Further to my fairly recent blog about the ack of a free pc from Metronomy I had some comments from other not-so-happy potential customers and also some comments from someone called Gavin who posted some interesting comments and allegations about the companies behaviour and certain employee’s. It didn’t take long (although too long) for an ex Metronomy employee to stand up for them and then tip them off about the comments – (thanks ss!) and I have now received an email from them asking for the libelous and untrue comments to be removed.
The problem is, that if I did as they asked I would be taking their word against Gavins and they have not offered any proof to refute these allegations – and I’ve yet to come across anyone who has received a pc from Metronomy. Also looking at some of the allegations, there are several reports about intersaver going bust and taking a lot of peoples money – just take a look at VNUnet, chinwag, bankrupt.com, dooyoo (although there are some favourable reviews on dooyoo, dvdreviewer. As to the comments about him paying himself and his friends a lot of money I can’t comment, although if SS or Julian Jones would like to forward me a copy of the company accounts,detailing the wages paid to these executives in comparison to the rest of the company and its income then I’d be delighted to take a look, the same goes for the trading standards quotes in the local paper.
As for Gavin, apparently they know who he is so I suggest that you contact him and ask him to retract his comments and I will issue an apology on his behalf. However, although I’m not a lawyer, there hasn’t been any proof offered by Metronomy to refute these allegations.
I have closed the comment on the original thread and also contacted the Register as they covered the story in the past and it will be interesting to see what response I get from them.
Oh and by the way Julian, I’m sure you know who SS is as he uses the same internet access/pc that you do so its likely that you also know who Gavin is.
Comments
I’m not a lawyer, but I think they’d have a hard time taking legal action against you – you haven’t made any allegations about them – just reported facts, and published comments written by others. Not all of these comments are biased against Metronomy, so I think it would be hard to claim that you’d edited out stuff to make them look bad.
If other people make allegations, then the company should be chasing them, not you.
However, it might be worth asking them for a formal response to the comments that were posted, so that you can publish that too – I think they’d find it even harder to make a legal case against you then.
I am not a lawyer either but I know enough about libel law to state that:-
the publisher is equally liable as the author for any libel – ie it is no defence to say that you are simply reproducing something that someone else has written, and
If they sue you it is up to you to prove the libel, not for them to prove their ‘innocence’ – the only occasion in law when you are not ‘presumed innocent’.
I dont work for metronomy or anything, but I would seriously consider removing those commets unles you are 100% certyain you can back them up (ie prove them) in court!