I'm sorry you have to deal with that, but the good news is, as a journalism major I can tell you that the truth is a legitimate defense against libel/slander charges.

In civil court, it is based on a "preponderance of evidence". Meaning neither side has "more" of a burden of proof, and the judge/jury are instructed to choose whichever side has the most evidence and most compelling case in general. So do 2 things: 1) Get a lawyer. 2) Gather the witnesses, with subpoenas if necessary. You can also always under the table bribe them, but thats risky if you get caught. Only do that if they are a really good and trustworthy friend, but simply lazy or fearful of going to court. In that case, you can kind of be like "hey, come and I will buy you dinner this week or give you X" etc. 3) once you have everything in order, you should also immediately counter-sue for emotional damages, court costs, lawyers fees, and your wasted time EMERGENCY WARNING NOTE: NO, THEY WILL *NOT* "PAY COURT COSTS" AS IF IT IS AN AUTOMATIC GIVEN THING! EVEN IF THEY LOSE IT IS NOT GIVEN! IT IS ONLY "A GIVEN" THAT THEY PAY COURT COSTS, IF YOU EITHER FILE A MOTION FOR IT, REQUEST IT TO THE JUDGE DURING TRIAL, OR- BEST OF ALL- COUNTERSUE FOR IT!

1) Also: As a business owner myself, I have told people I would file a lawsuit for them posting bad reviews that were false or misleading. In fact, I told these people it, knowing full well that I would not actually go to court (or, that I would not NEED to go to court). Usually, what happens is that the person will be intelligent, and delete the review to avoid the risk of it. 2) HOWEVER: To be quite honest- Every SINGLE person I have said this to, has deleted their review except one stubborn Muslim lady who probably just hated America's guts anyway. However, if the review was VERY bad (hers wasnt), and it was even somewhat false, I WOULD have taken them to small claims. So, just because sometimes people bluff, or havent taken you to court YET, doesnt mean they WONT. What I am saying is: There is a chance that maybe they haven't actually FILED the suit yet, and are simply letting you know their INTENT to file, IF YOU DO NOT DELETE THE REVIEW. 3) Btw- it is actually not classified as "a threat", to tell someone that you will sue them or take them to small claims if they don't delete a review. It's perfectly LEGAL and ALLOWED to say you will do this, because you are allowed to say you will go through appropriate legal peaceful channels to seek justice such as filing a lawsuit or going to police. Nobody can ever be criminalized for saying they will do this, or doing this as A) it is a constitutional right to do this, and B) a threat is "putting a reasonable person in fear of death, bodily injury, sexual assault, or stalking". Saying you will go to small claims is not a "threat" legally speaking. 4) In general, I recommend consulting the company directly. Speak to upper management. I recommend you call them up. First thing you say is, "I do not consent to this phone call being recorded" (make sure you live in a state where phone convos are 2-party consent states). Then see if you can strike a deal! Say "can i please speak to the owner of the company? It is a very important matter regarding a review posted." Once you get a hold of the owner, say the same thing "I do not consent to this phone call being recorded, is that ok with you? And can we continue?" Once the owner says "yes", Then you should continue and say "Ok great. Now, I notice that you were very upset a review had been posted, you think by me, correct? And you had mentioned that you would sue me if the review was not removed. Now, I don't want any trouble with you guys. If you are willing to sign a written agreement stating you will drop any lawsuits, and forgive us and nullify us of any claims of lost revenue or anything else, I would be willing to promptly delete that review. We can sign the agreement stating that as soon as the agreement is signed by both parties, I will delete the review, and that once that is done, you agree in writing to not pursue any suits- AND that you agree in writing to pay any court costs or lawyers fees suffered by me, along with my time, IF you insisted on still bringing a suit AFTER the review had been deleted. Does this sound fair?" The business owner should think about it for a few seconds, possibly ask a few clarifying questions, but ultimately will agree to this. And honestly: My advice to you is to not be a STUPID vindictive person. It's ok to be vindictive or talk about a bad experience- but don't be a stubborn person to the point of stupidity. A lawsuit is on the table- this is clearly a situation any intelligent, reasonable person would want to smoothly get themselves OUT OF, NOT have to risk going to court, risk losing (because yes there is a solid risk you could lose, the company could have an excellent lawyer for example who could strike the testimony of the witnesses somehow, you never know.) Anyway, that's my advice. Please take it. Call the company up and arrange to delete the review provided they give you that in writing. IF the owner declines, deny the call ever took place.

I'm not sorry OP, but YDI. You should know it's improper to post negatively on a social media site regardless of the experience.

Contact the tech news press. If I were you, I'd do that first thing. They love stories like this one. You might even find a lawyer willing to help you for free as a result. The negative press the company will get will also probably persuade them to drop the case as soon as possible because this sort of story frequently goes viral.

hope you win

Did you expect them to ring you up and thank you? Unless you're a critic why would anyone post a bad review and leave themselves vulnerable. Just because you may have a right to complain it doesn't mean that you have to in such a stupid permanent way. If you wanted to do something about a bad experience you could have reported them to whatever consumer protection group you have there.

The truth hurts!

I don't know about the company you work for but I know that at were I do you have to sign a form that you will not speak about anything that has to do with the company at all or you'll lose your job. It doesn't make it right but if that's the case you kind of deserve it but they didn't have to lie about the claim either for that fyl.

Did 'Amy's Baking Company' start up their own grocery store?!