Woman being sued for online review
July 23, 2013
A civil lawsuit claiming defamation was filed in Bonner County July 16 by the owner of a Sandpoint pawn shop, seeking $5,000 for alleged defamation over a less than glowing online review by a Boundary County woman.

At risk of becoming party to this suit, newsbf.com publishes the full Google review here;

"After moving to North Idaho we tried this shop several times and have NEVER had a good experience here. We have both pawned items and bought items from this location. Overall: Shop is often closed during business hours. Once we called and said we were driving from up North and the owner said he would be there. We arrived after a 45 minute drive to find the shop closed. After two hours he still had not returned and when we called the next day he said he often closes for lunch or to tend to his other business. Pawn: My son's PSP came back with porn on it. My husband's brand new auto tool set came back rusted and dirty. Also, he gave us only 20 dollars on a 250 gb new xbox 360 that a different place gave us 100 on. Repeat business does NOT matter to him. You can pick up items for a year and he will never loan more. Buying: My husband bought a box of 50 round 22 long rifle ammunition in a Winchester Super X box for 16 dollars only to come home and find out that the box had been filled with Aguila rounds that only run about 6 dollars a box and are NOT appropriate for a semi auto. Thank goodness another place opened in Ponderay because this place is terrible."

The suit is written in pen and tough to read, but it appears that Bradley W. Harmon and Blaine Jacobs, plaintiffs doing business as Five-0 Guns and Pawn, 400 Cedar Street, Sandpoint, took umbrage and filed suit against Virginia Kneib, nee Jameson, Bonners Ferry, for allegedly "malicious statements about Five O Guns and Pawn on a public internet site."

That review, the suit claims, "will damage our reputation in a small town setting."

"We actually have tried to contact the owner several times to address our complaints," Virginia said, "but this only led to him banning my husband from ever coming to his shop again and accusing us of trying to scam him in someway. Regardless, I am shocked that anyone would take this to court. Does that mean he can sue me for speaking my opinion to my friends and family as well?"

By most definitions, a "review" is an opinion; a tale of one person's experience in a particular place, often a restaurant.

In most cases, a the owners of a business subject to a poor review considers the merits of the complaint and works to correct them.

In rare cases, they file suit for defamation, seemingly forgetting that the right of free speech is a treasure.

While it's too early to tell how this case will ultimately play out, there is a high probability that the owners of Five O Gun and Pawn will learn another aspect of libel law ... truth is an absolute defense.