Truth is a qualified defence in defamation. So is if the person honestly believed their statement was correct. To sue, you may have to prove the publication was deliberately false. Mind you, defamation law is a minefield and even varies state to state.
The opinion defence relies on A) the matter being expressed as an opinion, not as a fact, and B) the opinion being in the public interest and based on 'true facts' which are detailed. So it's not exactly clear-cut. And if you want to rely on truth as a defence, you really need to be able to prove that the imputation you made was in fact true.
@AutoExpertJC yep, it's certainly not clear-cut and varies state to state. When I was in the hot seat, I just sent the defamation threats straight to the lawyers to write the 'don't be silly' letters. Will be interesting to see the result of Linda Reynolds thinking the way to rehabilitate her reputation is to sue a rape victim. That's not going well ...
@@Sethjxl In my opinion your opinion may be correct in that your opinion of the persons opinion is indeed just an opinion. Of course I could be wrong or right, after all its just my opinion. I would be interested in what opinion you have relating to my opinion😂
in my opinion the actions of the company are far more damaging than the review itself could have ever been. As you said, the whole outcome would have been entirely different if some conversation had taken place.
That's not just your opinion but the opinion of the Australian government who tested about a dozen manufactures batteries. In their opinion DCS batteries performed worse than all other batteries they tested by a significant margin.
It’s interesting that the Australian competition and consumer agency isn’t all over this. The laws in NZ are very strict when it comes to online reviews and companies trying to influence their online reputation by removing negative reviews.
@@bartoni79 The Streisand effect is an unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or censor information, where the effort instead increases public awareness of the information.
We have a fella by the name of will p. Which is a pretty well-known fella in America . He just stated today he has received one of those batteries. And is doing a review on it as well. I am sure he is going to mention this as well. As in my opinion a review on a product is important for the consumer not getting screwed.
In my opinion…here in the United States, this case not only would never be taken up by a court, the justices would have ruled with prejudice to have been a waste of time and the company would have been held responsible for the costs of court
@@Queensizemusic I think a lot of that is likely to happen here as well. We have strong consumer laws here and I can't see that he's done anything wrong. I feel like they tried to strong arm him and didn't expect the push back. Now it's all gone too far and they don't want to back down themselves. Not facts but my opinion 😃
Hi Andrew, this brings back memories. I bought one of the first fjcruisers that came into the country. I spent $15,000 on accessories including bar, suspension, draws etc. the bar took the company days to fit. Wasnt fitted correctly and as such damaged the front guards, grill etc. i was a member of the fjcruiser club and after months of toing and froing finally put up a post about how the product was faulty. This naturally caused a lot of chat. It also caused toyota to void my chassis warranty because the bar exceeded the maximum weight allowed on the front of the FJ. Basically I received from lawyers a threatening email for the same reasons ie being critical of 1. The product 2. The denial 3. The time frame to correct the damage. It was so appalling i sold the fjcruiser and went back to a 79 series. We have every right to be critical of product that does do what its designed to do and/or rhe manufacturer makes claims that are simply bullshit. Interestingly enough the bull bar was made for the US market and our fjs were different…
@@simonhjc It seems like it may have been reasonable for them to void your chassis warranty under those circumstances. Was it a Toyota dealer that fitted the accessory?
Subaru no longer sends press cars to The Fast Lane Car because they did an honest review of their outback and its cvt. it did not perform as well as Subaru claimed it did on one of their off-road tests, and they called them out.
Thank you for bringing attention to this. Stefan could go bankrupt defending himself before this nuisance suit gets dismissed. This bullying needs to stop!
Andrew, you have it exactly right. 👍 I come from the other end, I distribute pro-audio equipment in the UK and often send products out for review. Ideally I do like to know in advance of publication so I can comment and correct any factual errors - not to change the review in any way, but to just point ot any misconseptions or factual errors. If any problems are found, I would take it on board and report it back to the manufacturers so they can look into it to correct it. Not take any action against the reviewer. I have also, in the past, written magazine reviews. In one I found a serious defect in the product and immediately reported it back to the manufacturer. They agreed and found it could be corrected by a firmware update and sent me the correction. In myh review I reported that I had found the problem, added that the problem was fixed by an upgrade and advised anyone who had already bought one to do the firmware upgrade. I actually highly praised the product and did end up buying one. Everyone won, my reputation as an honest reviewer, the manufacturer who listened and fixed the fault, and the customer who had an honest review and early adopters who could easily get the fix. A bad honest review should be treated by a manufacturer as an opportunity to look at a product and understand the problem and work on fixing it. A "right of reply" can be useful as it gives the manufacturer a chance to say that they are looking into it. Going after a reviewer who has discovered a problem that is inherent in the product is not a good idae as all it can do is to get everything in front of a wider audience that can kill a product dead before the problem can be fixed. I always remember the story about Gerald Ratner (large chain of inexpensive jewellery shops) making a joke about one of his products - that one comment killed the company dead and the whole chain of the then well-known shops disappeared from the high street. Looks like someone has shot themselves in the foot here - in my opinion.
@@johnwillett4086 As a kid I was watching that program on the BBC, when Ratner showed the host a gold necklace and said "this is crap" ... Not sure what! his intentions were but it obviously didn't go well.. .. Perhaps this whole situation is another Ratner moment.... I think the program was the Terry Wogan show.
With a history of so many TH-camrs selling their soles for the marketing coin, it looks like manufacturers and suppliers expect that with every product “provided” for review they will receive a mostly positive review. Now anyone that doesn’t support the marketing message are being threatened. There are so many TH-cam channels that you know that you can’t believe anything that comes out of their mouths.
You know what is funny? Another TH-camr (GoldenSound) has been also threatened with a lawsuit by DCS, an electronics company unrelated to DCS the battery company. Look it up 😂 GoldenSound did a review of their $10k DAC and did not like it. The word spread in the audiophile community so fast that the company retracted the lawsuit within days and did everything to sweep it under the carpet.
Great to see you getting behind this Andrew, I've personally contributed toward the GoFundMe and would like to encourage others if in a position to do so, to do so as well. LiFePO4 batteries without active temperature control have no place under the bonnet of a 4wd. It'll lead to accelerated capacity degradation, and that's not an opinion, that's a fact.
LifeP04 battery chemistry according to a Electrical Engineer specialising in battery design and manufacturing I spoke to years ago, said that no Lifepo4 battery chemistry will last in a under bonnet installation without serious degradation.
@@garypriddin9949 you could keep the temperatures in check using active heating/cooling like used in most EV batteries. Though that might not be economically viable.
Andrew - have you checked out fellow Aussie and widely respected electronics engineer Dave Jones's EEVBlog video on the subject. He even shows how a branch of the Australian Government have previously provided comparison reports to show technical issues with the product.
@@heathwellsNZ as far as I know Louis Rossmann found that report first. It was about different batteries too. To be clear I hope DCS will lose that case.
Defamation of a business is when someone makes a false statement about a company that damages the company's reputation. This can be done through writing, speech, or even gestures. For defamation to occur, the statement must be false, must have been made to at least one other person, and must have caused harm to the company's reputation. If a company can prove that defamation has occurred, they may be able to recover damages from the person who made the false statements. This by extension applies to comments about the companies products. All DCS needs to do is prove it’s a false claim and if they think they have a case then what’s the problem. The truth will always set you free.
Stefan is truely independent which is super rare. On top of that he is a very intelligent bloke who thinks things out well. We need people like him to keep doing what he does.
It's entertaining that they have fanned the flame of their own demise. Anyone who becomes aware of the story will shop elsewhere for a better product. Thanks Andrew.
I personally feel i am as a over lander and DIY installer at the mercy of accurate and honest reviews. Without these reviews i will be in the dark with regards to quality of products. I paid my fair share of school fees. From replacing 12v battery level indicators (12 units in one year) installed by professionals) From replacing roof rack brackets and manufactured jerry can holders. (Top SA brand started rusting the stainless steel bracket and bolts and the powder coating flaked after 1 month) In South Africa you have little recourse. You either replace or you ask someone to manufacture for you using decent materials. The worst part is i have purchased these items from the biggest 4x4 accessory shops. They provide no guarantee unless fitted by them. In my world over landers are DIY people. I do not need a professional to install a load bar and bracket. And this is how the distribution of inferior products in SA is handled.
I agree with you, this lawsuit by DCS against Stefan has exponentially brought more negative publicity for them (DCS), than the Stefan review itself. I watched the review when it first came out and thought at the time, "fair enough", and that was it. I didn't think more if it after that. Now with this bullish behaviour of DCS, for me personally, I will never buy any of their products. I hate bullies.
Bravo!! Thanks for joining the community highlighting the issue and rallying together to support Stephan. I highly value you opinion on this issue, as well as Stephan’s opinion regarding products. I highly value the opinions you both provide to the camping and 4wheeling community. I shouldn't have to say …. In my opinion.
Fully agree with everything you said. Most of the items attached or in my 4wd were purchased after extensive research, including many TH-cam reviews and tests (including some from this channel). I have never had anything major go wrong, whichI believe is a testament to the value of the work of people like Stefan in testing gear for us. In fact the LFP battery I chose was from a teardown and test by Will Prowse. I just did a 4 1/2 year capacity test and this yielded 98% of the original capacity. We all deserve to know the truth when we are spending our hard earned money, especially these days!
I applaud you for tackling this subject, in my opinion the vendor has screwed themselves over this, it caused me to do research and I discovered that they have built other lackluster products, as reviewed by a professional testing facility at the behest of the government (who they did not sue). I just cannot believe that DCS chose this path, in my opinion it is un-Australian and shows a lack of integrity. I for one will never buy their products or deal with companies that do.
IMO, in the court of public opinion, DCS is losing this battle. This lawsuit is doing more damage to their brand and reputation, than the review Stefan ever did. It looks like the DCS mgmt didn't completely think this through properly. IMO, they shot themselves in the foot with this lawsuit.
Welcome to the brave new world where feelings are more important than truth, sorry there is no such thing as free speech in Australia let alone human rights. He is not the only one to be sued for a bad review.
In my opinion, companies that are rude or agressive deserve to be called out, in my opinion. It takes many years to gain a good reputation and mere seconds to destroy it. Great job DCS in reminding us of that.
They even sent him out a second set of batteries when he first reported a problem. The Australian government did tests on dcs batteries and they were the worst that they tested.
The ramifications will be huge If DCS is sucessful. Im so glad youtubers from around tge globe are banding together to help fight this and support Stefan.
In my opinion Andrew, you are 100% correct. DCS should be thanking him for an honest opinion to allow them to improve their product, which, in my opinion, would allow them to better compete. In my opinion, TH-cam should defend Stephan because a successful case would see TH-camrs refrain from making product review videos, and that will hurt TH-cam. As for the, in my opinion, womble, suing you over a balloon, I hope that the Judge throws it out as frivolous.
In my opinion, as a deaf person, appreciate the fact, in my opinion, your putting up the clarification of your opinion in writing for deaf people. Now I'm going to rewatch this video & take a shot everytime in my opinion is said!
I worry about this with OnX (offroad map app). OnX tried to buy me out offering me a bunch of money to promote them. I’m pretty sure when I turned them down, OnX got the big channel in my area (TFL, auto reviewers) to start making videos like mine (offroad trail guides). Them making trail guides doesn’t bother me (besides spreading inaccurate info), but if OnX pushed that, that’s dirty. So I take it that OnX is extremely rich (based on how much they were gonna pay me) and possibly dirty (I hope that’s not true). To protect myself, I’ve been saving screenshots of problems with OnX info (inaccurate info, people getting trouble off-road from that info, false advertising). The complete truth is I would love to be an OnX fan and I could use the money they would have paid me (my two old vehicles need work), but I feel I have a responsibility to be honest and to protect my community. I’ve been an offroader for nearly 25 years… I take it seriously (besides our channel name) so that’s why I can’t promote OnX.
The subject is serious enough, then most official magazines, depending on advertisement money, doing reviews on whatever topic they are covering, can not be neutral. So having somebody like Stephan doing a serious review must be protected. Otherwise there won’t be any change in quality of the product, here I strongly agree with Simon
Brilliant commentary... in my opinion. I wrote to the folks at a specific balloon company and suggested how they could have responded differently to opinions about their hot air. Which was, in my opinion, a great release.
Andrew PLEASE just HUG the balloon and apologize to it like a gentleman. I’m sure the balloon is very offended. Also lie some, make sure you NEVER say anything you think. People need to get a life asap.
Good on you Andrew, we/us/great unwashed viewers out here also highly value 'our' TH-cam content creators and we can see the bullying here. You guys in the main give reasonable experiences and good real life testing and 'we' out here appreciate this. Subsequently I have donated to Stephan's GoFundMe. By the way I am almost certain the battery company involved should maybe pack up and go away or simply MAKE THEIR PRODUCT BETTER.
Honest reviews are important! I have been subscribed to Stephan's channel for many years. Of greatest concern is that most TH-cam product reviews are used for marketing purposes, and the reviewers do so in order to get free stuff. If the manufacturer provides abnormal constraints on the reviews, then they are little more than white lies. It goes without saying that obtaining free use of a refrigerator, a solar generator, or a lithium battery system strongly promotes less than candid reviews. In fact, Stefan's channel is one of the few which emphasized the importance of providing honest and complete reviews.
Do the maths . Free stuff does not pay the bills. The alternative to 'free stuff' is to buy a battery to review. $800. Make a video. Spend a day making the video and pay for lunch, rent, lights, equipment, battery testing equipment, etc. Google ad income over one year: $300 for a medium sized channel. Do the math. Most good influencers worth their salt, the moment a product maker tries to influence content, they decline the offer.
Amazing how manufacturers know how to ruin their names really fast. In my opinion of course. The idea in the long term is to help improve products. I come from a quality background, so I know how things should be done.
DCS website is most supportive and represents a good platform to clarify issues- especially relating to the marketing of their product 😂and their customer support-
Great video and I so hope it will backfire on them. Will Prowse made a review vidseo of this battery. Initially, it seems to be working as specified, but when he takes it apart, some very serious issues are laid bare. I love how he describes companies like these as basically sticker makers. They buy Chinese batteries and put their own company logo sticker on.
Decent manufacturers should want feedback so they can then sort the product out, making them and releasing a decent version or upgrading the one that's not up to the current claims. The company might make 100 product lines, but every now and then, they release a product that is way below their usual standard, and does not live up to the hype surrounding their product.
With these types of law suits they don’t need to win, or even take it to the point of settlement. All they need to do is waste enough of the creators time and money then drop the action. The next time someone thinks about giving them a bad review they will think twice.
absolutely spot on! Protect free speech! Thank you for talking about this. Only if "We, the people" stick together, and clamor for our rights, they will be stripped from us. Great channel! Love your work. Down with bullies!
Good contribution, Andrew. Also good that John and Louis Rossman have made their videos. LR is a strong advocate in right to repair and I've followed his amd this topic for a few years. DCS seem to have never heard of the Streisand effect, but they are in the headlights now. I hope Stefan is successful, in my opinion.
In the opinion of the OZ government, who tested DCS' battery, it's sub standard compared to the other tested batteries. Again those results were from the OZ government. See Louis Rossman's video for more details on that. What we do get with DCS' is a bunch of bullies, which we don't like. In my opinion... Oh and in the opinion of the OZ government.
An Australian government agency used DCS batteries for testing and they produced the worst results of any of the batteries tested and not by a small amount. Maybe DCS should have tried to sue for that as well :)
Quite simply, you are entitled to offer an opinion on almost any matter. Indeed, you have ample protections to do so. Provided you make a clear distinction between your opinion and a statement of fact. Should you make a factual assertion which may be objectively challenged, and such an assertion can be proven as materially damaging, remedies under defamation law may be applicable. It is a high threshold. IE: Is it opinion or an assertion of fact? Can it be objectively challenged? Can it be proven as damaging? In my opinion, many's the time when the threat of defamation action is used by the well-heeled to neutralise subjective criticism from the less well-heeled, without the slightest intention to proceeed. Please carry on being your fearlessly and expertly opinionated self, Andrew. And...thank you.
In my opinion... A good overview. In my opinion... The market will decide and the brand name will suffer. In my opinion The workers in the company will suffer as the company has decided to take the course they have. In my opinion Unless the small person stands up the small person will suffer. In my opinion When communication is lost all is lost. In my opinion The world is crazy and the only people who win are the lawyers. This is only my opinion... In my opinion. Thanks for the video Andrew.
I'm not one to normally share videos from another channel under any youtuber's video, but I implore all, especially those with a bit of technical know how, to follow along on this video put up by Will here in the states with an open mind. I don't think he's worried about threats from underhanded business people. He's been there, he's done that, and he's arguably the most honest/knowledgeable reviewer there is in the off grid sector on YT. ...In my opinion.
Including as it turns out the Australian government testing agency. I feel it’s going to be an extremely expensive lesson to learn about how customers react
Remember the case of United Airlines refusing to replace the guitar damaged by their employees? The guitar owner was a musician who then wrote a song about his experience, and published it on TH-cam. The song went viral. United's reputation was seriously damaged by some company official refusing to make good the damage they'd caused. Social media has empowered the "little man" to make his case heard in the court of public opinion, and corporate interests and governments are desperately trying to put the genie back in the bottle.
The "Streisand Effect" is a phenomenon that any marketing and PR department should be aware of. There's no positive way to leverage that to promote your product or cause. DCS would rather waste money on frivolous lawsuits and damage their brand.
This is so typical of these businesses that say so called Australian made batteries when its not.. they are assembled in Australia, the cells, bms, case, cables all made in china. But worse is it just shows that these small businesses hate honest opinions and you know business that can't take honest opinions are a dodgy business. The other thing is its obvious that these batteries and the people that make them have no knowledge of making them.. they just see others do it and think I can do it also. I made my own lithium battery based off military standards as in in a stainless steel case, I made my own 100% copper thick bus bars, the negative and positive cables coming off the bms to the terminal are rated to 340a at 100% use trycab cables, and the terminals are rated to 300a mainly because the battery discharge is up to 300a, the bms is rated to 250a.. People said that's overkill.. But I rather overkill and be safe then underkill and blow up. Allot fo these batteries are made with thin cables to the terminal by adding 3-4 cables of pos/neg, also not using any shielding, cheap Chinese thin steel bars, no active balancers, and a plastic box which has a higher chance of blowing up in certain places put.. like I spoke to a Chinese manufacturer about putting a lithium under a cars hood they said do not do that as the cells no matter what you do are only rated to around 60c.. if it goes higher the bus bars will heat up, the cables will heat up in turn will blow up the cells
I’ve bought a DCS battery about 4 years ago for my cruiser to use underneath of the bonnet as the only one back there were claim to be safe and warranty $1499…. Only 5 months later the battery was stuffed, sent to warranty at my cost, and I had to call to find out what’s wrong nearly 5 weeks after I’ve sent to hear that has water to into and my warranty was denied. Water from where??? Rain? Not water crossing …Wel,l at the same time I’ve bought a Chinese brand online to my camper trailer which I took off and installed in the cruiser under the bonnet try and nearly 5 years now just driving back from the cape she’s still under the bonnet not problem and I’ve pay $449 back then … this company is a shame and should just shut they door and stop promoting their products if they don’t back up…
Why would i even consider buying a product from a company that is so petty. This reminds me of two other companies. Several years ago, Tesla sued the BBC because Jeremy Clarkson gave their vehicle a bad review. The case was dismissed, of course. Just a few short years ago, i was looking at performance parts for my pickup and started looking at Sinister Diesel. Not long after, i found out they sued another company into oblivion because they used the color blue on their products. They never actually won any of the lawsuits, but the smaller company didn't have the financial resourses to fight and ended up closing their doors. Because of this, i refuse to purchase any product made by Sinister. This pettiness has convinced me to stay away from DCS products. I honestly don't know what products they make, but if they're going to result in such pettiness, my dollars will be spent elsewhere.
It is very tempting for companies to dump cheap imported junk products into the Australian market and claim they are of high quality. Us consumers rely on honest and independent reviews to sort the wheat from the chaff. We need our courts to defend the honest to protect us from the profiteers.
Truth is a qualified defence in defamation. So is if the person honestly believed their statement was correct.
To sue, you may have to prove the publication was deliberately false.
Mind you, defamation law is a minefield and even varies state to state.
More information here:
www.legalaid.wa.gov.au/find-legal-answers/your-rights/discrimination-harassment-and-bullying/defamation
The opinion defence relies on A) the matter being expressed as an opinion, not as a fact, and B) the opinion being in the public interest and based on 'true facts' which are detailed. So it's not exactly clear-cut. And if you want to rely on truth as a defence, you really need to be able to prove that the imputation you made was in fact true.
@AutoExpertJC yep, it's certainly not clear-cut and varies state to state. When I was in the hot seat, I just sent the defamation threats straight to the lawyers to write the 'don't be silly' letters.
Will be interesting to see the result of Linda Reynolds thinking the way to rehabilitate her reputation is to sue a rape victim. That's not going well ...
OP is a wanker… In my opinion.
Thank you for bringing further attention to this one Andrew. Great vid (on my opinion)
As yet another Andrew, in my opinion, I support your opinion on supporting Andrew St. Pierre White's opinion.
I disagree, so I’m suing you with my opinion, what a world
DCS battery, basically never buy & inform others to never buy from them ever again. In my opinion.
How to destroy your business’ reputation in one easy move
I have no idea whether DCS batteries are good or not - but their actions in this case lead me to never buy one of their products..
I think this is just your opinion.
In my opinion.
@@Sethjxl In my opinion your opinion may be correct in that your opinion of the persons opinion is indeed just an opinion.
Of course I could be wrong or right, after all its just my opinion.
I would be interested in what opinion you have relating to my opinion😂
They are shit.
They are cheap crap Chinese batteries that use dodgy cells
@@crag8360in your opinion
in my opinion the actions of the company are far more damaging than the review itself could have ever been. As you said, the whole outcome would have been entirely different if some conversation had taken place.
Thank you for doing this for Stephan
Check out defender mods and travels, he reported on it first.
It just makes these companies look even worse than having bad products to begin with.
I don't have a lot of extra money, and rarely donate, but I donated to Stephan. This sort of nonsense cannot be tolerated.
@@MorningNapalm well done mate, I've donated also.
Donating to him was the very first time I've ever given anyone money that I personally didn't know!
And I'm thinking about doing it again.
Well said. Turns out the balloons might be feeling a touch foolish and deflated.
but did they have an over-inflated view of their importance to start with?
In my opinion, the products made by DCS are substandard, and nobody should buy these products. In my opinion.
That might not be an opinion. It might just be a fact.
Going by the review that the American just did on a dcs 100ah there no better quality than a itech or kings
That's not just your opinion but the opinion of the Australian government who tested about a dozen manufactures batteries. In their opinion DCS batteries performed worse than all other batteries they tested by a significant margin.
That won't even hold up in court..should be thrown out fairly quickly.
maybe - but what about the $100k in legal fees needed to defend it?
Is that your personal opinion?
@@jakobi8455He can make a claim for costs.
@ScottMurrayBestFamilyCars Nah,, it's Ringo Starr's opinion.
As we are seeing in the UK the process is the punishment.
So, if I leave an unfavourable review comment (in my opinion) on a product's website (say Amazon, or a small
In my opinion that's the way I see it too...😂
I can't find their batteries on Amazon anymore. I my opinion, they pulled them because of overwhelming negative comments caused by their own actions.
It’s interesting that the Australian competition and consumer agency isn’t all over this. The laws in NZ are very strict when it comes to online reviews and companies trying to influence their online reputation by removing negative reviews.
Oh wow! Spotted you in the wild! Love your channel.
I hop that’s your personal opinion 😊 in my opinion it sounds like it is 😂
When the governor general of Dingo Piss Creek weighs in, things get very serious...
in my opinion.
🤣🤣
Wtf 😂
DCS never thought of the Streisand Effect.....
Exactly what I was thinking.
What’s the Streisand effect?
@@bartoni79 When you lie, you get a big nose. In my opinion. Or was that Pinocchio? Not sure how Streisand got hers.
@@bartoni79 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
@@bartoni79 The Streisand effect is an unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or censor information, where the effort instead increases public awareness of the information.
guess what just replaced a battery in one of my cars. making sure IT WAS NOT A CERTAIN BRAND. Thanks mate you are doing a fantastic job
We have a fella by the name of will p. Which is a pretty well-known fella in America . He just stated today he has received one of those batteries. And is doing a review on it as well. I am sure he is going to mention this as well. As in my opinion a review on a product is important for the consumer not getting screwed.
he did review and but it seems someone is trying to take down his video
In my opinion…here in the United States, this case not only would never be taken up by a court, the justices would have ruled with prejudice to have been a waste of time and the company would have been held responsible for the costs of court
@@Queensizemusic I think a lot of that is likely to happen here as well. We have strong consumer laws here and I can't see that he's done anything wrong. I feel like they tried to strong arm him and didn't expect the push back. Now it's all gone too far and they don't want to back down themselves. Not facts but my opinion 😃
In the US , you have anti SLAPP laws that forbid these frivolous lawsuits.
In my opinion - I cannot recommend DCS to any person on any basis - due to their behaviour and treatment of us .. the consumer.
Hi Andrew, this brings back memories. I bought one of the first fjcruisers that came into the country. I spent $15,000 on accessories including bar, suspension, draws etc. the bar took the company days to fit. Wasnt fitted correctly and as such damaged the front guards, grill etc. i was a member of the fjcruiser club and after months of toing and froing finally put up a post about how the product was faulty. This naturally caused a lot of chat. It also caused toyota to void my chassis warranty because the bar exceeded the maximum weight allowed on the front of the FJ. Basically I received from lawyers a threatening email for the same reasons ie being critical of 1. The product 2. The denial 3. The time frame to correct the damage. It was so appalling i sold the fjcruiser and went back to a 79 series. We have every right to be critical of product that does do what its designed to do and/or rhe manufacturer makes claims that are simply bullshit. Interestingly enough the bull bar was made for the US market and our fjs were different…
@@simonhjc It seems like it may have been reasonable for them to void your chassis warranty under those circumstances. Was it a Toyota dealer that fitted the accessory?
Subaru no longer sends press cars to The Fast Lane Car because they did an honest review of their outback and its cvt. it did not perform as well as Subaru claimed it did on one of their off-road tests, and they called them out.
Thank you for bringing attention to this. Stefan could go bankrupt defending himself before this nuisance suit gets dismissed. This bullying needs to stop!
The world is getting ridiculous, in my opinion.
Unfortunately, companies have many lawyers available who thrive on these actions, reasonable or not.
Streisand effect in all its glory
Good on you Andrew on speaking up on this, proud of you mate
Check out british engieer , defender mods and travels video on it.
Andrew, you have it exactly right. 👍
I come from the other end, I distribute pro-audio equipment in the UK and often send products out for review. Ideally I do like to know in advance of publication so I can comment and correct any factual errors - not to change the review in any way, but to just point ot any misconseptions or factual errors. If any problems are found, I would take it on board and report it back to the manufacturers so they can look into it to correct it. Not take any action against the reviewer.
I have also, in the past, written magazine reviews. In one I found a serious defect in the product and immediately reported it back to the manufacturer. They agreed and found it could be corrected by a firmware update and sent me the correction. In myh review I reported that I had found the problem, added that the problem was fixed by an upgrade and advised anyone who had already bought one to do the firmware upgrade. I actually highly praised the product and did end up buying one. Everyone won, my reputation as an honest reviewer, the manufacturer who listened and fixed the fault, and the customer who had an honest review and early adopters who could easily get the fix.
A bad honest review should be treated by a manufacturer as an opportunity to look at a product and understand the problem and work on fixing it. A "right of reply" can be useful as it gives the manufacturer a chance to say that they are looking into it.
Going after a reviewer who has discovered a problem that is inherent in the product is not a good idae as all it can do is to get everything in front of a wider audience that can kill a product dead before the problem can be fixed.
I always remember the story about Gerald Ratner (large chain of inexpensive jewellery shops) making a joke about one of his products - that one comment killed the company dead and the whole chain of the then well-known shops disappeared from the high street.
Looks like someone has shot themselves in the foot here - in my opinion.
@@johnwillett4086
As a kid I was watching that program on the BBC, when Ratner showed the host a gold necklace and said "this is crap"
...
Not sure what! his intentions were but it obviously didn't go well..
..
Perhaps this whole situation is another Ratner moment....
I think the program was the Terry Wogan show.
Glad to see you're covering this. Stephan will appreciate it.
With a history of so many TH-camrs selling their soles for the marketing coin, it looks like manufacturers and suppliers expect that with every product “provided” for review they will receive a mostly positive review. Now anyone that doesn’t support the marketing message are being threatened. There are so many TH-cam channels that you know that you can’t believe anything that comes out of their mouths.
What does any of this have to do with shoes?
@@sqd8ror anything to do with anything, other than the commentator having no idea about YouTubing as a possible business model for people.
Quite, Andrew. Well put. (In my opinion.)
In my opinion, it's strange that EV manufacturers haven't sued you yet, JC 🤔🤭
You know what is funny? Another TH-camr (GoldenSound) has been also threatened with a lawsuit by DCS, an electronics company unrelated to DCS the battery company. Look it up 😂 GoldenSound did a review of their $10k DAC and did not like it. The word spread in the audiophile community so fast that the company retracted the lawsuit within days and did everything to sweep it under the carpet.
Great to see you getting behind this Andrew, I've personally contributed toward the GoFundMe and would like to encourage others if in a position to do so, to do so as well.
LiFePO4 batteries without active temperature control have no place under the bonnet of a 4wd. It'll lead to accelerated capacity degradation, and that's not an opinion, that's a fact.
LiFePO4 batteries without active temperature control have no place under the bonnet of a 4wd. YES!
LifeP04 battery chemistry according to a Electrical Engineer specialising in battery design and manufacturing I spoke to years ago, said that no Lifepo4 battery chemistry will last in a under bonnet installation without serious degradation.
@@garypriddin9949 you could keep the temperatures in check using active heating/cooling like used in most EV batteries.
Though that might not be economically viable.
Most European car brands and even the last of the Holdens put the standard batteries away from the engine bays… It affects all types of batteries…
@@alex54545 it does, but LiFePO⁴ cells particularly badly.
I'm guessing that balloon manufacturer regrets going down that rabbit hole, and is now desperately trying to work out how to unscramble this egg.
Love your content Andrew
Andrew - have you checked out fellow Aussie and widely respected electronics engineer Dave Jones's EEVBlog video on the subject. He even shows how a branch of the Australian Government have previously provided comparison reports to show technical issues with the product.
@@heathwellsNZ as far as I know Louis Rossmann found that report first. It was about different batteries too.
To be clear I hope DCS will lose that case.
Didn't hear about this, but thanks for the heads up. DCS sounds like a company I wouldn't buy from... In my opinion.
It seems to be a growing trend..Sueing TH-cam content creators..
Would love to see DCS's latest sales graph. Must be in free fall.
Bullying nuisance lawsuit. They hope for a quick settlement or a retraction of the content.
Defamation of a business is when someone makes a false statement about a company that damages the company's reputation. This can be done through writing, speech, or even gestures.
For defamation to occur, the statement must be false, must have been made to at least one other person, and must have caused harm to the company's reputation. If a company can prove that defamation has occurred, they may be able to recover damages from the person who made the false statements.
This by extension applies to comments about the companies products. All DCS needs to do is prove it’s a false claim and if they think they have a case then what’s the problem. The truth will always set you free.
Good on you Andrew, agreed on all points. This case really made me angry, absolutely ridiculous, hence my video, too.
Stefan is truely independent which is super rare. On top of that he is a very intelligent bloke who thinks things out well. We need people like him to keep doing what he does.
Australia does not have explicit freedom of speech in any constitutional or statutory declaration of rights, with the exception of political speech
It's going to get worse when they bring in the anti hate speech laws like th UK
It's entertaining that they have fanned the flame of their own demise. Anyone who becomes aware of the story will shop elsewhere for a better product.
Thanks Andrew.
I personally feel i am as a over lander and DIY installer at the mercy of accurate and honest reviews. Without these reviews i will be in the dark with regards to quality of products. I paid my fair share of school fees. From replacing 12v battery level indicators (12 units in one year) installed by professionals) From replacing roof rack brackets and manufactured jerry can holders. (Top SA brand started rusting the stainless steel bracket and bolts and the powder coating flaked after 1 month) In South Africa you have little recourse. You either replace or you ask someone to manufacture for you using decent materials. The worst part is i have purchased these items from the biggest 4x4 accessory shops. They provide no guarantee unless fitted by them. In my world over landers are DIY people. I do not need a professional to install a load bar and bracket. And this is how the distribution of inferior products in SA is handled.
I agree with you, this lawsuit by DCS against Stefan has exponentially brought more negative publicity for them (DCS), than the Stefan review itself. I watched the review when it first came out and thought at the time, "fair enough", and that was it. I didn't think more if it after that. Now with this bullish behaviour of DCS, for me personally, I will never buy any of their products. I hate bullies.
I’m no expert, but how is a YT opinion any different to a Google review, both accessible by a wide audience
Bravo!! Thanks for joining the community highlighting the issue and rallying together to support Stephan. I highly value you opinion on this issue, as well as Stephan’s opinion regarding products. I highly value the opinions you both provide to the camping and 4wheeling community. I shouldn't have to say …. In my opinion.
Fully agree with everything you said. Most of the items attached or in my 4wd were purchased after extensive research, including many TH-cam reviews and tests (including some from this channel). I have never had anything major go wrong, whichI believe is a testament to the value of the work of people like Stefan in testing gear for us.
In fact the LFP battery I chose was from a teardown and test by Will Prowse. I just did a 4 1/2 year capacity test and this yielded 98% of the original capacity.
We all deserve to know the truth when we are spending our hard earned money, especially these days!
I applaud you for tackling this subject, in my opinion the vendor has screwed themselves over this, it caused me to do research and I discovered that they have built other lackluster products, as reviewed by a professional testing facility at the behest of the government (who they did not sue).
I just cannot believe that DCS chose this path, in my opinion it is un-Australian and shows a lack of integrity.
I for one will never buy their products or deal with companies that do.
I can't believe what we're coming too🤦
IMO, in the court of public opinion, DCS is losing this battle. This lawsuit is doing more damage to their brand and reputation, than the review Stefan ever did. It looks like the DCS mgmt didn't completely think this through properly. IMO, they shot themselves in the foot with this lawsuit.
Welcome to the brave new world where feelings are more important than truth, sorry there is no such thing as free speech in Australia let alone human rights. He is not the only one to be sued for a bad review.
@@harry8506 truth hurts
In my opinion, companies that are rude or agressive deserve to be called out, in my opinion. It takes many years to gain a good reputation and mere seconds to destroy it. Great job DCS in reminding us of that.
They even sent him out a second set of batteries when he first reported a problem. The Australian government did tests on dcs batteries and they were the worst that they tested.
The ramifications will be huge If DCS is sucessful. Im so glad youtubers from around tge globe are banding together to help fight this and support Stefan.
New drinking game. Have one whenever he says “in my opinion”
And must scull a beer evey time he waves his arms around, we'd all be totally smashed. IMO..
As Chopper would say, Harden the fuc up Stefan errrr
Gold. Respect
DCS should sue the Aussie govt. too, the independent test report was damning
The Streisand effect for a review of a widget has well and truly kicked in, in my opinion.
In my opinion Andrew, you are 100% correct. DCS should be thanking him for an honest opinion to allow them to improve their product, which, in my opinion, would allow them to better compete.
In my opinion, TH-cam should defend Stephan because a successful case would see TH-camrs refrain from making product review videos, and that will hurt TH-cam.
As for the, in my opinion, womble, suing you over a balloon, I hope that the Judge throws it out as frivolous.
In my opinion, as a deaf person, appreciate the fact, in my opinion, your putting up the clarification of your opinion in writing for deaf people.
Now I'm going to rewatch this video & take a shot everytime in my opinion is said!
I worry about this with OnX (offroad map app). OnX tried to buy me out offering me a bunch of money to promote them. I’m pretty sure when I turned them down, OnX got the big channel in my area (TFL, auto reviewers) to start making videos like mine (offroad trail guides). Them making trail guides doesn’t bother me (besides spreading inaccurate info), but if OnX pushed that, that’s dirty. So I take it that OnX is extremely rich (based on how much they were gonna pay me) and possibly dirty (I hope that’s not true). To protect myself, I’ve been saving screenshots of problems with OnX info (inaccurate info, people getting trouble off-road from that info, false advertising). The complete truth is I would love to be an OnX fan and I could use the money they would have paid me (my two old vehicles need work), but I feel I have a responsibility to be honest and to protect my community. I’ve been an offroader for nearly 25 years… I take it seriously (besides our channel name) so that’s why I can’t promote OnX.
A serious subject that should not be ignored, dealt with humour and civility. Great video! ✌️❤️🇬🇧
*in my opinion!
The subject is serious enough, then most official magazines, depending on advertisement money, doing reviews on whatever topic they are covering, can not be neutral. So having somebody like Stephan doing a serious review must be protected. Otherwise there won’t be any change in quality of the product, here I strongly agree with Simon
@@Lupodimare1234 magazines haven't offered opinions for many years.
I will not be buying any of their products for my builds. DCS can consider themselves black balled.
Brilliant commentary... in my opinion.
I wrote to the folks at a specific balloon company and suggested how they could have responded differently to opinions about their hot air. Which was, in my opinion, a great release.
Andrew PLEASE just HUG the balloon and apologize to it like a gentleman. I’m sure the balloon is very offended. Also lie some, make sure you NEVER say anything you think. People need to get a life asap.
I did hug the balloon! That's why it popped. IMO
@@4xoverland 🤣
Good on you Andrew, we/us/great unwashed viewers out here also highly value 'our' TH-cam content creators and we can see the bullying here. You guys in the main give reasonable experiences and good real life testing and 'we' out here appreciate this. Subsequently I have donated to Stephan's GoFundMe. By the way I am almost certain the battery company involved should maybe pack up and go away or simply MAKE THEIR PRODUCT BETTER.
Honest reviews are important! I have been subscribed to Stephan's channel for many years. Of greatest concern is that most TH-cam product reviews are used for marketing purposes, and the reviewers do so in order to get free stuff. If the manufacturer provides abnormal constraints on the reviews, then they are little more than white lies. It goes without saying that obtaining free use of a refrigerator, a solar generator, or a lithium battery system strongly promotes less than candid reviews. In fact, Stefan's channel is one of the few which emphasized the importance of providing honest and complete reviews.
Do the maths . Free stuff does not pay the bills. The alternative to 'free stuff' is to buy a battery to review. $800. Make a video. Spend a day making the video and pay for lunch, rent, lights, equipment, battery testing equipment, etc. Google ad income over one year: $300 for a medium sized channel. Do the math. Most good influencers worth their salt, the moment a product maker tries to influence content, they decline the offer.
Amazing how manufacturers know how to ruin their names really fast. In my opinion of course.
The idea in the long term is to help improve products.
I come from a quality background, so I know how things should be done.
DCS website is most supportive and represents a good platform to clarify issues- especially relating to the marketing of their product 😂and their customer support-
@WillProwse tore "one of those balloons" apart and found garbage.
Great video and I so hope it will backfire on them. Will Prowse made a review vidseo of this battery. Initially, it seems to be working as specified, but when he takes it apart, some very serious issues are laid bare. I love how he describes companies like these as basically sticker makers. They buy Chinese batteries and put their own company logo sticker on.
Decent manufacturers should want feedback so they can then sort the product out, making them and releasing a decent version or upgrading the one that's not up to the current claims.
The company might make 100 product lines, but every now and then, they release a product that is way below their usual standard, and does not live up to the hype surrounding their product.
loved the balloon intro LMAO
DCS has no chance whatsoever here in the USA. I would never buy anything from them, ever. Thanks for addressing this.
With these types of law suits they don’t need to win, or even take it to the point of settlement. All they need to do is waste enough of the creators time and money then drop the action. The next time someone thinks about giving them a bad review they will think twice.
absolutely spot on! Protect free speech! Thank you for talking about this. Only if "We, the people" stick together, and clamor for our rights, they will be stripped from us. Great channel! Love your work. Down with bullies!
A balloon company sues for
deinflation of their product?
I don’t think the law suite will hold air!🎈
I think it was an honest review. If they didn't pay you they better step up their quality.
Good contribution, Andrew. Also good that John and Louis Rossman have made their videos. LR is a strong advocate in right to repair and I've followed his amd this topic for a few years. DCS seem to have never heard of the Streisand effect, but they are in the headlights now. I hope Stefan is successful, in my opinion.
In the opinion of the OZ government, who tested DCS' battery, it's sub standard compared to the other tested batteries. Again those results were from the OZ government. See Louis Rossman's video for more details on that. What we do get with DCS' is a bunch of bullies, which we don't like. In my opinion... Oh and in the opinion of the OZ government.
In America they have ‘ anti SLAPP’ laws that forbid meritless charges like this .
In Australian tradition watch as a drinking game when Andrew says "in my opinion" you have to take a drink. kudos for making this.
An Australian government agency used DCS batteries for testing and they produced the worst results of any of the batteries tested and not by a small amount. Maybe DCS should have tried to sue for that as well :)
DCS, welcome to the Streisand effect.
Quite simply, you are entitled to offer an opinion on almost any matter. Indeed, you have ample protections to do so. Provided you make a clear distinction between your opinion and a statement of fact. Should you make a factual assertion which may be objectively challenged, and such an assertion can be proven as materially damaging, remedies under defamation law may be applicable. It is a high threshold. IE: Is it opinion or an assertion of fact? Can it be objectively challenged? Can it be proven as damaging? In my opinion, many's the time when the threat of defamation action is used by the well-heeled to neutralise subjective criticism from the less well-heeled, without the slightest intention to proceeed. Please carry on being your fearlessly and expertly opinionated self, Andrew. And...thank you.
In my opinion...
A good overview.
In my opinion...
The market will decide and the brand name will suffer.
In my opinion
The workers in the company will suffer as the company has decided to take the course they have.
In my opinion
Unless the small person stands up the small person will suffer.
In my opinion
When communication is lost all is lost.
In my opinion
The world is crazy and the only people who win are the lawyers.
This is only my opinion... In my opinion.
Thanks for the video Andrew.
I'm not one to normally share videos from another channel under any youtuber's video, but I implore all, especially those with a bit of technical know how, to follow along on this video put up by Will here in the states with an open mind. I don't think he's worried about threats from underhanded business people. He's been there, he's done that, and he's arguably the most honest/knowledgeable reviewer there is in the off grid sector on YT. ...In my opinion.
Will's battery reviews are on another level.
@@4xoverland He's truly a talent.
Including as it turns out the Australian government testing agency. I feel it’s going to be an extremely expensive lesson to learn about how customers react
Remember the case of United Airlines refusing to replace the guitar damaged by their employees? The guitar owner was a musician who then wrote a song about his experience, and published it on TH-cam. The song went viral. United's reputation was seriously damaged by some company official refusing to make good the damage they'd caused.
Social media has empowered the "little man" to make his case heard in the court of public opinion, and corporate interests and governments are desperately trying to put the genie back in the bottle.
The "Streisand Effect" is a phenomenon that any marketing and PR department should be aware of. There's no positive way to leverage that to promote your product or cause.
DCS would rather waste money on frivolous lawsuits and damage their brand.
The news Paper has articles on opinions of restaurants, clothes . Holidays. Sporting goods. Ect. No difference is there
This is so typical of these businesses that say so called Australian made batteries when its not.. they are assembled in Australia, the cells, bms, case, cables all made in china. But worse is it just shows that these small businesses hate honest opinions and you know business that can't take honest opinions are a dodgy business. The other thing is its obvious that these batteries and the people that make them have no knowledge of making them.. they just see others do it and think I can do it also. I made my own lithium battery based off military standards as in in a stainless steel case, I made my own 100% copper thick bus bars, the negative and positive cables coming off the bms to the terminal are rated to 340a at 100% use trycab cables, and the terminals are rated to 300a mainly because the battery discharge is up to 300a, the bms is rated to 250a.. People said that's overkill.. But I rather overkill and be safe then underkill and blow up. Allot fo these batteries are made with thin cables to the terminal by adding 3-4 cables of pos/neg, also not using any shielding, cheap Chinese thin steel bars, no active balancers, and a plastic box which has a higher chance of blowing up in certain places put.. like I spoke to a Chinese manufacturer about putting a lithium under a cars hood they said do not do that as the cells no matter what you do are only rated to around 60c.. if it goes higher the bus bars will heat up, the cables will heat up in turn will blow up the cells
I’ve bought a DCS battery about 4 years ago for my cruiser to use underneath of the bonnet as the only one back there were claim to be safe and warranty $1499…. Only 5 months later the battery was stuffed, sent to warranty at my cost, and I had to call to find out what’s wrong nearly 5 weeks after I’ve sent to hear that has water to into and my warranty was denied. Water from where??? Rain? Not water crossing …Wel,l at the same time I’ve bought a Chinese brand online to my camper trailer which I took off and installed in the cruiser under the bonnet try and nearly 5 years now just driving back from the cape she’s still under the bonnet not problem and I’ve pay $449 back then … this company is a shame and should just shut they door and stop promoting their products if they don’t back up…
Why would i even consider buying a product from a company that is so petty. This reminds me of two other companies.
Several years ago, Tesla sued the BBC because Jeremy Clarkson gave their vehicle a bad review. The case was dismissed, of course.
Just a few short years ago, i was looking at performance parts for my pickup and started looking at Sinister Diesel. Not long after, i found out they sued another company into oblivion because they used the color blue on their products. They never actually won any of the lawsuits, but the smaller company didn't have the financial resourses to fight and ended up closing their doors. Because of this, i refuse to purchase any product made by Sinister.
This pettiness has convinced me to stay away from DCS products. I honestly don't know what products they make, but if they're going to result in such pettiness, my dollars will be spent elsewhere.
It is very tempting for companies to dump cheap imported junk products into the Australian market and claim they are of high quality. Us consumers rely on honest and independent reviews to sort the wheat from the chaff. We need our courts to defend the honest to protect us from the profiteers.
Had to check the date because I thought it was April 1 for a brief moment.
Will Prowse just did a review of the battery in question. Worth a watch