What is my legal obligation and recourse regarding a dissatisfied customer and continuing harrassment?

Get Legal Help Today

Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

What is my legal obligation and recourse regarding a dissatisfied customer and continuing harrassment?

I own a small hair salon. A customer said I cut her hair too short. She paid and left. A few hours later, her husband called. He proceeded to tell me that his wife was extremely unhappy and asked what I was going to do to fix it. I offerred a refund and additional free future services. He proceeded to threaten me with “blowing up the internet with bad reviews”, “Spreading the word around the community of the bad service, and “coming down to beat me up” if I didn’t fix the problem, since I couldn’t “give her hair back”.

Asked on July 28, 2014 under Business Law, Florida

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 9 years ago | Contributor

1) He threatened you with violence, which is a crime; you should document this by contacting the police and filing a police report.

2) If they post anything online that is negative and factually untrue, that may be defamation and you could sue them, seeking both monetary compensation and also a court order that they take down the defamatory reviews.

Note that an opinion, however negative, is not defamation--everyone is entitled legally to their own opinion, even dumb, unfair ones. So saying, "this is the worst haircut I ever got and the stylist was rude" is not defamation--both those statements are opinions. But saying that you are not licensed for example, or that you charged more than you said you would, or that you deliberately gave the wife a bad haircut, etc., could be defamation, because those are untrue factual assertions.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

Get Legal Help Today

Find the right lawyer for your legal issue.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption