nice maybe he'd just drop it eventually . But to no avail. He's kept up regular posts several times a day now for almost 4 months!

So I guess I actually need to step up. I threatened legal action recently, but he hasn't stopped and hasn't responded. So now I suppose that's what I'll have to contemplate even though I just despise getting into anything like that.

Can anyone give me advice on how difficult and expensive it would be to file a defamation case like this, or what my best options are? Any cheap and easy way to do this?

Or are there some good non-lawsuit-related alternatives I should try before I take this to the courts?

Thank you!

posted by grammalvsu to law & government (12 comments total)

You should come up with a way to estimate just how much money he's cost you over these last few months and (if it's less than $10,000 in most US states) you can take him to small claims court for the damages. This is almost never expensive (most states don't allow lawyers to run these cases anyhow; you have to present your own) and usually only involves filling out the paperwork and paying a small fee.

I'll bet even just filing would scare your competitor into quitting, but you may as well carry the case through -- you might win.
posted by koeselitz at 4:02 PM on March 25

What do you mean by "I threatened legal action recently"? Have you sent him a cease-and-desist letter, on an attorney's letterhead? The level of formality of your threat can make a big difference in its effect.

But now that you've threatened legal action, it's going to be hard to do something short of legal action without seeming like you're backing down. Based on the fact that this guy is basically just ignoring you already, I don't think that this would be a good perception to create.
posted by mr_roboto at 4:07 PM on March 25

IANAL, but isn't this libel? Defamation is illegal.
posted by Freen at 4:08 PM on March 25

I've refrained from doing anything about it

Have you been flagging the posts? Craigslist is usually pretty good about disappearing stuff like that pretty quickly.
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:21 PM on March 25

I agree with Sidhe. If he is just spamming Craigslist with "Dont buy from X, they suck!" I'm pretty sure thats against their TOS. One or two complaints are allowed for anyone, but if he is doing it REPEATEDLY that alone should make his posts suspicious to the administrators.
posted by CTORourke at 4:25 PM on March 25

Seriously, as long as you aren't a scammer, what he's saying is libel. He has to be able to prove that what he says is true, or he is legally responsible for the business he's causing you to lose. Just because it's on the Internet doesn't mean the law doesn't apply.

You have threatened legal action, I'm assuming just in an email. Get a lawyer to draft up a cease and desist. I know it sucks, but you don't have to feel bad about it. He certainly isn't feeling bad about the damage he's doing to your business. He's breaking the law and harming your livelihood, he needs to be held responsible.
posted by yellowbinder at 4:42 PM on March 25

How do you defame someone in a classified ad? If they're just posting some opinion, then you flag, as this is not something which can be exchanged and is therefore against the CL rules.
posted by rhizome at 4:48 PM on March 25

Start documenting the posts, with the CL id number, and the content. Get some references from satisfied customers who will confirm that you are not a scammer. Send it to CL.
posted by theora55 at 6:10 PM on March 25

In addition to suing him for lost business, I think what he's doing would qualify as harassment.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 7:27 PM on March 25

rhizome: How do you defame someone in a classified ad?

Defamation is possible in any medium: print, auditory, video, et cetera. It is also possible in a classified ad.

The difference between an 'opinion' and defamation is (a) defamation is a statement which is known to be untrue and which is uttered to harm the victim, and (b) an opinion is generally stated and understood to be such.

If I spread lies in order to hurt someone (especially to hurt them materially or psychologically), then it's defamation. If it is on a sufficient scale, it is actionable.
posted by koeselitz at 9:18 PM on March 25

Seriously, though, how do you know who it is? Craigslist posts are pretty anonymous, and even if you think you have a pretty good idea, will it stand up in court?
posted by alexei at 10:59 PM on March 25

What do you mean by "I threatened legal action recently"?

No, I haven't sent a cease and desist letter or anything. I just threatened informally via email...... yes, point taken that anything less now might be seen as backing down.


Have you been flagging the posts?

Yes, I have been flagging at least. But it's a bit of a pain, several times a day, everyday, of course.

And yes, the poster's behavior is definitely against CL's TOS, and CL said at some point that they were taking action to prevent this user from doing this anymore. But whatever action they took has not been effective. I'm guessing CL blocked his IP address, but that he has a way of spoofing IP addresses.


Seriously, though, how do you know who it is? Craigslist posts are pretty anonymous, and even if you think you have a pretty good idea, will it stand up in court?

Definitely a valid point. I have emails in which I accuse him of it, and he says, basically, "yeah, and what are you going to do about it?" Would that be enough? If not, I suppose I'd have to hire a lawyer to file a case with CL, and get them to trace the posts back to him. But that could get expensive. AND, if he is doing IP spoofing, not even guaranteed to succeed in establishing a solid link perhaps...
posted by grammalvsu at 4:34 PM on March 26