Novelty online shop KlearGear has gone into social media hiding after being bombarded with criticisms online. The whole fiasco started when it charged a customer USD3,500 for leaving them a negative feedback.

When Jen Palmer of Salt Lake City, Utah ordered some stuff from the Web site some years ago, she became frustrated with the company’s lack of customer service. KlearGear.com never sent her the products, which meant the transaction was automatically cancelled by Paypal after 30 days.

She still wanted an explanation, though, so she tried to call the company but could not contact anyone. She then wrote a negative review on another Web site called RipOffReport.com.

“There is absolutely no way to get in touch with a physical human being,” her review read, accusing the online shop of having “horrible customer service practices.”

A couple of years later in 2010, KlearGear emailed Ms Palmer to tell her she violated a non-disparagement clause that was included in its terms of sale.

The clause said that “in an effort to ensure fair and honest public feedback,” customers shouldn’t publish any libellous content or take any action that negatively impacts KlearGear. If a customer violates the clause, they have 72 hours to remove their post or face a fine of USD3,500.

“If that fine is not paid, the delinquency will be reported to the nation’s credit bureaus,” the clause stated.

Ms Palmer was effectively threatened by KlearGear’s letter so she contacted RipOffReport.com to ask to remove her post. But RipOffReport.com refused to remove her review.

With their credit reported, Ms Palmer and her husband can’t apply for a loan anymore.

“This is fraud,” she told KUTV.com. “They’re blackmailing us for telling the truth.”

KUTV’s Get Gephardt questioned whether the non-disparagement clause existed in 2008 when Ms Palmer wrote the review. The Web site claims that it did, but archives from 2008 don’t show the clause.

Nevertheless, Ms Palmer’s story was spread online, and Netizens were furious on her behalf. They have fired off snarky attacks on KlearGear’s social media pages, prompting the company to protect its Twitter account to private, and cancel its Facebook page.

And because of KlearGear’s newfound infamy online, people have also found out that it’s not as trustworthy as it deems to be.

Its Web site displays a “TRUSTe Certified Privacy” logo, but TRUSTe, which certifies good privacy practices online, has denied that it has certified KlearGear.

Company fines shopper $3500 for posting negative review - @KlearGear is NOT @TRUSTe certified

— TRUSTe (@TRUSTe) November 18, 2013

In addition, Popehat.com also learned that back in 2012, KlearGear was displaying a BBB Accredited Business logo and that it has a BBB Rating A+, but Better Business Bureau denied that it accredited the company or that it gave it an A+ rating.