q re: cease & desist

baby and crumble · 07-03-2019 09:08AM #1

Hi there,

sorry if this is construed as 'legal advice' but i can't seem to understand if cease & desist letters are a 'thing' in Ireland outside of copyright law?

I have been having a dispute with a company to whom I paid a significant (for me anyway) sum of money to make something for me. They never supplied it (well over a year now, should have taken 12 weeks max) so I have written 2 factual (no name calling etc.) negative reviews of their company on google and on Trustpilot. They are now threatening me with legal action for 'slander and libel' and to send a 'cease & desist' letter due to my 'vendetta' against said company. They are also refusing to give me the item I paid for until I remove my negative reviews, which I'm not willing to do.

Part of me thinks this is 100% guff to try and scare me but the websites I'm reading re: the above issue when I try to research aren't really written with lay people in mind.

Thanks for any help.

Mr. Incognito · 07-03-2019 09:18AM

Truth is a defence to any claim of Defamation.

Slander and Libel no longer exist as Torts. There is the combined action of Defamation. The 2009 Act applies.

Anyone who wrote such a cease and decist letter is not a lawyer.

baby and crumble · 07-03-2019 09:28AM

Thank you for that. That's what I had gathered, but I just wanted further clarification. They haven't actually sent me any such letter, they've just threatened it. I had a feeling they're just trying to bully me into going away (they're in some significant trouble with revenue etc which is public record) so they can keep my money and/or goods.

I plan to access a FLAC to gain more clarification on this whole issue anyway, but thanks.

hullaballoo · 07-03-2019 09:30AM

Cease and desist letters aren't procedural here like they are in the US. The nearest things here are pre litigation letters. They're more or less the same in terms of what they do from a procedural perspective I suppose.

None of that really gets to the bones of your issue though. If the company are refusing to give you a product or service you've already paid for, you have a few options. I suspect reasoning with them is out the window at this stage if the relationship has gone far enough south that legal action is being contemplated.

Lawyering up yourself is an option but tbh you are sometimes better off as a defendant in matters like this.

Your tactics to date seem to be having some kind of an impact on the company if they are getting hot enough about it to start threatening you with law stuff.

I'd keep pushing those buttons and see does it get a result if you are very reluctant to initiate legal action yourself.

ohnonotgmail · 07-03-2019 09:34AM

Is Small Claims Court not an option for you?

hullaballoo · 07-03-2019 09:35AM

Your second post changes the landscape significantly.

If they are in difficulty financially, you should strongly consider professional legal advice.

With all due respect to FLAC and their work, this is not the sort of case they deal with afaik.

You should engage a solicitor who will agree to act within your financial means.

baby and crumble · 07-03-2019 09:39AM

Thanks. I've been doing everything via email so that I have a paper trail of all my communications. I've also been forced to open up a small claims procedure, and I was successful in that - the papers were served to them a few months ago however they have not responded officially to that to my knowledge. I warned them multiple times that I would be progressing this way, and only now when I have been updating my reviews with this information have they reengaged. I was promised this item several times only to be ignored.

It's the fact that they have threatened me 'having consulted with their legal team' with something that I now know basically doesn't exist here that has angered me more. They're clearly bluffing so now I can move forward. Thanks.

baby and crumble · 07-03-2019 09:43AM

hullaballoo wrote: »

Your second post changes the landscape significantly.

If they are in difficulty financially, you should strongly consider professional legal advice.

With all due respect to FLAC and their work, this is not the sort of case they deal with afaik.

You should engage a solicitor who will agree to act within your financial means.

Honestly, it's not worth it for me to do so - the item I paid for was worth about €600, and so my understanding is a solicitor would cost me - over the whole process- significantly more than that. I don't want any extra money like compensation or whatever, I just don't want them thinking they can get away with this. I am not the only one who is experiencing similar issues with this company.

The reason I wanted to talk to FLAC was because they are insisting on a phonecall to 'progress' things, and I wanted to ensure I had to correct information before taking any such call (which I would be informing them I would be recording etc.).

BrokenArrows · 07-03-2019 10:01AM

baby and crumble wrote: »

Hi there,

sorry if this is construed as 'legal advice' but i can't seem to understand if cease & desist letters are a 'thing' in Ireland outside of copyright law?

I have been having a dispute with a company to whom I paid a significant (for me anyway) sum of money to make something for me. They never supplied it (well over a year now, should have taken 12 weeks max) so I have written 2 factual (no name calling etc.) negative reviews of their company on google and on Trustpilot. They are now threatening me with legal action for 'slander and libel' and to send a 'cease & desist' letter due to my 'vendetta' against said company. They are also refusing to give me the item I paid for until I remove my negative reviews, which I'm not willing to do.

Part of me thinks this is 100% guff to try and scare me but the websites I'm reading re: the above issue when I try to research aren't really written with lay people in mind.

Thanks for any help.

remove the bad reviews.

take delivery of your product.

rewrite the bad reviews.

Job done.

baby and crumble · 07-03-2019 10:12AM

BrokenArrows wrote: »

remove the bad reviews.

take delivery of your product.

rewrite the bad reviews.

Job done.

I just don't believe they have my product, to be honest. I had thought of doing that, but it just doesn't sit right with me. I don't know why!

BrokenArrows · 07-03-2019 11:25AM

baby and crumble wrote: »

I just don't believe they have my product, to be honest. I had thought of doing that, but it just doesn't sit right with me. I don't know why!

ask them for proof that they have the completed product ready to be delivered.

seagull · 12-03-2019 01:47PM

It seems that you are past the date when you could institute a charge back, assuming you had paid them by card.

q re: cease & desist

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