MovingScam.com Sued For False Advertising, Allegedly Endorsing Affiliates
- by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, June 20, 2010
The moving company broker Budget Van Lines has sued the proprietor of MovingScam.com and a related company for allegedly endorsing affiliates while disparaging Budget on the site's message boards.
"Defendants have made numerous posts discouraging customers from using outside moving-services companies, like plaintiff, and encouraging them to use moving-services companies affiliated with the MovingScam.com Website," the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in federal district court in New York, names MovingScam.com owner Tim Walker, as well as the company Consumers First, as defendants. The complaint alleges false advertising, trademark infringement and commercial disparagement.
Walker and Consumers First faced a nearly identical lawsuit several years ago by Nationwide Relocation Services, which sued in federal court in Florida. That case was settled in 2008.
As of Friday, the MovingScam.com site expressly endorses several companies, but says that it does so "based on the positive experiences of many consumers who have used them."
Budget, however, asserts that the site actually earns a portion of sales revenue when users click through to endorsed companies.
Walker and Consumers First "falsely leads consumers to believe that the Web site is a consumer-protection website providing information to help consumers choose moving companies and vendors for moving supplies when, in fact, the website is an e-commerce website with the primary purpose of generating revenue," the complaint alleges.
Budget's trademark infringement claims is based, in part, on the allegation that MovingScam.com appears in search results when users query on the name Budget. "Prospective customers of plaintiff will assume that they are reaching plaintiff's website, when in fact they are reaching defendant's website," the lawsuit alleges.
Budget's attorney did not return a message seeking comment. Walker declined to comment on the case, saying he had not been served with the lawsuit.
