Touch Local: feedback

Thread removed after legal threat from Touch Local solicitors

Update: March 24th 2010

I’ve taken down the original thread after receiving a letter from Touch Local’s solicitors in which they held me accountable for initiating and publishing a ‘defamatory’ thread about Touch Local.

I disagree with that view for a number of reasons, but I’m not interested in arguing the toss in an expensive court case.

A defense against the charge of defamation is ‘truth’.  While I can’t prove the ‘truth’ of the comments that those unhappy customers posted (hence my decision to take the thread down), I can for the 12 facts in the explanation (below).

When all’s said and done, how well a company deals with feedback in the public arena is ultimately its own business. While I’m happy to help bridge the gap between a company and its unhappy customers (as I tried to do in this situation) I’m certainly not willing to fight them for the privilege

FACT 1: In 2008 I wrote a post about TouchLocal offering them feedback from an online marketing point of view on why I didn’t complete my free listing on their site. Nowhere in that post did I use the word ‘scam’ or imply that Touch Local were anything other than a respectable business. Click here to read the original text. Nothing defamatory there, you’ll agree?

FACT 2: A year later, Google traffic to that post suddenly increased.

FACT 3: The keyphrase those visitors came in on was “touch local sc@m” (I have, of course, replaced the ‘a’). I have my site stats to prove this – however, the important thing to note is this: I didn’t type those words into Google (or write them in my post!) – Touch Local’s customers did.

FACT 4: Google returned my blog in the search results because of its title (‘Touch Local: Feedback”) and – presumably – because ‘scam’ is a keyword found across my site

FACT 5: Many of those visitors commented to express their dissatisfaction with Touch Local about a particular situation (one which prompted them to do that Google search)

FACT 6: I chose to publish their comments – expressed as their personal experiences and opinions.

FACT 7: Touch Local became aware of the thread and contacted me, asking what I thought they should do about the situation.

FACT 8: I gave them advice and offered for them to use this blog to a) learn what they could from these unhappy customers and b) as a platform to be seen to resolve the issues for free. I have a professional interest in helping people to repair reputation damage by addressing it publicly and not covering it up.

FACT 9: Touch Local thanked me for that advice and took advantage of my offer to post on this site to make contact with any customers with issues and try to put things right.

FACT 10: At the point of TL’s last communication they had successfully resolved the issue with 4 of the people who commented on the thread

FACT 11: Touch Local then asked me to remove any instances where those customers called the company a ‘scam’.  I agreed to do that and remove some personal references.

FACT 12: 18th March 2010 I received a letter from Touch Local’s solicitors claiming that the content and tone of the comments on the thread were ‘untrue and highly defamatory’. Their letter, however, noted their client’s ‘appreciation’ of my efforts to ‘mediate’ with the aggrieved parties.