Should I Sue for Slander?

[slanderedinTX]

I bought a new $30,000 vehicle at an automobile dealership that is located over an hour from where I live. It is a Hyundai, so rather than drive over an hour to have it serviced, I have been going to my local Hyundai dealership. I have had nothing but bad experiences with this dealership. Even though they have kept my new vehicles for 5 days at a time to fix it, they refuse to supply us with a loaner vehicle because "we didn't buy our car from them".

Last week, the local dealership was suppose to pick my vehicle up and service it while I was at work, plus detail it. My work is less than 2 miles from the dealership. I called them that morning and left my keys with our receptionist, and only found out late in the day that they never came and got it and never called me! Naturally I was upset and inconvenienced by having to go to the dealership when I got off work and sit for an hour while they serviced it. Then when I got in my vehicle to go home, I noticed they did not detail it - only did a quick vacuum job in the front floorboard. (By the way, I paid for this service!)

The next morning, their service department called me to do a "Customer Satisfaction Survey" over the phone. I told them that I was not satisfied and that every interaction I had with them was a bad experience. I also said that if there was someplace else I could take my vehicle, I would.

At no point, did I raise my voice, curse, threaten, or behave inappropriate. I simply stated my dissatisfaction.

The next day I was called into my bosses office. I work for a financial institution as an employee trainer. (I train employees on, among other things, how to treat customers.) My boss informed me that the dealership I went to was a big loan customer for the bank and that one of our VP's play golf with a manager of the dealership and he had informed the VP that I was "rude when I had service done on my vehicle". The dealership manager knew I worked for the bank only because it is where they picked my vehicle up and what I put on the contact sheet for the service department. My boss informed me that that since they were a big loan customer I needed to watch myself. Naturally, I was upset!

First because I was not "rude" and second because I have no professional interraction with the dealership - I went to them as a consumer and gave my opinion of their service when asked!

I told my husband what happened and he called the manager of the dealership to let him know that one of his employees was relaying our personal information to my employer. The manager told my husband that he had been told that I was rude and that he could have me fired because they were a big loan customer of my bank. He said if we wanted better service, we should have bought our vehicle from them!

I called the Hyundai consumer complaint center and filed a complaint, but there is not much they can do because each dealership is independantly owned. The operator suggested that I seek legal counsel in regards to a slander lawsuit against the dealership because it has now effected my position with my employer.

Your advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Slander is making false statements. You probably did come off as upset over the non-service you received. This could easily be interpreted as rude over the phone.

How has it affected your employment? You're still employed. You would need to request some type of compensation for all of this. You haven't lost anything financially.

Gail

 

[slanderedinTX]

Rude or Dissatisfied?

Gail,

I work in a customer service industry, so I know as a professional how to deal with an upset and dissatisfied customer. Understanding that they feel we have somehow did something incorrect, I never take them as being rude. To them, they have a legitimate complaint. As I stated previously, I didn't (and don't) curse, threaten, or even raise my voice. I stated my dissatisfaction when the dealership called me to do a "Customer Satisfaction Survey".

Even if, though, my tone was taken as rude, my dealings with the dealership was as a consumer. I don't have any professional dealings with them in my line of work. I find it ludicrous that they could threaten my job over this. Isn't there some type of privacy law that guards this?

As to how it has effected my job, since they are one of my bank's big loan customers, this is a mark on me as an employee. VP's have to approve promotions and raises and I know that since this VP has a personal relationship with the dealership and believes that, according to the dealership, I was rude so I can kiss advancement good-bye. How is that a company I deal with only as a consumer can tell me that "they can have me fired?"

 

[slanderedinTX]

Sorry, but I forgot to add this...

Another thing that I feel that I have lost is somewhere that I can take my Hyundai and have it serviced. Obviously any interraction I have with this dealership for this point on can jeopardize my employment. I have a $30,000 vehicle with a Hyundai service contract but no dealership within a reasonable distance that I can take it to. Who would have known that buying a Hyundai could jeopardize my career 6 months later?

Also, I am not the only individual this dealership has used these bullying tactics with. A lady that I work with said that when she complained about service the service manager threw around our bank president's name as being a "good friend of his".

"You have to be the change you want to see in the world" Gandhi

 

[cbg]

No, there is no privacy law of any kind that deals with this.

If the company does business with your employer, and your employer is willing to cave over this (some will, some won't) they can tell you that they can have you fired because they CAN have you fired.

Sorry, but this is just not an issue that the law addresses.

 

[slanderedinTX]

Ok

If I can't sue, what are my other options. I am sorry but I just find it unbelieveable that this dealership can get away with this. I couldn't call the police department and make a false accusation against a police officer and get away with it. I don't believe big business's should get an exemption to ruin someone's reputation because I dared complain about their level of service and didn't purchase my vehicle from them.

 

[cbg]

But they can. If they believe you were rude, they are absolutely entitled to say so, even if you don't think you were.

Or did you think that you were the only one who had that right?

 

[slanderedinTX]

Here is the difference: I voiced my dissatisfaction with their service when asked. I did not make false claims about a particular individual nor use my position to threaten their employment. In truth though, I guess you did answer my question.

If I cannot sue them, then I will take my complaints to the consumers. (You know the individuals who keep Billy Big Business in Business.) This includes in addition to filing a complaint with Hyundai, I will also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and use our community rate board to give them the rating I feel they deserved and earned. In addition, I plan on sending an email to everyone I know and tell them about this true incident and let them decide if they want to ever deal with this dealership. (You know what they say - for every complaint an individual hears, they share it with 10 people.) I am considering also alerting our local television station who does "On Your Side" stories.

Thank you,

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

You are making a mountain out of a molehill.

And for what it's worth, the Better Business Bureau is generally a worthless group.

Frankly, sending an email out to everyone you know about this issue makes you out to be a bit of a nutcase. Be careful what you say or write so you don't open yourself to either a slander or libel lawsuit yourself.

Gail

 

[slanderedinTX]

I am sorry that you feel like I am making "a mountain out of a molehill", but as I stated earlier, this has threatened my position with my employer. A position that I have worked hard (spending late nights away from my family) to achieve. I read my privacy disclosure and it states that they will not share my personal information with anyone outside of their affiliates and joint marketing companies. My employer does not fit this bill.

If alerting my friends and family members to the nature of this dealership seems like I am being a "nut case" to you, then we will just have to agree to disagree. If I am shopping for something at Target - I always look at the reviews because I like to know how satisfied other consumers have been with the product. There is no difference here. I want those I care about to be aware of my experience with this dealership before spending thousands of dollars to purhase a vehicle from them.

By the way - it was Hyundai's consumer complaint center that suggested I seek arbitration for slander. I've never sued anyone in my life and have never had a need to. I'm not a nut case, just a hardworking american mother who still fails to see how a dealership I pay to service my vehicle can have me FIRED when I answer truthfully to their customer satisfaction survey when they called me (which, suprisingly, my other family members who have vehicles serviced with this dealership do not get "calls" but a survey in the mail for them to fill out and mail back.) Weird, huh?

 

[cbg]

You are completely missing the point. You're complaining about their making false statement. But if they believe that what they are saying is true, that is not a false statement.