Tekton has done exponentially more damage to their brand from bullying than the review could ever do. I would never buy a product from a purveyor that was capable of that behavior. The impulse lacked any strategic or long term thinking.
Indeed, trying to bully your way out of a bad review is like starting in a small hole and trying to dynamite your way out of it.
I've dealt with a few so-so or bad reviews in the past on the manufacturer's side. It's a very upsetting feeling when you get a bad review, to be sure. It makes you afraid for your income. It's not fun. You feel simultaneously helpless and indignant. You want to tell them to shut up, somehow. But it's part of the game. It doesn't matter how good your product is, at some point it's going to get bad reviews. If you can't take the heat, etc. etc.
Legally, there is actually nothing you can do about it unless they're
intentionally flat-out lying about your product. And you have to prove that in court to win. Truth is an absolute defense to libel and matters of opinion are not subject to the law either. At least, this is what I'm told by actual lawyers.
So it's really unclear what Alexander
thinks he's doing here, other than trying to sound tough and scare people away from posting facts about his products.
What he's
actually doing is giving everyone a great reason never to buy anything from Tekton again - that's his best case scenario at this point.
Worst case is he is so far out of touch with reality* that he actually sues Erin. It gets worse for him if it goes to trial. It will be a slow, tedious, unpleasant way to waste at least $50K and probably more assuming Erin's side goes for attorney's fees. Because I don't think there's any way to win this case on the merits. Not a lawyer, but truthful reviews aren't something courts tend to strike down in the US regardless of tone.
Erin could have gone on his YT channel and said "Tekton speakers are the worst abominations of audio criminality ever inflicted upon the ears of man" and "I think nobody should ever buy anything they make ever again". That's legally airtight. Tekton took a small loss and made it a big one.
* This seems possible, since I suspect his taking his own products down is an attempt to show monetary damages from the review. This is pretty silly. You can't smash your own window and make your neighbor's kid pay for it just because he plays baseball. But over the years I've found the more narcissistic and delusional someone is, the more of the law they think they understand... so that's my theory on that.
and some few real brands prevailing somehow .
