A reviewer on Amazon gave Mediabridge's Medialink Wireless-N Broadband Router a one-star review, warning potential users that the device left his "connection crawling more than 25 feet" from the router. This seemed strange for a product which, at the time, had an impressive 95% satisfaction rate. Not long after submitting it, the reviewer posted on reddit's /r/legaladvice community saying that he had received a threatening letter from Mediabridge. The letter demanded the reviewer agree to never purchase any Mediabridge products, never publicly comment online about Mediabridge products, and to take down the Amazon review immediately. The company stated its intention to sue the reviewer if its demands were not met. The post, which reached reddit's front page, prompted hundreds of outraged redditors to post one-star reviews on the products page, pushing its total ratings down to mediocre levels. Misguided redditors also inadvertently brigaded the product page of a Tenda router, which bears stunning similarities to the Mediabridge model, and the Amazon page for Medialink, an unrelated company.
One of the top comments in the reddit thread suggested that the reviewer email Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, to report Mediabridge. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a company renowned for its dedication to customer service, Amazon revoked Mediabridge's selling privileges almost immediately.
On Thursday, Mediabridge Products posted
an official statement about this incident to its Facebook page, clarifying its position and saying that Amazon has revoked its selling privileges. (Thanks to PrimalxConvoy for the tip).
In the statement, the company says that it did not actually sue the Amazon reviewer, but that it did insist that the reviewer's "untrue, damaging, and disparaging statements" be taken down. "It's our sincere belief that reasonable people understand that not only is it within our rights to take steps to protect our integrity, but that it should be expected that we would do so when it is recklessly attacked," Mediabridge Products wrote. "The reviewer has since changed his review completely to remove the libelous statements, but unfortunately not before having an army attack us on the internet."
The company did not give any clue as to the terms of Amazon's rescinding of Mediabridge's selling license, but only said at the end of its statement, "Unfortunately, as a result of our attempt to get this reviewer to do the right thing & remove his untrue statements about our company, Amazon has revoked our selling privileges. Many hard-working employees whose livelihood depended on that business will likely be put out of a job, by a situation that has been distorted & blown out of proportion."
