KC jeweler claims it was trashed on Facebook by competitor using customer’s phone

The Facebook account under a Russian name posted a terrible review of Meierotto Jewelers — “Worst place. So pushy and will overcharge compared to other stores.”

Thing is, the woman behind the account had never shopped at the North Kansas City store, according to a lawsuit recently filed by Meierotto. Instead, Meierotto alleges that an Overland Park competitor penned the review using her phone.

“I think someone hacked my account. I don’t know where that came from,” Адена Каnустен, which translates as Adena Kapusten, according to Transimpex in Kansas City, told Matthew Gonzales, a Meierotto employee who engaged her on Facebook after seeing the negative review.

Their conversation through Facebook, submitted as an exhibit in the court case, shows Каnустен claimed she didn’t post that bad review of Meierotto but maybe someone else had using her account.

“One jeweler had my phone when I visited, and he walked away with it,” her posts to Gonzales continued.

The jeweler who had her phone, she wrote, was the owner of Karats Jewelers, Akshay Anand.

Каnустен could not be reached for comment.

Her account of the incident pushed Meierotto’s owners over the edge, said Andrew Protzman, an attorney representing Meierotto’s owners. This was “proof,” he said, of Karats’ practices that Meierotto’s owners have long suspected.

“This Facebook incident was so egregious it had to be addressed,” Protzman said.

Meierotto Jewelers sued Karats and Anand in Clay County Circuit Court. Anand has since gotten the case moved to U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

In a formal answer and counterclaim filed Tuesday, Anand and Karats lodged many complaints at Meierotto that mirrored complaints the original lawsuit lodged at Karats.

Each side is now seeking damages, corrective advertising and other claims against the other over business practices and marketing claims.

“I’m flabbergasted,” Anand said, denying that he used anyone’s phone to post a negative review of Meierotto.

Anand told The Star he had contacted the woman about a positive Facebook review of Karats. It had been posted under a different Facebook account name, А-дина Димитрова, which Transimpex translated as Adina Dimitrova. Different account name, Anand said, but it was the same individual, and she claims her account had been hacked to post both reviews.

Anand denied another claim in Meierotto’s lawsuit.

“It is part of Karats’ regular business practice to solicit positive reviews from prospective customers in exchange for compensation or ‘discounts’ on merchandise,” the lawsuit said.

Каnустен’s claim, according to the lawsuit, is that she received a discount at Karats for a positive review and that Anand took her phone to edit the review she had written.

“That is false,” Anand said, questioning whether anyone would hand over a personal cellphone to allow someone else to write a review under their name.

The bad review of Meierotto on Каnустен’s Facebook account is not the only negative review of Meierotto on social media. Nor are the complaints unusual in a retail setting.

Protzman acknowledged that but said policing the legitimacy of social media reviews, particularly on Google, is critical for retailers. Google rankings rely on average star ratings from consumers, with many jewelers showing averages of 4.7 or higher on a scale of 1 to 5.

It means every 4-star rating is damaging, Protzman said. Too many can lower the company’s average enough to drop it out of the top names shoppers see when they search Google.

Meierotto, in a filing after the original lawsuit, claims Karats was behind a wave 4-star ratings of Meierotto Jewelers “from individuals in Vietnam” who had not been to the store. Karats, Protzman said, had gotten only two 4-star ratings like that.

Anand said he had spotted those 4-star ratings for both companies and had emailed Meierotto’s owners to let them know it was happening.

Meierotto’s lawsuit also challenges Karats’ claims on social media that it is the “#1 Engagement Ring Store in Kansas City,” the “busiest” and “highest rated” jewelry store in Kansas City with the “LARGEST engagement ring selections.” Karats is not, the suit claimed.

The Better Business Bureau of Greater Kansas City had challenged both companies a few years ago over identical claims of having the largest selection of engagement rings in Kansas City.

Neither was able to substantiate the claim, said Aaron Reese, director of communications for the bureau. The bureau’s file for Karats still contains that evaluation, though one for Meierotto’s had dropped off after three years. Reese said he still sees the claim on the Meierotto’s website and may add the finding back to the company’s BBB file.

This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 4:00 PM.