The owners of an RV dealership near Parksville who endured 15 months of defamatory posts on several social-media platforms from a couple who bought what they claimed was a “lemon” have settled a civil suit through a mediator.
The couple have admitted all of their online allegations about Big Boy’s Toys and its owners were not true and have issued public apologies.
The social-media campaign critical of the dealership started shortly after Markus Willard and Lisa Redl bought a used trailer from Big Boy’s Toys in September 2022 for $50,000.
On a trip to California with their four children, they notified the dealership there was a leak in the front windshield of the trailer, and later claimed they’d discovered black mould.
Dealership owners Ian and Shannon Moore asked the couple to repair the windshield and use a dehumidifier, and suggested they were not looking after the trailer according to service and owner manuals. But Willard and Redl claimed they were sold a mouldy trailer that affected their health and ruined their Christmas.
They took to social media, going on long rants disparaging the business and the owners on platforms that included TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and others. Redl also had a dedicated Instagram page set up targeting Big Boy’s Toys and claimed in one post that the company’s “negligence” left her four children homeless and stranded in the U.S. at Christmas.
Redl claimed on her TikTok channel that Big Boy’s Toys called Willard’s workplace in an attempt to get him fired, according to court documents filed in the civil claim.
In social-media posts, Redl said Big Boy’s Toys knowingly sold her a water-damaged RV that cost her more than $100,000 between the original pricetag, repairs and other expenses.
Big Boy’s Toys, however, claimed that all the damage was caused by the couple’s improper care and maintenance of the vehicle, and that the statements made online were defamatory.
Shannon Moore said in an interview on Thursday that Redl “was relentless” for more than a year and her remarks were personal and hurtful.
“They were calling us gangsters and that we prey on young families and we’ve been doing this for years,” said Moore. “We didn’t know how to fight back against that.”
She said Big Boy’s Toys was facing a loss of business and felt its reputation and that of their three children was being unfairly damaged as the social-media posts filtered through the community.
So, instead of engaging on social media, Big Boy’s Toys Ltd. filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court on June 30 last year against Willard and Redl for their statements on various online platforms.
Even after the lawsuit was filed, Redl continued the barrage on social media, according to Moore.
The company was seeking general, punitive and aggravated damages, claiming its reputation, credit and character have been harmed by statements it deemed defamatory.
The plaintiff’s lawyer delivered the defendants a letter in mid-June saying their statements were false and defamatory, and asked for retractions.
According to court documents, the defendants posted a video in response, repeating the claims about the RV, and ridiculed Big Boy’s Toys for sending the letter.
But on March 26, with legal costs mounting and the case likely to take more than a year to come to trial, a settlement was reached using a retired Supreme Court judge as a mediator.
In the settlement, Willard and Redl said their multiple online statements were defamatory and not true, and agreed to delete all their social-media posts and replace them with a public apology, in both written and video form.
“We improperly lashed out at Big Boy’s Toys Limited and its owners, Ian and Shannon Moore, because we wrongly assumed that they had sold us a lemon,” Redl said in the video.
Willard, in his video apology, said: “In hindsight, we realize that we had not properly maintained the RV and that, in fact, it was in good condition when we bought it.”
In a written statement, Willard said: “We now accept that the information we published about Big Boy’s Toys Ltd. — and the company’s principals, Ian and Shannon Moore — was defamatory and untrue.
“We take this opportunity to make amends by retracting our statements about them and offering our sincere apologies for ever having made them.
“We acknowledge that in publishing the defamatory and untrue statements, we caused significant damage to the reputations of Mr. and Mrs. Moore and Big Boy’s Toys Ltd.
“We genuinely regret having done so.”
Willard and Redl also acknowledged they have agreed to compensate the company for the costs incurred in the court proceeding and to pay them a sum to be applied to a charity of their choice.
Moore did not disclose the amount of money, but said anything paid would be given to the charities they’ve supported for years.
The settlement said Redl and Willard are required to post the written retraction and apology, and the video apology, on their personal profiles and the profiles they control until March 26, 2025.
The ordeal has taken a huge emotional toll on the family, their friends and 23 employees at the dealership, Moore said.
“This was a first for us — the only time we have ever sued a former customer,” said Moore. “But we felt that was necessary to protect our reputation and the Big Boy’s Toys brand. As a family-run company we pride ourselves on our commitment to customer service.
“We aren’t always perfect, but we endeavour to get things right.”
She said the victory isn’t only about setting the record straight.
“It’s a broader reminder of the power our online words have,” said Moore. “It underlines the fact that spreading misinformation or false accusations online isn’t just harmful, it’s actionable.
“People need to know that every post, review, and comment can be detrimental to a business and very personal to the owners on the receiving end.
“And if it is false, the reviewer can be held accountable and liable for their actions under the law.”
She said online bullying and accusations can have devastating effects on people “who don’t have our life experience,” such as youths.
“You know, you read about the effects it has on vulnerable people but it was never real to me,” said Moore.
“But now I understand and it has consequences.”
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
