Sued for a negative vendor review?

Look up defamation. As long as you dont cross the line you should be fine. We also have Freedom of Speech!

@j19sweet Freedom of speech means the government (or state actors) cannot restrict your speech. Private businesses and persons are not state actors. They can sue another private person for what they say.

Freedom of speech does not mean you can say whatever you want.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I had a friend who's a lawyer read through my proposed review and he said it certainly isn't defamation and is fine to post, but like everyone here has said, she could certainly still sue me (although she'd lose). I'm going to take my chances. She was horrific and other brides should be warned.

If she does try to sue you, I would slap her with a counter suit asking for a portion be repaid since you did her work.

Make sure you have good notes though. If you have details and facts , then be honest.

Many people use those reviews and depend on your honesty. It could be she has friends who wrote those 5 star reviews? Maybe others are also afraid to speak up.

Do a really educated review with specifics so no one else goes through that. They will not sue and if they do it will not stand. Suing for your opinion is the stupidest thing. You could have sued her for not doing her job! You paid for a service that you didn't receive. Hotels don't sue you after you do a bad review of a bad stay...

Tell the truth and shame the.devil that's my motto... It will definitely help other brides who interested in her because I sure do read reviews all the time

Go ahead and review her, future medical doctor. Be truthful, and when she tells you she's going to sue you, tell her to knock herself out. The truth is that it is a long and expensive journey for a professional to sue a client because of an honest review. If you write, "The woman is a pig, an alcoholic, and a complete asshole", you could be in trouble -- that borders on slander and it's more subjective than objective. However if you say, "I caught her drinking alcohol in the ladies' room, she was unresponsive on 2/21, 2/26, 3/4, 3/9, 3/11, and 3/16, showed up late, made my other vendors uncomfortable, and passed a few very inappropriate comments to my guests", you'll be fine. You could tell the judge about each of those instances, and if you have witnesses, they are free to testify. The problems arise when you summarize her character instead of giving a judge specific incidents that prove she didn't do the job you paid her to do. Please, tell the truth. There is nothing worse -- for a bride or her vendors -- than a DOC who isn't a professional. You have no idea how difficult they make things for your vendors.

10 reviews? HA HA HA HA HA. BIg deal.

Write a truthful, unemotional review and detail exactly what went wrong.

I know I'm a little late to the party! As a vendor I know how reviews are great for my business. Potential clients can gain a little insight to my services through my former clients. With that said as long as its truthful and respectable the most she could do is sue and at the least she can do is respond to it or request for it to be removed. I write reviews and read them all the time I had a bad experience in a nail salon here in the city, If I would have read the reviews trust me I would not have stepped foot in that place. And like another post mentioned if she attempt to sue file a counter claim for a portion of the service fees you paid. All the best, Sheavonne