A South African blogger, Donn Edwards, is being sued by the Quality Vacation Club (QVC) for criticising its marketing tactics on his blog Insights and Rants.

Donn was contacted by a telemarketer in 2007 and was told he had won a car, subject to him attending a prize-giving function. When he went along to the function, he discovered it was a marketing presentation for RCI-affiliated QVC. After the presentation, he and the other guests were asked to pick a key, which would let them know if they had won the car. Donn didn’t win, nor, it seems, did anyone else.

He subsequently posted a blog expressing his dissatisfaction with the experience. He questioned the relationship between the telemarketing company and the timeshare operation, and also the way he was lured to the timeshare presentation. You can read more details on in the Sunday Independent article posted on his site and in his press statement here.

To cut a long story short, QVC is suing Donn for R 461, 500 in damages. He is calling on the blogging community for support in fighting his case because as he says in his statement: “If big companies are allowed to get away with this kind of harassment and intimidation, then all bloggers are at risk every time they express any form of criticism that any trigger-happy corporate doesn’t like.”

Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Pamela Stein, a partner at legal firm Webber Wentzel Bowens, said that she has no doubt that commentary in the consumer’s interest is in the public interest and so is fair comment.

Meanwhile, it would be interesting to see how the Consumer Protection Bill – set to become law imminently – would deal with the issues of how the competition was marketed, and also the supplier’s treatment of the blogger.

While not excusing the behaviour of QVC, it’s worth remembering though that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And it’s unlikely that you would have won a competition you haven’t entered.