From: Vic Mathieu vic.mathieu@kleargear.

com
Subject: [Amended] Kleargear.com Public Statement
Date: May 21, 2014 at 1:06 PM
To: duboisl@dboutiques.fr
The expanded statement below concludes our public comment about the case of Palmer vs. Kleargear.com.
After the payment method of John Palmer was declined for an order in December 2008, he was belligerent toward our customer care staff and
threatened to defame Kleargear if he did not receive free merchandise and other consideration. Such a customer behavior is rare but it has
become a increasing problem for many companies today. DBS' head of retail for North America, Lee Gersten, spends nearly half of every year
in the United States and Canada and cites this problem as one of the reasons that we started to eliminate Kleargear.com's social media
channels in 2012. While buySAFE protects our customers' interests on every transaction and can conrm that our rate of dispute is below
0.1%, less than 1 in 1,000 customers, this track record is not public and dissatised consumers have a stronger voice.
The non-disparagement agreements are not new among employees, partners and customers across the globe. There is no contract of
adhesion; Kleargear.com operates in the consumer discretionary sector, which does not provide essential services, so that consumers are free
to shop elsewhere. Our sales contract is enforceable under the laws of the United States because business transactions are exempt from First
Amendment rights.
In our opinion, the arguments and the actions of Public Citizen's Scott Michelman are irresponsible and uninformed, at best, and constitute an
abuse of process at worst. Mr. Michelman seems to be an unscrupulous attorney who has made considerable efforts to incite a biased "media
storm" to hide this fact. Despite this tactic, or perhaps because of it, Kleargear's revenues in the third calendar quarter of 2013 increased by
124% compared to the same period in 2012 - and revenue for the year to date in 2014 is up 72% compared to 2013.
If DBS is presented with an order for judgment on the above-mentioned civil action, which is void on the basis of defective service alone, we
will not honor it. In addition, such an invalid judicial resolution will not serve to dissuade Kleargear or other retailers from binding their
customers to non-disparagement terms. If and when Mr. Michelman and Public Citizen decide to conduct themselves properly, we will
participate in this dispute as any honorable corporate citizen would.
Regards,
Vic Mathieu
Kleargear.com
Descoteaux Boutiques SARL
118-122 Avenue de France
75013 Paris
France
Phone: +33 (0) 1 82 88 88 18
Facsimile: +33 (0) 1 70 61 59 06
Directeur de la Communication Corporate