After Allison Dore had an unhappy experience during a trip to the dentist, she did what thousands do as a matter of routine: she posted a negative review on a consumer website.

　　艾莉森·多尔在一家牙医诊所遭遇了不愉快的经历之后，她像其他很多人一样：在一个消费者网站上给了这家诊所差评。

　　But that decision could cost her dearly because the dental practice has taken the unusual step of suing her for £125,000 damages plus legal costs, saying that her online claims were wrong.

　　但这一行为令艾莉森付出了昂贵的代价。那家诊所起诉了她，称她在网站上的评价是错的，并要求她赔偿包括律师费在内的12.5万英镑。

　　The firm’s action has been condemned by the business listings and reviews site Yelp, which says it could have a chilling effect on free speech.

　　美国最大点评网站Yelp指责了这家诊所的行为，认为他们这样做会造成言论自由的寒蝉效应。

　　The row began when Allison, 46, was referred by her NHS dentist to B Dental in Islington, London, for £10,000 worth of tooth implants.

　　整个事件开始于46岁的艾莉森被她的牙医推荐来到位于伦敦伊斯灵顿的B Dental诊所做价值1万英镑的植牙手术。

　　‘Initially I saw a lovely dentist there,’ she says, ‘but I endured a three week wait before they could begin treatment, received treatment plans with the wrong prices and then, when I got toothache on the other side of my jaw, they said they did not do generaldentistry.’

　　艾莉森说：“一开始我在这里遇到了一位很不错的牙医。但在他们开始给我治疗前，我忍着牙疼等了三周时间，后来他们给我的治疗计划和价格也不对。接着我另外一边的牙齿也开始疼了起来，可他们告诉我他们不做普通的牙齿治疗。”

　　Disappointed with the service, she posted a review on Yelp, headed ‘Terrible Service – Avoid at all costs’ and gave them just one star.

　　因为对这家诊所的服务相当失望，所以艾莉森在Yelp上给其的评论是：“服务非常糟糕，大家最好避免来这里”，并只给了他们一颗星。

　　‘Everything I wrote was factual and true. I am a nervous patient who was looking for a long-term private dentist. And I was shocked at how uncaring B Dental were.’

　　艾莉森还在差评中说：“我保证所写的全部属实。我是一个紧张的病人，只是希望找到一名可以长期合作的私人牙医。但对于B Dental牙医诊所心不在焉的服务，我感到很震惊。”

　　To her astonishment, she received an email from Yelp in November saying it had received a complaint about her review.

　　令艾莉森惊讶的是，2014年11月她收到了Yelp发来的邮件，称对于她的那条评论该网站收到了投诉。

　　She then received an email from the dental firm saying it disputed her version of events.

　　接着她又收到了B Dental牙医诊所的邮件，称该公司对她的评论提出争议。

　　The surgery, which has a series of excellent five-star reviews on Yelp claiming it is professional, clean and friendly, said her review was defamatory.

　　这家牙医诊所在Yelp上有一系列的五星好评，评论大多说它很专业，诊所干净、待人友好。诊所认为艾莉森的评论是对他们的诽谤。

　　The firm said it had offered her a number of appointments which she had cancelled, and denied they had left her in pain, adding that her review must be removed.

　　该诊所还说他们给艾莉森提供了多次预约，都被她取消了。诊所否认它置她于疼痛中不顾的事，还说她必须删掉差评。

　　Scared of being sued, Allison removed the review. However, she put a note on Yelp saying she did so due to the threat of legal action.

　　由于担心被起诉，艾莉森删掉了差评。但她同时在Yelp上附注说她删掉评论是担心被卷入法律诉讼。

　　She then received another letter demanding this note be removed too. ‘In return they offered to refund £185 of the initial £384 fee I paid as long as I agree never to mention B Dental again. But I felt bullied and couldn’t agree never to speak about them again.’

　　然后她又收到一封信，称那条附注也要删掉。艾莉森说：“他们说只要我同意不再对诊所做出任何评论，就会退还给我185英镑，而我最开始付的医疗费用是384英镑。我觉得我受到到了欺负，所以无法同意不再对他们做任何评论的要求。”

　　So B Dental’s lawyers wrote again to say they are taking her to court.

　　于是B Dental诊所的律师们再次写信给艾莉森说他们要把她送上法庭。

　　Allison has now taken legal advice and been told the review she wrote was not defamatory.

　　艾莉森咨询过律师之后得知她给出的差评算不上诽谤。

　　Last night Allison, a television producer, said: ‘When I left that review I did so honestly. But this has turned into an utter nightmare. There is no way I could pay these damages and the worry of it all has been so huge I am barely sleeping.’

　　“我写下那条评论时是抱着诚实的态度的，但这现在变成了一场噩梦。我根本不可能支付这些赔偿，这件事带来的巨大压力另我彻夜难眠。”

　　Her story is a cautionary tale to anyone putting a review on a website that there might be a high price to pay for their freedom of speech.

　　艾莉森的遭遇给其他在网站上评价商家的人提了醒：言论自由可能要付出昂贵的代价。

　　Elliot Adams, spokesman at Yelp, said: ‘Businesses that choose to sue customers to silence them rather than address their comments often bring additional unwanted attention to the original criticism. Litigation isn’t a very good substitute for customer service.

　　Yelp网站的发言人艾略特·亚当斯说：“商家选择控告消费者令他们保持沉默，这样反而会给最初的评论更多的注意力。诉讼并不是解决问题的好方法。”

　　‘While Yelp continues to fight to protect the users of its platform, the law in the UK makes it surprisingly easy for businesses to intimidate consumers into removing honest reports of their experiences.’

　　“当Yelp还在为保护该平台的消费者而奋斗的时候，英国的法律却使得商家能轻易地恐吓消费者，从而让他们删除真实的体验报告。”

　　B dental did not respond when approached for comment.

　　目前B Dental诊所尚未对此作出进一步评论。

　　更多精彩内容 >> 新东方网英语频道 

　　全国新东方英语课程搜索

（责任编辑：何莹莹）