A federal court judge has ruled in favor of a Utah couple who criticized an online retailer for not delivering a less-than-$20 order in December 2008. That ruling was published on Thursday.

According to Jennifer Palmer, the original order consisted of “a perpetual-motion desk toy and a bendable smiley-face keychain” that were to be Christmas gifts to her from her husband John.

After repeatedly attempting to contact the company by phone and e-mail, the couple reached a customer representative, who claimed that the items had never been paid for and had been cancelled.

By February 2009, Jennifer Palmer posted a review on RipoffReport.com lambasting the company and its poor customer service.

Over three years later, her husband John Palmer received an e-mail demanding that the review be deleted within 72 hours or that he pay $3,500 as he was in violation of the company’s “non-disparagement clause” of its terms of service. However, such a term did not appear in the Terms of Sale and Use that the Palmers had agreed to when they placed their order in 2008.

When the Palmers refused to pay or take down the review, KlearGear sent a collection agency to them for this money, which damaged their credit by August 2012. By December 2013, the Palmers filed suit in federal court in Utah, asking the judge to issue a declaratory judgment in their favor, saying that the Palmers’ “debt” was “null and void.” The couple also wanted the judge to rule that John Palmer had not agreed to this “non-disparagement clause,” which is in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.

They were represented by Paul Alan Levy, a well-known First Amendment attorney who works for Public Citizen, a non-profit organization.

The online firm in question, KlearGear.com, did not appear in court to challenge the suit, and the judge issued a default judgement earlier this month.

“Our reaction to the result is that we're relieved and very happy to have confirmation that John owes nothing, and also relieved to know that nobody can come after us in the future attempting to collect on this ‘debt,’” she told Ars by e-mail.

The company did not respond to Ars’ repeated phone calls to the company’s listed 866 phone number, nor was there any response at the French phone number of Descoteaux Boutiques in Paris, which owns the URL KlearGear.com.

The judge will hold a ruling in early June in federal court in Salt Lake City to determine damages.

Jennifer Palmer also told Ars that the experience has changed how they interact online.

“The only changes we've made in how we speak, act, and shop online is that we are more likely to stay with trusted sites, like Amazon or ThinkGeek, we are more likely to study the reviews others have left about products or vendors, and we are much more likely to leave reviews of our own,” she said. “This whole ordeal has shown us just how important it is to communicate our experiences, both good and bad.”