NatWest Realizes It Screwed Up Sending Cease & Desist To Website Reviewing NatWest

from the nice-of-you-to-notice dept

Mon, Aug 9th 2010 6:49pm — Mike Masnick

UK bank NatWest apparently let its legal attack dogs off their leashes a bit prematurely recently, sending a nastygram cease & desist to a website that was merely reviewing different banks for students looking to open up bank accounts. This is the sort of thing that you might think NatWest would appreciate. Instead, it sent the C&D. Of course, once the press started asking questions, it appears that NatWest realized that perhaps it had made a mistake, and withdrew the legal request. Perhaps, in the future, they'll think before sending in the lawyers.

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Filed Under: cease & desist, reviews
Companies: natwest

17 Comments

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TtfnJohn (profile), 9 Aug 2010 @ 7:04pm

I guess it's time to remember to always keep your lawyers tethered up in the yard with the dogs and on a shorter leash when you take them out!

How silly.
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- Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2010 @ 8:39pm
  
  Have your pet lawyers spayed or neutered; remember, reducing lawyer overpopulation starts with you!
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  - BearGriz72 (profile), 10 Aug 2010 @ 12:29am
    
    Re:
    Spaying and neutering also can reduce roaming behaviors. Microchipping, shots, deworming, and defleaing are also recommended.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2010 @ 6:06am
      
      Re: Re:
      No, let them suffer from worms and fleas, it'll help reduce their population.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
fogbugzd (profile), 9 Aug 2010 @ 7:04pm

And what were the defendants out in legal fees and other costs? There should be a recourse against companies that hire attorneys who have had too much caffeine.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2010 @ 7:09pm

Too bad, they could have auctioned the C&D on eBay and made some cash.
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- fogbugzd (profile), 9 Aug 2010 @ 7:23pm
  
  Re:
  >>Too bad, they could have auctioned the C&D on eBay and made some cash.
  
  Given the number of bogus C&D letters out there, they might be approaching the point of being considered an infinite good.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2010 @ 7:56pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Hey, the last one sold for $3,850.00. Where is my C&D letter. Quick, someone send me a C&D letter.
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    - The Groove Tiger (profile), 10 Aug 2010 @ 7:44am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Dude, that's a Lucasfilm C&D. That's like, a collectible.
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BruceLD, 9 Aug 2010 @ 9:50pm

Subject
No doubt the lawyers were acting on their own volition. They saw some a great opportunity to make themselves seem useful to the corporation, so they decided to do things on their own.

Naturally they also sent their fee requisition to the bank and of course they got paid.

In the end, the bank lost money to their lawyers, pissed off their customers and the public and are left to deal with the crap. In the meantime, the lawyers just deposited their big fat pay cheques in to their bank accounts.

Go LAWYERS!
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2010 @ 4:30am

Simple
Publish the C&D and recommend avoiding them like the plague, becuase they must have something to hide.
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Ima Fish (profile), 10 Aug 2010 @ 5:48am

Mike, I'm surprised you didn't comment on the so called apology letter from NatWest.

I have examined your website and agree that you are not deliberately trying to deceive our customers

So the email says that the review was deceiving NatWest's customers, but that the deception was not done deliberately. Which is complete BS. How could anyone read a review of different banks and think that the review was actually written by one of the banks reviewed?! That makes no sense. Clearly, there was no deception or market confusion at all. Why wouldn't NatWest admit that obvious fact?
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Andrew (profile), 10 Aug 2010 @ 6:59am

Penalties
It would be nice if official C&Ds had to be registered with a court, with penalties given out if they turn out to be entirely spurious. After all, a C&D is merely a prelude to a lawsuit, so why not get the court involved from the start?
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DH's Love Child (profile), 10 Aug 2010 @ 7:43am

Seems to me...
That the site should just take this bank from their reviews. Don't mention them at all. The bank wanted a C&D, then let them have it. Make it a point to never let college students know of their existence so that when they graduate and need to choose a bank for their adult lifetime, they won't even consider this bank. That's what the bank wanted when they send the C&D, right?
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- Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2010 @ 5:05am
  
  Re: Seems to me...
  Or give it a full review with the conclusion that NatWest Bank is too litigious and should be avoided.
  
  It should be part of legal canon that lawyers are responsible for telling their clients when an action can do real harm to the clients.
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Validreference Agent, 4 Oct 2010 @ 10:27am

Validreference Agent
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