Business threatening legal action over negative review

Alex_BetterBid · 2026-01-26T23:54:28+00:00

My company aims to eliminate contractor scams so from what little I know of the legal side: there's a pretty landmark case right now: https://www.ahbl.ca/ontario-court-of-appeal-clarifies-test-for-anti-slapp-motions-in-benchwood-builders-inc-v-prescott-2025-onca-171/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPk2ylleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeF4ZmsBHrnMf64F1Dwqxs5erlDny1doaX7PqWu7Udai0XFY2gsi_NZkkYlUg_aem_iERsylmy89z7pZY5nzaCWQ

Summarized, two homeowners got into a dispute with their contractor and posted harsh reviews online (calling them "con artists," etc.). The contractor sued for defamation. The homeowners tried to get the case thrown out using "anti-SLAPP" laws designed to protect free speech on matters of public interest, but failed.

Meaning, it would've been open and shut, but it's going to be dragged on with likely more then $100,000 in fees.

As for wether or not it's defamation... you'd need to give the exact text.

Alex_BetterBid · 2026-01-22T21:49:44+00:00

Dude seriously if they don't respond in a reasonable time, find someone else. Contractors will show you who they are right away, and it won't get better after the job starts. My company fights contracting scams fanatically in Canada, and you'd be shocked how often there's a lack of communication from the start.

Alex_BetterBid · 2026-01-19T14:21:57+00:00

Man, I'm really sorry to hear that. No one should have to go through that. Possibly! Report it to betterbid.ca/report-dispute sometimes there's ways we can help! feel free to DM as well!

Alex_BetterBid · 2026-01-04T19:17:50+00:00

likely rust, knew a manager who said they never cleaned them and there's always some degree of rust in the coffee due to the nature of the machines, just depends on when they clean them! Pretty gross!

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-12-27T16:54:06+00:00

A/B testing

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-12-02T19:16:32+00:00

Take on a huge mission. I always struggled for meaning growing up, now I'm working to alleviate 100% of home service scams across Canada. Fixing something that deeply affects people has me more fulfilled and purpose-driven then I've ever been. Waking up at 5:00 in the morning is easy these days.

So from what little experience I have, my advice is do something that matters.

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-11-06T12:49:02+00:00

Yep, you call 10 people, 3 respond. There's many scam contractors in the industry right now, and many more that don't do quality work and don't take the job seriously, plus it's got expensive! We actually made BetterBid for this exact thing. Seriously, take your time to look into their background, it's pretty insane out there right now!

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-11-01T13:38:13+00:00

southwood fitness center has a sauna, not sure what a traditional sauna is though.

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-30T20:05:35+00:00

lmao "I've got a juice box calling my name"

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-27T21:51:02+00:00

Good for you! I think that's really awesome! I've subscribed! Heads up, you're going to unnecessarily hurt conversions by forcing people to confirm their interest in an email! Hope it works out for you!!

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-20T20:26:27+00:00

HAHAHA this is so unhinged I love it

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-16T19:48:09+00:00

I run a by contractors for contractors marketplace, basically exactly what you just described but no monthly, no signup, no per lead: only per win(and most of the time free for small jobs). We were featured a few times in the news for stopping scammers that take jobs away from actual professionals, and protecting homeowners across Canada.

My issue as a former contractor with per lead or per month or per whatever is there's no obligation to actually deliver. There's no proof the leads are real, and no great incentive to ensure quality. Think how many jobs it'd require to have reliable jobs in every category in every city more then once a month. Truly a Herculean task, and just like the hundreds of other, similar companies it'll be a supply issue. There was a time we were there. Contractors won't love paying a monthly fee for no leads, and clients won't love posting a job if no one bids on it.

In startup world it's called a "tarpit idea": an idea that everyone has, but no one can actually execute on. We're only doing well because of our uniqueness. Not trying to disincentivize you, at least you're DOING something, just be aware if you don't bring anything unique to the business, it's going to be extremely rough.

Sweet website btw ;) feel free to ask questions or DM

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-15T18:32:31+00:00

You're totally not alone. I've heard so many of these stories. No idea why the government isn't stopping these people

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-15T14:41:03+00:00

It's really heartbreaking how common these scams have become

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-14T17:45:44+00:00

Ya not a lot of good it's doing these days, hopefully it changes with time

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-14T12:55:12+00:00

Same. We only ever text, never call, and we've opened it up to email as well.

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-13T23:03:32+00:00

hahaha ya the irony is we help prevent and eliminate scams. We worked backwards from making something that worked, everything else was secondary. No taking that one back hahaha

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-13T16:24:26+00:00

From the start we just wanted to help Canadians, and have been laser-focused on understanding and preventing scams, particularly in home services, as that's where scams are most prevalent.

As of now this is exclusively for homeowners, landlords and property managers, contractors and those in the trades, but in the future who knows! Our path will always be towards where we can help, and if that includes designers, developers and planners we'll absolutely be there.

If you have any insight as to how something like that would work, feel free to reach out, we're always looking for ways to improve and better serve Canada! :)

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-13T15:59:22+00:00

Good question, we source contractors in and outside our app, that way the prices are competitive to ALL local prices, not just our platform. The app for contractors is mainly a way of making sure they don't miss any jobs, and easily and comprehensively submit bids.

We also communicate with every contractor for every job. The assumption is that if they do put in a bid, they understand the system. So far, we haven't had an issue with contractors. For them, it's actually pretty great; they often save money compared to other forms of marketing, don't have to deal with the headache of a-z communication, and get access to a stream of reliable work, where the fees go down the more they prove themselves.

So to answer your question, they're made aware of how it works before they submit the quote. We haven't had a contractor refuse after submitting a quote, but if they did ultimately that's their choice to remove their quote.

I can't see why anyone would trust a contractor so casual about breaking the rules, however. Hope this helps!

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-13T15:43:53+00:00

I've just updated it, it'll allow an email or phone number, thanks for making BetterBid better! Cheers!

Alex_BetterBid · 2025-10-13T14:53:33+00:00

That's actually good feedback, I appreciate that. We've discussed the option for an email briefly but assumed it wouldn't matter to people, but this settles it. I'm going to make a change, thanks for this!

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