Amended Kleargear Public Statement

From: Vic Mathieu [email protected] Subject: [Amended] Kleargear.com Public Statement Date: May 21, 2014 at 1:06 PM To: [email protected] The expanded statement below concludes our public comment about the case of Palmer vs. Kleargear.com. After the payment method of John Palmer was declined for an order in December 2008, he was belligerent toward our customer care staff and threatened to defame Kleargear if he did not receive free merchandise and other consideration. Such a customer behavior is rare but it has become a increasing problem for many companies today. DBS' head of retail for North America, Lee Gersten, spends nearly half of every year in the United States and Canada and cites this problem as one of the reasons that we started to eliminate Kleargear.com's social media channels in 2012. While buySAFE protects our customers' interests on every transaction and can conﬁrm that our rate of dispute is below 0.1%, less than 1 in 1,000 customers, this track record is not public and dissatisﬁed consumers have a stronger voice. The non-disparagement agreements are not new among employees, partners and customers across the globe. There is no contract of adhesion; Kleargear.com operates in the consumer discretionary sector, which does not provide essential services, so that consumers are free to shop elsewhere. Our sales contract is enforceable under the laws of the United States because business transactions are exempt from First Amendment rights. In our opinion, the arguments and the actions of Public Citizen's Scott Michelman are irresponsible and uninformed, at best, and constitute an abuse of process at worst. Mr. Michelman seems to be an unscrupulous attorney who has made considerable efforts to incite a biased "media storm" to hide this fact. Despite this tactic, or perhaps because of it, Kleargear's revenues in the third calendar quarter of 2013 increased by 124% compared to the same period in 2012 - and revenue for the year to date in 2014 is up 72% compared to 2013. If DBS is presented with an order for judgment on the above-mentioned civil action, which is void on the basis of defective service alone, we will not honor it. In addition, such an invalid judicial resolution will not serve to dissuade Kleargear or other retailers from binding their customers to non-disparagement terms. If and when Mr. Michelman and Public Citizen decide to conduct themselves properly, we will participate in this dispute as any honorable corporate citizen would. Regards, Vic Mathieu Kleargear.com Descoteaux Boutiques SARL 118-122 Avenue de France 75013 Paris France Phone: +33 (0) 1 82 88 88 18 Facsimile: +33 (0) 1 70 61 59 06 Directeur de la Communication Corporate

Upload
ars-technica
Category

Documents
view
218
download
5

Embed Size (px):

Transcript of Amended Kleargear Public Statement

Page 1: Amended Kleargear Public Statement

From: Vic Mathieu [email protected]: [Amended] Kleargear.com Public Statement

Date: May 21, 2014 at 1:06 PMTo: [email protected]

The expanded statement below concludes our public comment about the case of Palmer vs. Kleargear.com.

After the payment method of John Palmer was declined for an order in December 2008, he was belligerent toward our customer care staff andthreatened to defame Kleargear if he did not receive free merchandise and other consideration. Such a customer behavior is rare but it hasbecome a increasing problem for many companies today. DBS' head of retail for North America, Lee Gersten, spends nearly half of every yearin the United States and Canada and cites this problem as one of the reasons that we started to eliminate Kleargear.com's social mediachannels in 2012. While buySAFE protects our customers' interests on every transaction and can confirm that our rate of dispute is below0.1%, less than 1 in 1,000 customers, this track record is not public and dissatisfied consumers have a stronger voice.

The non-disparagement agreements are not new among employees, partners and customers across the globe. There is no contract ofadhesion; Kleargear.com operates in the consumer discretionary sector, which does not provide essential services, so that consumers are freeto shop elsewhere. Our sales contract is enforceable under the laws of the United States because business transactions are exempt from FirstAmendment rights.

In our opinion, the arguments and the actions of Public Citizen's Scott Michelman are irresponsible and uninformed, at best, and constitute anabuse of process at worst. Mr. Michelman seems to be an unscrupulous attorney who has made considerable efforts to incite a biased "mediastorm" to hide this fact. Despite this tactic, or perhaps because of it, Kleargear's revenues in the third calendar quarter of 2013 increased by124% compared to the same period in 2012 - and revenue for the year to date in 2014 is up 72% compared to 2013.

If DBS is presented with an order for judgment on the above-mentioned civil action, which is void on the basis of defective service alone, wewill not honor it. In addition, such an invalid judicial resolution will not serve to dissuade Kleargear or other retailers from binding theircustomers to non-disparagement terms. If and when Mr. Michelman and Public Citizen decide to conduct themselves properly, we willparticipate in this dispute as any honorable corporate citizen would.

Regards,

Vic MathieuKleargear.com

Descoteaux Boutiques SARL118-122 Avenue de France75013 ParisFrancePhone: +33 (0) 1 82 88 88 18Facsimile: +33 (0) 1 70 61 59 06

Directeur de la Communication Corporate

mailto:[email protected]

http://kleargear.com/