Gagging Orders (1 Viewer)

ShiftZZ

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Just spoke to a Motorhome Owner who had no end of issues with his brand new motorhome, the eventual outcome was that the issues were sorted, after a visit to the manufactures Head Office and the involvement of Barristers. It would appear that the Motorhome Owner has agreed to sign a gagging order.
Questions?
Has anyone heard of these being used before?
How legally enforceable are they? I am assuming that they are based on a civil contract.
Is this bad for other owners of the same model?

Thoughts?
 
Oct 27, 2007
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Its not the first time this has happened.

I know of at least two others who accepted a settlement with Motorhome Manufacturers. Both have only received their payout after they have signed the gagging order.

I am sure that if they spoke out then they would be taken to court for breaking the settlement agreement and would probably have to pay back more than they were awarded.


Sonja
 

Wildman

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I have come across it twice before. Both time involved so many faults a refund was on the table ONLY if a gagging order was signed it is bad for other customers to have vital problems hidden from comment. It is time they were outlawed

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Jaws

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What is really quite funny ( and sad ) is that we all know full well who this is likely to be..

After speaking to two separate people in the last 7 days about that well known and fast ( :winky: ) company, I will be watching with interest for the next couple of years.. No one will say anything firm ( of course ) but wall and going to spring to mind.. Just a personal view and based on not a single fact.. merely hearsay....................... from within
 

Chris

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Hang on a mo - this is common.

I had some idiot last year calling me a crook on various websites ( he wasn't a client)

I dragged the little sh*t in front of the court where I agreed not to sue his arse provided he shut his mouth.

A gagging order if you like but with good reason:Angry:
 

GJH

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Given that barristers were involved it's probably reasonable to assume that any court case might take a lengthy amount of time and the outcome might not be in the individual's favour in the long run. I understand that courts take a dim view of their time being taken up by cases where the award would not be significantly different from the offer made.

It speaks volumes, though, for the manufacturer's lack of confidence in its ability to state its case in public and to show, thereby, that it acted reasonably.

One of the best things about FoIA, for me, is that it prevents (in the main) public bodies hiding information simply on the grounds that it is embarrassing to them. I've often said that FoIA should be extended to cover private businesses (especially large, market leading ones) as well. That would stop the cover-ups which act against the public interest ::bigsmile:

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Feb 27, 2011
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I think the term Gagging order is quite prejudicial.

They are also called confidentiality agreements or None Disclosure Agreements.

From a commercial perspective it makes sense for the companies to seek these to prevent a precedence being set on how much is paid out in situations like this.

For example, if I were one such company (dealer) and had a client with serious defects and it came to the point of court action despite the best efforts of my staff to resolve the issue I would seek to settle out of court. I would do this for 2 reasons, the only people who win in a court case are the lawyers and the costs tends to be ramped up massively. Settling out of court is cheaper for the company. However in order to make a settlement attractive enough to the client you have to offer above what would be achieved in court in other words the settlement has to be quite generous.

Now if this settlement got out it would have a negative impact in future cases. Now say another client had problems that weren't quite so serious and on a vehicle from another manufacturer. This client may have seen the settlement and decided to try their hand. They become obstructive and difficult to deal with. They prevent you from getting the situation resolved as quickly as you would like and it drags on. They then demand a similar settlement even though you (the company) could have resolved the situation months ago.

You get the general idea. I must admit I am playing devils advocate here and have not really pointed out all the positives from an NDA. However I feel that banning NDA's totally in consumer settlements would result in a worse deal for consumers as companies would then have no reason to settle out of court and would fight to the death more often.
 

GJH

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Hang on a mo - this is common.

I had some idiot last year calling me a crook on various websites ( he wasn't a client)

I dragged the little sh*t in front of the court where I agreed not to sue his arse provided he shut his mouth.

A gagging order if you like but with good reason:Angry:

Definitely a good reason, Chris, but isn't there a difference in that you (the aggrieved party) gagged the offender whereas the case in the OP is of the aggrieved party being gagged by the offender (who failed to build the MH to a satisfactory quality)?
 

Daveo2006

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Hang on a mo - this is common.

I had some idiot last year calling me a crook on various websites ( he wasn't a client)

I dragged the little sh*t in front of the court where I agreed not to sue his arse provided he shut his mouth.

A gagging order if you like but with good reason:Angry:

I thought about presenting you with a gagging order,:ROFLMAO:

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Chris

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Definitely a good reason, Chris, but isn't there a difference in that you (the aggrieved party) gagged the offender whereas the case in the OP is of the aggrieved party being gagged by the offender (who failed to build the MH to a satisfactory quality)?


Yes I guess so Graham. However some people are nuts and see problems that aren't actually there. I have been called all sorts in my time by people who should be in an institution. I have been accused of being police, MI5. MI6, SAS, army, navy , Tory.

People are bloody mad:Doh:
 

GJH

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Yes I guess so Graham. However some people are nuts and see problems that aren't actually there. I have been called all sorts in my time by people who should be in an institution. I have been accused of being [HI]police, MI5. MI6, SAS, army, navy , Tory.[/HI]

People are bloody mad:Doh:

What no Stasi, Gestapo, KGB or Smersh? Your accusers are just wimps :roflmto:

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ShiftZZ

ShiftZZ

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Yes I guess so Graham. However some people are nuts and see problems that aren't actually there. I have been called all sorts in my time by people who should be in an institution. I have been accused of being police, MI5. MI6, SAS, army, navy , Tory.

People are bloody mad:Doh:

Could have been worse, they could have said English Rugby Fan...:ROFLMAO: Son of Rangi, :ROFLMAO:
 

Loujess

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Yes I guess so Graham. However some people are nuts and see problems that aren't actually there. I have been called all sorts in my time by people who should be in an institution. I have been accused of being police, MI5. MI6, SAS, army, navy , Tory.

People are bloody mad:Doh:

Daddeeeeeeee! :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Ivy
 

Chris

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I thought about presenting you with a gagging order,:ROFLMAO:

Yeah right. You and Mrs Dave were too tired from your yomp into Hastings to sue anyone::bigsmile:

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Daveo2006

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Its ok Chris ive put it all together now, the noise you were making was to cover up the squeaking on my van so Mrs Chris didnt get envious.It must of been hard work banging and crashing around for some hour- hour and a half.:Smile: I just knew there was good reason for it.Now ive sorted the squeak i will have to get a wind chime to hang on the bike rack. :ROFLMAO:
 

Chris

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Its ok Chris ive put it all together now, the noise you were making was to cover up the squeaking on my van so Mrs Chris didnt get envious.It must of been hard work banging and crashing around for some hour- hour and a half.:Smile: I just knew there was good reason for it.Now ive sorted the squeak i will have to get a wind chime to hang on the bike rack. :ROFLMAO:

Hour and a half?

Did Mrs D make a full English first?

::bigsmile:
 

hilldweller

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well known and fast ( :winky: ) company, I will be watching with interest for the next couple of years.. No one will say anything firm ( of course ) but wall and going to spring to mind.

I don't know how they have lasted this long. From complaints I've been reading for over 5 years I'm guessing their re-work costs must be far too close to manufacturing costs. They just can't go on like that.

It's so so sad. All those sales, all those jobs gone because of poor quality control mainly.

Even worse, the sales will then become imports.
 

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