英國女子寫差評遭索賠12萬英鎊

After Allison Dore had an unhappy experience during a trip to the dentist, she did what thousands do as a matter of routine: she posted a negative review on a consumer website。

艾莉森·多爾在一家牙醫診所遭遇了不愉快的經歷之後，她像其他很多人一樣：在一個消費者網站上給了這家診所差評。

But that decision could cost her dearly because the dental practice has taken the unusual step of suing her for £125,000 damages plus legal costs, saying that her online claims were wrong。

但這一行爲令艾莉森付出了昂貴的代價。那家診所起訴了她，稱她在網站上的評價是錯的，並要求她賠償包括律師費在內的12.5萬英鎊。

The firm’s action has been condemned by the business listings and reviews site Yelp, which says it could have a chilling effect on free speech。

美國最大點評網站Yelp指責了這家診所的行爲，認爲他們這樣做會造成言論自由的寒蟬效應。

The row began when Allison, 46, was referred by her NHS dentist to B Dental in Islington, London, for £10,000 worth of tooth implants。

整個事件開始於46歲的艾莉森被她的牙醫推薦來到位於倫敦伊斯靈頓的B Dental診所做價值1萬英鎊的植牙手術。

‘Initially I saw a lovely dentist there,’ she says, ‘but I endured a three week wait before they could begin treatment, received treatment plans with the wrong prices and then, when I got toothache on the other side of my jaw, they said they did not do general dentistry.’

艾莉森說：“一開始我在這裏遇到了一位很不錯的牙醫。但在他們開始給我治療前，我忍着牙疼等了三週時間，後來他們給我的治療計劃和價格也不對。接着我另外一邊的牙齒也開始疼了起來，可他們告訴我他們不做普通的牙齒治療。”

Disappointed with the service, she posted a review on Yelp, headed ‘Terrible Service – Avoid at all costs’ and gave them just one star。

因爲對這家診所的服務相當失望，所以艾莉森在Yelp上給其的評論是：“服務非常糟糕，大家最好避免來這裏”，並只給了他們一顆星。

‘Everything I wrote was factual and true. I am a nervous patient who was looking for a long-term private dentist. And I was shocked at how uncaring B Dental were.’

艾莉森還在差評中說：“我保證所寫的全部屬實。我是一個緊張的病人，只是希望找到一名可以長期合作的私人牙醫。但對於B Dental牙醫診所心不在焉的服務，我感到很震驚。”

To her astonishment, she received an email from Yelp in November saying it had received a complaint about her review。

令艾莉森驚訝的是，2014年11月她收到了Yelp發來的郵件，稱對於她的那條評論該網站收到了投訴。

She then received an email from the dental firm saying it disputed her version of events。

接着她又收到了B Dental牙醫診所的郵件，稱該公司對她的評論提出爭議。

The surgery, which has a series of excellent five-star reviews on Yelp claiming it is professional, clean and friendly, said her review was defamatory。

這家牙醫診所在Yelp上有一系列的五星好評，評論大多說它很專業，診所幹淨、待人友好。診所認爲艾莉森的評論是對他們的誹謗。

The firm said it had offered her a number of appointments which she had cancelled, and denied they had left her in pain, adding that her review must be removed。

該診所還說他們給艾莉森提供了多次預約，都被她取消了。診所否認它置她於疼痛中不顧的事，還說她必須刪掉差評。

Scared of being sued, Allison removed the review. However, she put a note on Yelp saying she did so due to the threat of legal action。

由於擔心被起訴，艾莉森刪掉了差評。但她同時在Yelp上附註說她刪掉評論是擔心被捲入法律訴訟。

She then received another letter demanding this note be removed too. ‘In return they offered to refund £185 of the initial £384 fee I paid as long as I agree never to mention B Dental again. But I felt bullied and couldn’t agree never to speak about them again.’

然後她又收到一封信，稱那條附註也要刪掉。艾莉森說：“他們說只要我同意不再對診所做出任何評論，就會退還給我185英鎊，而我最開始付的醫療費用是384英鎊。我覺得我受到到了欺負，所以無法同意不再對他們做任何評論的要求。”

So B Dental’s lawyers wrote again to say they are taking her to court。

於是B Dental診所的律師們再次寫信給艾莉森說他們要把她送上法庭。

Allison has now taken legal advice and been told the review she wrote was not defamatory。

艾莉森諮詢過律師之後得知她給出的差評算不上誹謗。

Last night Allison, a television producer, said: ‘When I left that review I did so honestly. But this has turned into an utter nightmare. There is no way I could pay these damages and the worry of it all has been so huge I am barely sleeping.’

“我寫下那條評論時是抱着誠實的態度的，但這現在變成了一場噩夢。我根本不可能支付這些賠償，這件事帶來的巨大壓力另我徹夜難眠。”

Her story is a cautionary tale to anyone putting a review on a website that there might be a high price to pay for their freedom of speech。

艾莉森的遭遇給其他在網站上評價商家的人提了醒：言論自由可能要付出昂貴的代價。

Elliot Adams, spokesman at Yelp, said: ‘Businesses that choose to sue customers to silence them rather than address their comments often bring additional unwanted attention to the original criticism. Litigation isn’t a very good substitute for customer service。

Yelp網站的發言人艾略特·亞當斯說：“商家選擇控告消費者令他們保持沉默，這樣反而會給最初的評論更多的注意力。訴訟並不是解決問題的好方法。”

‘While Yelp continues to fight to protect the users of its platform, the law in the UK makes it surprisingly easy for businesses to intimidate consumers into removing honest reports of their experiences.’

“當Yelp還在爲保護該平臺的消費者而奮鬥的時候，英國的法律卻使得商家能輕易地恐嚇消費者，從而讓他們刪除真實的體驗報告。”

B dental did not respond when approached for comment。

目前B Dental診所尚未對此作出進一步評論。