Ripoff Report Ripoff Report harms businesses without verifying claims prior to posting them Houston TX

EDITOR'S REBUTTAL COMMENT: 

Apparently Charter Financial doesn't like us...but they used our website, to post a complaint about us and threatened to sue us, for something someone else did. Pretty ironic, and almost comical, don't ya think? 

We didn't have to post this (the threat of litigation is silly) but they wanted it and Ripoff Report strongly believes in the First Amendment, even when it is about us.  We believe that all businesses will get complaints.  After all, no one can please 100% of the population 100% of the time...and sometimes people just suck.  We also believe that it is how businesses take care of those complaints that separates good businesses from the rest.  We understand that people who have complaints written about them are upset and want to place blame somewhere, especially if they feel the content of the Reports are false.  We also understand that individuals want to blame our website rather than where it belongs, and who ultimately bears liability - the person who wrote the Reports in the first place.  Using the same method that we provide FREE OF CHARGE to all of our users, we would like to “set the record straight” as to the Report posted about our website through this Rebuttal.

Every user of our website has the opportunity to tell their side of the story, for free, just as we will do here.  True, Reports are intended to be a permanent record, however, we believe that consumers like to see how businesses handle complaints rather than sweeping them under the carpet or otherwise hiding their dispute resolution process.  We certainly encourage users to “set the record straight” and tell their side of the story by using the free methods available to them before they consider other paid Ripoff Report programs such as the VIP Arbitration Program or the Corporate Advocacy Program.  Both of these programs offer different benefits and levels of service which we invite you to review for yourself if you are curious.  The programs aren’t for every business and/or individual though – a lot depends on the business’s/individual's particular needs and many simply choose to go with the free option of filing a Rebuttal, telling their side of the story, and offering up contact information and/or other incentives.  Furthermore, if the dispute is resolved, the author of the original Report always has the ability to come back and file an Update that tells everyone how well the company/individual took care of their issue and or explain how there was a simple misunderstanding!  Hey, we all can make mistakes, right?

Unfortunately, Charter Financial has essentially blamedRipoff Report and even threatened legal action against us (without merit by the way) because of alleged falsities having been posted about them, by someone else, on our website.  What is important to remember is that Ripoff Report is merely a public, free to use, interactive website.  We don't write the Reports.  Any of our commentary is clearly marked separately if we do make any comments – as is clear here.  Moreover, we have no way of knowing if a Report author is telling the truth or perhaps the person/company who writes the Rebuttals to the Report is telling the truth...or maybe the truth lies somewhere in between the two stories. 

Let's get real for a minute...do you think for one second that Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Glassdoor, TripAdvisor or any other platform that allows user comments actually vets every comment for the truthfulness or accuracy of the content that is posted?  Ummm, no...no they don't.  It would be impossible to do so.  This is precisely why we allow Reports, Comments, Rebuttals and Updates, for free, by anyone (including the person/company posted about) who has information to share about the situation.  This also includes the ability to upload documents/images that support the position that is being advanced.  By doing so, all sides of the story are able to be heard so other users of the site can make an educated decision about the situation for themselves.  It’s also important to note that all of our users who sign up for a account with the website must check a box indicating that the information they report on will be the truth and that the Report will become a permanent record...so if you file a Rebuttal or Comment, that also applies to that user.  For the record, it does appear that someone on behalf of Charter Financial did post a Rebuttal to the Report about them...so it's not like they didn't take advantage of the opportunity to tell their side of the story and any onlooker will have the opportunity to see that.

Another important consideration for the general public, threatening websites with litigation in these circumstances is pretty silly.  First, it’s just a lame move.  It's certainly not going to help you make friends at the company you are threatening.  You may not always get the response you want to hear, but it doesn't have to turn ugly, and they might be able to offer you ideas or explain things to you that you didn't understand before that might be helpful.  If you're a jerk...chances are they are going to tell you to pound sand or otherwise just ignore you.  Then there is the fact that such threats in these situations are entirely without legal merit (in most cases) which just makes you look even worse.  Additionally, if that plaintiff loses (happens a lot to the uneducated chest pounders) that plaintiff may very well be saddled with attorneys’ fees and costs for the website having to appear and defend against such litigation.  Indeed, people have had to pay us back for filing silly lawsuits.  Moreover, to add insult to injury, what they don't realize is that a litigation and the entire record that is filed before the court is a public record...often indexed by search engines.  There isn’t really anything stopping journalists or general bloggers from writing about the situation and including the court record it if they wanted to either.  This “genius” is a prime example.  His reputation management method arguably turned out to be even worse for his reputation because many journalists and bloggers are writing and talking about it.  You know, that whole Freedom of Speech thing and all.  So, trying to hide and sweep things under the rug, or come up with "creative" other methods, can often have unintended consequences...often referred to in this industry as the Streisand effect.  Of course, if people want to go the litigation route, they should go after the one that has liability - not the website.  Plus, if they do have a valid reason to go after the author, and they win, they could always consider crafting a court order that complies with our Court Order Policy which may provide for redaction of information.  That is always an option.

Maybe Charter Financial does have a valid legal complaint against the author who posted the Report about them.  Maybe they don't.  Ripoff Report makes no determinations either way because we don't know the parties, we don't know the situation, and we certainly didn't write the subject Report.  We leave the determining of facts up to the parties in the situation to hash out on our site or for a judge and jury to decided.  What we do know is that Charter Financial is taking their frustration out on us, for something someone else did, by posting this Report and through communication to our Customer Service Department.  While we can understand frustration...they are literally barking up the wrong tree.

We thank you for taking the time to read this Rebuttal and allowing us to “set the record straight” about Charter Financial's Report.

Ripoff Report Staff (LD1)

**This information is for general information purposes only.  To the extent any information contained in our Rebuttal relates to the law, be advise that it is NOT intended to be legal advice nor should it be relied upon as legal advice.  If you are struggling with issues online, you are encouraged to seek legal counsel in your jurisdcition that may be able to assist you and address your specific concerns.