I have just gone over to the UK Volvo Owners Club forum to find info I know was posted there. The forum no longer exists.

This was the message posted:





Quote:



Volvo Community Forum is closed.
It is time to release details of the events that led to the recent closure of this forum.

On 22 February 2008 I received an email from the owner of a garage that said, “I have just come across some very defamatory comments regarding my business on this forum site.”

The matter was investigated and the relevant thread removed from public view, and as a result I made the statement that posts about poor work done by garages would not be made. This was made after taking legal advice, advice that said the Volvo Owners Club, owners of the forum, could be held liable. The initial action taken by us did not resolve the matter, and it is still unresolved at this time. Hence, we cannot make any further comments.

Such legal action could be very costly and possibly exhaust the club funds. If the costs exceeded those funds the directors themselves could find themselves having to pay out of their own money.

My statement precipitated a torrent of abuse on this and other forums and some was not from members of the Volvo Owners Club.

The comments made on other forums, comments that have been passed to us were often defamatory and insulting. It is clear there are some people who have no consideration or respect for others. They seem only to want to insult others and disrupt the forum. I think we all agree with freedom of speech, but it can only be within the laws of the land.

We, the Board of Directors of the Volvo Owners Club, decided that the best course of action would be to close the forum as we felt the name of the Volvo Owners Club was being tarnished. This was done last Saturday evening.

The insults and abuse against us have continued on some other forums, and it is clear from the comments that some of those people will attempt to get back on this forum and possibly continue their campaign of disruption.

I hope it is clear now why the forum was closed, and how the irresponsible actions of some can have far reaching implications.

It may not now be a case of “when” the forum will reopen, it may be, “if”.

Robert Isaac
Director
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Volvo Owners Club

26 March 2008

I have seen very few references to bad workmanship which named garages on this site, but we should all be aware of the possible consequences of 'naming and shaming'.

 

I know. I was a member, it was a great forum with so much knowledge and experienced members. Whoever has done what they did has seriously upset a whole community and taken away a valuable resource.

I have just joined this forum as my roots have now gone and need a new place to share and learn knowledge.

 

In theory there is a risk. However as I read the leading case ("The Motley Fool") it could have been pretty completely circumvented by prompt removal of potentially defamatory material upon notification. Yes, I'm a solicitor and yes, defamation is one of the areas in which I have knowledge and e-commerce is another.

It is most regrettable that the potential of forums to alert members to rogue garages should impaired. I had popped into some of the (I imagine) contentious threads, and what I read of what some garages had done to some people's cars was most alarming.

 

Hm.....

You'd think as a club, they would register as an LLC or something to protect themselves...

 

Never the less, Welcome to the Forum rogerthechoristerand AlexE_C70.

Feel free to put down roots, you'll find good company here, with an excellent knowledge base.

Let's hope the rogues and fools don't follow.

 

Hi Bill,

Thanks for sharing the info, as a moderator here I shall delete posts that have individual business names and offensive comments against them. I usually delete offensive, sarcastic (i.e., negative) replies as soon as I spot them but sometimes I cannot come here for specific period of times for job-related/personal reasons. I do, however, do my best to keep this forum as friendly, helpful and harmless as possible.

It is sad that some people can only vent their negativities as anonymous web surfers and cause damage to others. Things are much worse here in Japan; there seems minimal respect to others, demise of least courtesy or common sense, even in real life and I am already burned out of it.

Thanks again forthe info. I always appreciate your conscientious replies.

Regards,


Kanji/JPN

 

Volvospeed has an entire section dedicated to companies and reviews from forum members. Bad comments and good comments a like. Which IMO is a good idea because you can get a feel of what companies are good and which aren't. Which to buy from and which to stay away from.

If a garage does a really crappy job I want to know about it and why? Because I don't want to get in the same situation. Maybe they went at it the wrong way, but in the end they are speaking their mind about a business that does bad work. And I for one wouldn't want to do business with a garage that is known to be bad and do bad work.

Saying Tommy from Gas and Go repair shop is an idiot moron who doesn't know how to tie his shoes let alone fix a car is harsh and yeah that isn't needed but.. Something like...

Tommy from Gas and Go repair shop doesn't do good work and has cost me more money then what I went in for is acceptable IMO.

Or...

Gas and Go repair shops customer service is horrible. That isn't bad at all. Also saying you would never do business with them because of their customer service or the horrible services they provide isn't bad either IMO.

People need to be alerted and there is a right and wrong way to do it.

But I think a company that does bad work should be known to the public and that the public has a right to know what's going on. There is a Better Business Burough too.

 

I don't think this is realistic. And if this was the case, I can think of about four topics off the top of my head that would have to be deleted because of negative comments.Where do we draw the line? If someone asks about a company's products, can we only say things like "Idealt with them and don't have a positive comment?"

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying one can come out and flame a company for shotty products. But as S70driver said, if someone has a bad experience, I want to know why so I don't make the same mistake. If one can quantilfy what the problem was, that is legitimate. And if this is acceptable (and so far has been) for a company's products, why not a garage?

That's a shame such a good forum was shut down.

 

Hi,

Like AlexE_C70 I have missed the UK Volvo Owners Club forum and pleased that I have found this forum.Iwas shocked that the forum could be shut so easily and quickly! It was a valuable source of knowledge and advise.

Look forward to contibuting in my small way to this forum.

Regards,
BobP

 

Welcome. One should be careful with how they post a situation in which they were disappointed. Stick to the facts, (e.g. I took it in to URGR8 for X and they failed to address the problem. Took it to ABC Auto and they found that Y was the problem. Therefore you may want to avoid URGR8), and not post"Those bleeping *^#^(&%$*^'s couldn't fix a . . ."

 

I would think that as long as you are stating facts about what happened and not just taking pot shots at some business it should be fine. I agree that if somebody is ripping me off when it comes to working on my car, I'm going to post here to protect others from doing business with them. When I get good work done I post here and let people know that too. Look how many times we send people to fcpgroton, ipd and Erie Used Volvo parts.

 

I understand people's comments, but my bottom line is to keep this forum from getting accused & shut down, with legal/financial penalty to the administrators & those who advertised bad businesses with actual names. My point is not to write out the exact spellings on individual businesses. I am not sure about how it is in the U.S., but in places like the U.K and Japan, "posting mere bad businesses' names for people's benefit" can actually constitute legal actions and there have been cases where blaming certain businesses ended up costing some people. Remember, the Internet is a public space. Anyway, I have notified the administrator for his opinion and should he/she decides it is safe, then I will not interfere with others' posts.


JPN

 

Yes the internet is a public place and it is no different then me telling my friends in person not to go to some garage because of the bad business. The internet is the same thing but more people can view it.

 

I now feel... (see attached).


JPN

[IMG]local://upfiles/6892/E0492BE9EA034631A6BB7562E1B67531.jpg[/IMG]

 

Maturity and moderationare the key to this forum. Rarely have I seen degrading,threatening orpompous posts. If they do pop up, I feel they have been handled well by the moderators and generally ignored by the members.

 

Playing devil's advocate, andtaken in a bigger light, what about Volvo itself. The reality of this and most forums like it is peolpe come here with problems. Either with a dealer (service), or the car itself. Even if not spelled out, everyone will know about the negative issue with a Volvo.

And if not allowed to name a bad company, why have the forum?