Here's a full and frank account of the events of last year.
14/11 Busters thread started making a connection between making a purchase through Busters Motorcycle Accessories Limited (Busters) and subsequent fraudulent transactions on the same card. (As an aside, the thread was started not only by a Hooner, but by one whose name is derived from Busters
)
18/11 The problem is so widespread and documented throughout the internet that the thread is made a sticky.
18/11 Received letter from Morgan LaRoche Solicitors (MLR), acting for Busters, telling us to remove all statements concerning Busters in connection with this issue irrespective as to whether or not these may be defamatory, and to ensure that no further such defamatory statements concerning Busters appear, otherwise a civil action will be made under the Defamation Act 1996. See here for the full letter.
18/11 Admin moved the thread.
At this point almost all similar threads on other boards, that I had been aware of, had also been removed - presumably because they received the same solicitor's letter.
19/11 Contacted APB2010, as he posts a lot in the Legal forum and was recommended by other legal-type foccers.
19-29/11 We ask APB many questions and he helps us understand the letter and our options, and drafts a reply letter to MLR for us.
28/11 Tag held a high level executive power lunch with APB aka pub lunch
29/11 The reply is sent to MLR; copy sent to Busters. It said we were disapointed that Busters didn't contact us directly, that we would remove anything that was malicious or unfair commentry (NB this is still the case), and we invited Busters to publish a statement on the forum. We also said, in a nice way, that they'd mucked up their relationship with 4,000 members! See here for the full letter.
1/12 Phone call from MD of Busters, Mark Collings. He apologised and said he would get MLR to write to us saying that no further action would be taken.
7/1 Phone Busters MD for the response. He has been caught up with other things - M&P takeover, stock take, computer system changeover. He will send us a reply next week (9-13 Jan).
18/1 No response from Busters.
This week I have edited a copy of the original post to remove what is in my non-legal minded opinion what could be considered defamation. It is now here.
Well done to Tag for getting an apology out of Busters MD, and thanks to Alpha9020, MurphySG and Wannafazer.
But we would like to give a really big thankyou to APB2010 for all the help and advice he gave us. Apparently lawyers are expensive so please, when you meet him buy him a pint or something.
14/11 Busters thread started making a connection between making a purchase through Busters Motorcycle Accessories Limited (Busters) and subsequent fraudulent transactions on the same card. (As an aside, the thread was started not only by a Hooner, but by one whose name is derived from Busters
) 18/11 The problem is so widespread and documented throughout the internet that the thread is made a sticky.
18/11 Received letter from Morgan LaRoche Solicitors (MLR), acting for Busters, telling us to remove all statements concerning Busters in connection with this issue irrespective as to whether or not these may be defamatory, and to ensure that no further such defamatory statements concerning Busters appear, otherwise a civil action will be made under the Defamation Act 1996. See here for the full letter.
18/11 Admin moved the thread.
At this point almost all similar threads on other boards, that I had been aware of, had also been removed - presumably because they received the same solicitor's letter.
19/11 Contacted APB2010, as he posts a lot in the Legal forum and was recommended by other legal-type foccers.
19-29/11 We ask APB many questions and he helps us understand the letter and our options, and drafts a reply letter to MLR for us.
28/11 Tag held a high level executive power lunch with APB aka pub lunch
29/11 The reply is sent to MLR; copy sent to Busters. It said we were disapointed that Busters didn't contact us directly, that we would remove anything that was malicious or unfair commentry (NB this is still the case), and we invited Busters to publish a statement on the forum. We also said, in a nice way, that they'd mucked up their relationship with 4,000 members! See here for the full letter.
1/12 Phone call from MD of Busters, Mark Collings. He apologised and said he would get MLR to write to us saying that no further action would be taken.
7/1 Phone Busters MD for the response. He has been caught up with other things - M&P takeover, stock take, computer system changeover. He will send us a reply next week (9-13 Jan).
18/1 No response from Busters.
This week I have edited a copy of the original post to remove what is in my non-legal minded opinion what could be considered defamation. It is now here.
Well done to Tag for getting an apology out of Busters MD, and thanks to Alpha9020, MurphySG and Wannafazer.
But we would like to give a really big thankyou to APB2010 for all the help and advice he gave us. Apparently lawyers are expensive so please, when you meet him buy him a pint or something.
