Worst Company Practices: Bad-Mouthing The Competition

Sales Tactics - Slander and The Consequences

Yesterday I encountered something that I never thought would happen: a competitor viciously slandered my company. I was taken aback, to say the least. The content of the slander was so defamatory, that I'm considering a law suit. 

First I'll explain what happened so that you can get the gist of it: I arrived on an estimate, won the estimate, and was on the roof of a female client's house when a call came from a rival company, seeking to follow-up on a lead provided by a third-party lead generating website.

When the client informed my rival that I was already performing the repair, my rival told the client that I had been involved in felony criminal acts against clients. The client ran out of the house, called me off the roof, and told me I was fired. I was to leave immediately. 

I called my secretary and told her about it, so she contacted the lead website and explained to them that one of their contractors was engaging in libelous activities. They of course promised to "escalate and investigate", but I wonder of this will actually happen. 

What can I do? What would your company do in this situation? As a result, I've searched the web for answers, This is what I found: 

Most companies shrug it off, especially if the amount of the job was small. It's expected that there will be some bad-mouthing of other companies, but most do not involve informing a client that the repairman is a criminal!

The actual legal term for this is "Slander". That's when a person orally spreads lies about a person or company in order to cause harm. Included in this term is the discussion of criminal acts, which, when untrue, can be used in a court case for slander. 

What can be done? 

Consult a defamation/slander attorney. They can inform you of your rights, the possibility of winning such a case, and how much you can expect in punitive damages. You can also get "injunctive relief", which means that the lawyer can ask the court that the slandering party be barred from making more slanderous remarks in the future. This often involves a fine for further slander. 

Sometimes these cases are solved without a court case, involving fees paid for slander, and a promise of no further slander in the future. 

Am I going to pursue this? I think that I will consult with a slander attorney ASAP, and see what he says. If you've been involved in slander, and want info, here are all the links explaining it. 

http://constructionpronet.com/Content_Free/2013-3-29.aspx

http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/04/17/mailbag-how-to-badmouth-your-competitor/

http://www.frontdoor.com/real-estate/5-signs-a-contractor-may-not-be-right-for-you

injunctive relief: http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=963

http://www.nylitigationfirm.com/defamation-new-york/

http://www.ehow.com/list_6813729_new-york-state-slander-laws.html

If you win a case like this, hopefully you will be compensated adequately. 

****If you don't check the links above, I should tell you that at least in New York, you have 1 (one) year to get this into court, or you'll lose your money. So act quickly if you're involved in a slander case in NY!