Customer Owes Optician Tens of Thousands After Defamation Lawsuit

A Tel Aviv-Jaffa Magistrate's Court has ordered a customer and her partner to pay 32,600 shekels to an optician after they defamed his business. The dispute began when the couple purchased multi-focal prescription glasses for 9,000 shekels. The following day, the wife sought to cancel the transaction before receiving the glasses, claiming the optician had persuaded her to buy them despite her needing the money for her partner's medical treatment. The optician refused, stating the glasses were custom-made to personal specifications.

The customer's attempts to get a refund were rejected by the Consumer Protection Authority and subsequently by the Small Claims Court and the Central Court on appeal. During the legal proceedings, the couple posted three one-star reviews on Google for the store. In these reviews, they called the optician a "fraudster and swindler" and alleged customers received nothing, describing the business as a place of "lies and threats." The woman also verbally insulted the optician as a "criminal who should be jailed" in front of another customer.

The optician then sued the couple for defamation. The court ruled that the online posts and verbal statements were presented as facts rather than opinions and did not reflect the truth. Considering the couple's personal circumstances, the judge ordered them jointly and severally liable to pay the optician 32,600 shekels, covering damages and court costs.