| [pending revision] | [pending revision] |
Undid revision 583314844 by 204.124.171.20 (talk) Read wikipedia's policy which I quoted. If you feel so strongly about this why don't you add this to the Google page as well. |
Unnecessary, readers are smart enough to put 2 and 2 together since its not mentioned they were removed. You're not gonna update this every single day are you? |
||
| Line 80: | Line 80: | ||
"Company fines shopper $3500 for posting negative review - @KlearGear is NOT @TRUSTe certified"<ref>https://twitter.com/TRUSTe/statuses/402514591411744768</ref> |
"Company fines shopper $3500 for posting negative review - @KlearGear is NOT @TRUSTe certified"<ref>https://twitter.com/TRUSTe/statuses/402514591411744768</ref> |
||
On November 25, 2013 the Kleargear website is '''STILL''' fraudulently showing endorsements from the BBB and ETrust. <ref> http://www.kleargear.com/</ref> |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
Revision as of 00:54, 26 November 2013
47°38′23″N 122°7′42″W / 47.63972°N 122.12833°W
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | (2001) |
| Headquarters | U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | William Franklin Bermender (CEO) [1] |
Kleargear is an online retailer that specialises in nerd apparel, geek toys, gadgets and office toys. It is roughly equivalent to online retailer ThinkGeek.
In November 2013, Kleargear suffered a serious internet backlash[2] after it was revealed that they fined customer Jen Palmer $3,500, for posting a negative review online on RipOffReport.com,[3][4] after the customer failed to receive the order she had placed. This was carried out under the auspices of an "anti-disparagement clause"[5][6] of their site's terms and conditions, which stated:
In an effort to ensure fair and honest public feedback, and to prevent the publishing of libelous content in any form, your acceptance of this sales contract prohibits you from taking any action that negatively impacts KlearGear.com, its reputation, products, services, management or employees.
Should you violate this clause, as determined by KlearGear.com in its sole discretion, you will be provided a seventy-two (72) hour opportunity to retract the content in question. If the content remains, in whole or in part, you will immediately be billed $3,500.00 USD for legal fees and court costs until such complete costs are determined in litigation. Should these charges remain unpaid for 30 calendar days from the billing date, your unpaid invoice will be forwarded to our third party collection firm and will be reported to consumer credit reporting agencies until paid.
Non-Disparagement Clause
The decision by Kleargear to fine the woman under their terms and conditions has raised several ethical questions, including the ability for a customer to automatically waive their free-speech rights as a condition of sale, as well as whether a company can deliberately hold to ransom a customer's credit rating, for violating their terms.[7]
In the face of rising backlash, the retailer has since removed the clause in question, although as other sources have noted, the clause appeared to have only first been added after Jen Palmer placed her order and posted the negative review.[8] The retailer has not revoked the fine, however.[citation needed]
Kleargear closed its facebook page and protected its Twitter account after repeated attacks [9]
The effort by Kleargear to suppress the negative feedback it received - as well as its resulting publicity for doing so - can be considered an example of the Streisand Effect. The site enjoys a security endorsement and consumer protection from BuySAFE, despite Kleargear's actions.[citation needed]
Response by Better Business Bureau
On November 19, 2013 the Better Business Bureau issued an alert on Kleargear and changed its rating from ‘B’ to an ‘NR’ after it found out about the hidden fine. [10][11]
"As of November 28, 2012, the BBB became aware that the company's website is displaying a BBB Accredited Business logo and BBB Rating A+; however, the comapny is not a BBB accredited business and the BBB rating is not A+.The BBB contacted the company regarding these issues and this matter is pending the company's response."
Investigation by Rip Off Report
On November 18, 2013 Ripoff Report released an investigative report on Kleargear. [12]
"KlearGear asserts falsely that someone accepted a contractual term, and asserts a debt based on that false statement, and reports that debt to credit agencies, that's fraud. It's not just a civil wrong, it's a crime."[13]
On November 19, 2013 the ripoffreport.com released additional information regarding the represented management of Kleargear. [14]
"Tom Riskin of Inhaniel and listed as a Chenal Media investor is mentioned here:http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/prnewswire/search?q=Tom+Chenal and had created a report profile here http://www.slated.com/people/13599/ The photo listed as Tom Rifkin has been stolen. According to Wikpedia is Professor Kurt Remele and is licensed CC-BY-SA-3.0, which means using it without attribution is illegal.
Megan Torcher another excecutive of Chenal Media and Chenal Brands is another identity created with a stolen photo. The photo of Megan Torcher is actually a picture of German business woman Manuela Better. http://www.pfandbriefbank.com/en/the-company/management/manuela-better.html[15]
"Kleargear fines their customers $3,500 for writing real reviews, yet they pay contractors for fake reviews. I wonder how Will Bermender will try to scrub his ads on Freelancer.com?" [16]
http://www.freelancer.com/projects/Data-Processing/Fresh-Email-Accounts-Needed.html [17]
Response from TrustE
On November 18, 2013 Truste.com tweeted that the endorsement and certificate posted by Kleargear on its website was unauthorized. [18]
"Company fines shopper $3500 for posting negative review - @KlearGear is NOT @TRUSTe certified"[19]
References
- ^ http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/06/prweb405204.htm
- ^ "Kleargear bills woman". BoingBoing.
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-24992518
- ^ "Kleargear". RipOffReport.com.
- ^ White, Ken. "New From KlearGear: Free Speech, Only $3,500 Plus Shipping And Handling". Popehat. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
- ^ http://mashable.com/2013/11/19/kleargear-negative-review-fine/#:eyJzIjoiZiIsImkiOiJfZ20xMjduZzdienZob3k5Z3drMjc5ZDIxaGhfIn0
- ^ http://www.kutv.com/news/features/gephardt/stories/vid_474.shtml
- ^ http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131113/06112425228/online-retailer-slaps-unhappy-customers-with-3500-fee-violating-non-disparagement-clause.shtml
- ^ http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/18/kleargear-goes-into-social-media-lockdown-after-it-charges-customers-for-posting-bad-reviews/
- ^ http://www.bbb.org/western-michigan/business-reviews/novelties-retail/kleargear-in-grandville-mi-38143064#
- ^ http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2013/11/kleargear_grandville.html
- ^ http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/EXPOSED-Kleargearcom-Ripoff-the-inside-story-William-Bermender-Han-Reinett-Tom-Rifkin-iHaniel-Havaco-Direct-Badcustomercom-Jen-Palmer/internet/EXPOSED-Kleargearcom-Ripoff-the-inside-story-William-Bermender-Han-Reinett-Tom-Rifkin-1100482
- ^ http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/EXPOSED-Kleargearcom-Ripoff-the-inside-story-William-Bermender-Han-Reinett-Tom-Rifkin-iHaniel-Havaco-Direct-Badcustomercom-Jen-Palmer/internet/EXPOSED-Kleargearcom-Ripoff-the-inside-story-William-Bermender-Han-Reinett-Tom-Rifkin-1100482
- ^ http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/EXPOSED-Kleargearcom-Ripoff-the-inside-story-William-Bermender-Han-Reinett-Tom-Rifkin-iHaniel-Havaco-Direct-Badcustomercom-Jen-Palmer/internet/EXPOSED-Kleargearcom-Ripoff-the-inside-story-William-Bermender-Han-Reinett-Tom-Rifkin-1100482
- ^ http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/EXPOSED-Kleargearcom-Ripoff-the-inside-story-William-Bermender-Han-Reinett-Tom-Rifkin-iHaniel-Havaco-Direct-Badcustomercom-Jen-Palmer/internet/EXPOSED-Kleargearcom-Ripoff-the-inside-story-William-Bermender-Han-Reinett-Tom-Rifkin-1100482
- ^ http://www.freelancer.com/projects/SEO-SEM-Adwords/Write-Post-Reviews.html
- ^ http://www.freelancer.com/projects/Data-Processing/Fresh-Email-Accounts-Needed.html
- ^ https://twitter.com/TRUSTe/statuses/402514591411744768
- ^ https://twitter.com/TRUSTe/statuses/402514591411744768