It doesn't appear Napa Valley's Charter Oak Winery did anything wrong. It's more likely they've been wronged, but it's in a small way and maybe they should have just kept quiet and not get so bent out of shape.
They have a few very negative reviews on Google among many excellent reviews. They claim it's all from one person using different names who, for some reason, wants to ream them. Charter Oak asked Google to remove the negative reviews and they said no. I'm quite sure this isn't the first time a business has asked this.
The winery is owned by a lawyer so he figured out the best way to make Google do his bidding is by suing them in small claims, probably to avoid fighting with Google's mass of lawyers (you can't send your legal team to small claims). He didn't try to find out who is behind the negative reviews, but went after Google. Small claims court is about proving a specific monetary loss because of something the defendant did so I have a feeling this is just a first step in his legal maneuvering.
Almost all of the non-one star reviews are five full stars. Hmm, should I think that is suspicious? Probably not, but with Google seemingly unable/unwilling to take the time to investigate you have to be smart when using their (or any other) reviews.
I've never visited Charter Oak Winery and this doesn't exactly make me want to. I sure as hell don't want lawyers coming after me if I don't like something. They should really just point out that these are fake reviews (they already have) and let it be. If you do a Google search on "Charter Oak" the first thing you see is "Charter Oak Winery reviews" and all this brouhaha. Is this how you really want your business known? I wouldn't. Let it lie, guys.
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