In a recently published judgement (Urt. v. 23.09.2016, Az. 142 C 12436 /16) the District Court of Munich ruled that a false review of an eBay transaction constitutes a contractual breach and should be deleted by its author.
In the said case, the plaintiff offered on sale a high-end amplifier “Burmester 808 MK 3”. Pursuant to the description of the item, “the 808 MK3 would be delivered in its original packaging“. The buyer, however, acting in bad faith, reviewed the plaintiff’s profile negatively and lessened its status from 5 to 4,75 stars. The reviewer, in particular falsely claimed that the packaging was not the original one and discouraged other potential buyers from concluding an agreement with the plaintiff.
The plaintiff then repeatedly asked the buyer to withdraw the review and finally brought an action before the District Court of Munich.
The District Court of Munich ruled that an eBay buyer is obliged under the purchase agreement to disclose a truthful valuation regarding the seller and the transaction, and consequently condemned the defendant to remove his negative review.
“Wahrheitsgemäße Bewertungen nach einer Ebay Auktion sind ein zentrales Informationsinstrument der Internetplattform Ebay, da damit anderen potentiellen Käufern Informationen über frühere Käufe und damit Kenntnisse über den Verkäufer, der ansonsten nicht greifbar ist und zuweilen lediglich als beliebiger Ebay- Mitgliedsname erscheint, vermittelt werden. Bewertungen stellen damit quasi eine Kundenempfehlung bzw. Warnung dar. Daraus ergibt sich ein zentrales Interesse des Verkäufers auf Ebay an einer zutreffenden Bewertung.”
According to the court, the truthful assessment after an auction poses a central information tool of the platform eBay, through which other potential buyers are informed about previous purchases and have access to intelligence regarding the trustworthiness of the seller. The breach of this secondary obligation creates hence a right of the falsely assessed person to have any false review erased.