Well Dah!

Sometimes I read headlines or hear about situations where you just think “but that’s so obvious”.

For example, when reporters ask people how they feel about things, when their reaction is so predictable that you wonder how they answer without being sarcastic.

So tell me, as a Southampton FC fan, how do you feel about knocking Manchester City out of the Carabou Cup.

Well, yeah, it was ok, but not nearly as good as losing 9-0 to Leicester (why does everyone still remember that!)

At other times, information I’m given is so mind-blowingly strange that you wonder how the person managed to answer me with a straight face.

So tell me, why did you invest your life savings in bitcoin, which you know nothing about and don’t even fully understand. 

Well, yeah, I read in the paper that bitcoin was how to make money, so I thought it was safe. 

So it was quite interesting to read about a defamation case against Trustpilot, who have previously insisted that reviews posted on their site are fine, without being willing to let my client see the information that the reviews are based on, or details of Trustpilot’s investigations when faced with an allegation that the review is inaccurate. It seems that, predictably, the court has found that the reviews are capable of being found to be defamatory for which Trustpilot could be held accountable, but mind-blowingly strangely, Trustpilot’s reply appears to be that they think that the court’s decision is in their favour. Despite the court agreeing that the case against Trustpilot should proceed, a Trustpilot spokesperson apparently described that decision as being positive for them. Hmmm.

Of course I realise that Trustpilot may simply be trying to put a positive spin on a negative outcome, but if so, does that suggest that they think that the people who read the response are as gullible as the people that automatically assume that everything on any review site is automatically honest, and in no way motivated by bad feeling or spite. There are, after all, three sides to every story. Or am I stating the obvious?

I’d say that the moral of this story is that you cannot believe everything you read, but you knew that! What you may not know is that the outcome of this case could encourage review sites to be more careful in future – or am I the one being overly optimistic!

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full service law firm. Telling you what you need to know!