Remodeler Sues Woman Over Negative Reviews, Helps Force Another Critic Out Of Her Own Home

from the meritless-thuggery-represent! dept

You can't satisfy every critic. Sometimes people just want to complain. But when complaints surface, the worst thing you can do is make legal threats in response. This automatically gives every complaint against the company, no matter how specious, a veneer of truth. And if the complaints are justified, the time and money being deployed to shut up critics would be better utilized fixing the problems.

But some companies never learn. Or if they do learn, it's only after they've been exposed to the glaring sunlight that is the Internet. Baybrook Remodelers of Connecticut, and its owner Ken Carney, are now in that position.

Baybrook Remodelers has been pursuing one such critic for the past two years. Kristen A., who runs a website dedicated to her legal entanglements with Baybrook Remodelers, has been dealing with the company's attempts to curb her criticism since late in 2010. As she details on her site, she first attracted the remodeler's negative attention when she posted negative reviews detailing the company's refusal to honor its contractual design work after she decided to use someone else for the actual construction.





Currently, she's being sued for these reviews, along with "some negative reviews I wrote that were removed from online sites, some negative reviews that other people wrote, and for signs posted on another person’s house."

The signs posted at "another person's house" belong to Kristen's mother, who hung two signs critical of Baybrook Remodelers on her upstairs deck after issues she had with the company. The first sign simply said she did not recommend Baybrook Remodelers. After the owner tried and failed to have her remove this sign (attempts that included approaching Kristen's supervisor and asking him to intercede on his behalf), she hung another one -- one that specifically called out the company for its tendency to file lawsuits against critics, as well as being named in several lawsuits brought by unhappy customers.


Baybrook Remodelers responded by sending this ridiculous letter purporting to be a genuine legal threat.


Not only is the letter riddled with grammatical errors (and covered with Kirsten's coffee), but the address of the unnamed attorney traces back to Mailboxes, Etc. Readers will also note that the letter is unsigned and features nothing more than the words "Attorney at law" where a signature (and the name of the attorney) would normally be found.

When this failed to result in the removal of the signs, the remodeler approached the city of Milford, which obligingly circumvented its own statutes in order to yank the house's zoning approval, citing supposed violations from 2003 and 2004. The city also apparently tried to give itself instant, perpetual access to the house (ostensibly to check for further code violations) for as long as she remained living there. The city basically told her it wouldn't issue zoning approval until her signs came down, using the alleged violations -- which fell outside the city code's own six-year statute of limitations -- as leverage. Kristen's mother moved out of her own house in 2011 rather than continue battling Baybrook Remodelers and the city of Milford.

Kristen, however, continues to be hassled by Baybrook Remodelers for her reviews. As was noted at the beginning of the post, the case has dragged on since March of 2011. It appears Baybrook was hoping this case would never make it to trial.
Ken Carney’s lawyer has requested and been granted 15 extensions of time. On one occasion, he went 7 consecutive months without doing what was necessary to keep his case alive, and on another occasion he went another 4 consecutive months without moving his case forward. His lawyer has had 5 chances to rewrite his lawsuit to try to fix whatever was wrong with it.

Finally, the case has a trial date. This was pushed by my lawyer, not Ken Carney’s. Based on their actions so far, Ken Carney and his lawyer would have been happy to let this go another 2½ years.
Here's a look at the docket, which is filled with little else other than the plaintiff's extension requests. As Kristen notes, a trial is forthcoming, with jury selection beginning in March. This is what Baybrook's been avoiding. Obviously, it hoped its threats would be enough to quell the criticism. That has backfired and now the company is in the awkward position of having to explain itself to a jury. This isn't the only case Baybrook is dragging its heels on. Another Tort case filed by Baybrook Remodelers in 2010 is still ongoing, with numerous extensions having been filed here as well. A motion for summary judgement has been filed by the defendant who is obviously hoping to finally have this seemingly endless suit tossed.

Kristen's site contains even more details of Baybrook's shady behavior. She noticed that shortly after she posted her negative review detailing the 40+ lawsuits the company was involved in (Dec. 6, 2010), a flood of Baybrook's "admirers" took to these same sites to post glowing reviews of the company. Most of the reviews were posted Dec. 15-17, which either means the company was posting its own reviews or had just wrapped up a ton of contracts for deliriously happy customers. Some reviews even copy-pasted wording from positive reviews written years earlier. Other identically-worded reviews surfaced under different names in January of 2011. One was even posted on Baybrook's website using yet another name.

But the most damning indicator of the company's negative reputation is the 40 pages of complaints filed with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. The complaints detail a variety of issues with Baybrook Remodelers, including its tendency to do shoddy work and leave cleanup and damage repairs to the client. Other complaints point out how reluctant the company is to engage with dissatisfied customers ("owner won't answer his phone").

Baybrook Remodelers (and Ken Carney) apparently feel the hole they've been digging isn't big enough. A legal threat was recently sent to Kristen's hosting company, Dreamhost. As she correctly points out, Section 230 of the CDA makes this a particularly futile act, something attorney Thomas Daly should have known. Of course, maybe Daly's focus on personal injury and landlord/tenant disputes hasn't yet exposed him to the limits of secondary liability.

Additionally, the letter contains no specifics about what Daly (and his client) believe is "defamatory." It just vaguely claims that the sites are and expects Dreamhost to roll over and shut Kristen's sites down. Considering it's been eight days since the takedown demand, it would appear Dreamhost isn't falling for Baybrook Remodeler's vague claims of defamation. (As Ken White at Popehat often states, vagueness in legal threats is the hallmark of meritless thuggery.)

Kristen has admirably stood up to a meritless thug, one that will soon have a chance to explain its tactics to a judge and jury. It will be hard-pressed to point out exactly where Kristen has crossed the defamatory line and will hopefully be made to answer for its endless court delays and nearly three years of harassment.





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Filed Under: ken carney, legal threats, reviews
Companies: baybrook remodelers


Reader Comments

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  • identicon
    Glen, 8 Jan 2014 @ 12:43pm

    Paging Barbra Streisand....

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 12:44pm

    The city of Milford, CT has a lot to answer for here as well.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 4:56pm

      Re:

      >The city of Milford, CT has a lot to answer for here as well.

      They are probably too busy gazing into the Duck pond on the green.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 2:00am

      Re:

      My first thoughts. It's yet another proof on how the US Govt is owned by the corporations.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 12:44pm

    The city of Milford, CT has a lot to answer for here as well.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 12:44pm

    how long do you think, until techdirt gets a legal nastygram?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 12:58pm

    http://www.yelp.com/biz/baybrook-remodelers-west-haven

    By looking at the initial page I wouldn't have known this business had issues. I'm beg to doubt the trustworthiness of online review sites.

    Note "recommend" reviews. 9 that are filtered out. Note the 3 reviews by Kristen that were taken down.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 8 Jan 2014 @ 1:34pm

      Re:

      I've yet to find an online review site that I'd call "trustworthy". I don't think it's actually possible, because of human nature.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 12:58pm

    'When this failed to result in the removal of the signs, the remodeler approached the city of Milford, which obligingly circumvented its own statutes in order to yank the house's zoning approval, citing supposed violations from 2003 and 2004. The city also apparently tried to give itself instant, perpetual access to the house (ostensibly to check for further code violations) for as long as she remained living there. The city basically told her it wouldn't issue zoning approval until her signs came down, using the alleged violations -- which fell outside the city code's own six-year statute of limitations -- as leverage.'

    i sincerely hope that 'the City of Milford' is going to be on the receiving end of a law suit as well for the way they have treated these people. whoever the person there who is involved in some sort of what i can only assume is a back hander arrangement with Raybrook Remodelers ought to be crapping themselves at the moment and thinking how the hell tyhey can get out of what they have gotten themselves involved in. i hope it was worth it, cause i can hear the chinking of a till as money comes out and the slamming of a door as it shuts after they have left, job gone!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That Anonymous Coward (profile), 8 Jan 2014 @ 1:15pm

      Re:

      Well one should most likely investigate who is paying who in this city. Considering people feel they have to file state claims to get relief from bad work and the city keeps allowing them to work...

      I'm sure it is all just a misunderstanding...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 1:34pm

        Re: Re:

        This is also CT... sooo... it's probably not a huge surprise. *cough Mafia cough organized crime cough*

        Wouldn't even be worth going after the city, going after one company is one thing. Going after the company AND the city could start to ruffle a bit too many feathers. With men named things like Tommy the Tree Man and Frank the Prank.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 5:23pm

      Re:

      Without a lot more substantiation of the citys seeming misconduct, that is unrealistic.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    JMT (profile), 8 Jan 2014 @ 1:02pm

    "Not only is the letter riddled with grammatical errors (and covered with Kirsten's coffee)..."

    After seeing the photo of the letter and leaping to a conclusion, I was really disappointed not to read that she'd treated the letter with the respect it deserved and used it to wipe her ass...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      ryuugami, 9 Jan 2014 @ 12:51am

      Re:

      After seeing the photo of the letter and leaping to a conclusion, I was really disappointed not to read that she'd treated the letter with the respect it deserved and used it to wipe her ass...

      Well... No-one said where the coffee came from, did they?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 1:59am

      Re:

      To her credit my eagle eyes tell me that she spilled low quality coffee on purpose. Classy Ms Kristen, classy.

      Wiping her ass would have been way funnier and epic but in a different way =/

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      BeeAitch (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 4:55pm

      Re:

      That was my first thought as well: "that's not coffee..."

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 1:29pm

    Total abuse of the system. We will spread this out far an wide. This company is done for.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2014 @ 7:46pm

    I hate those guys they completely fucked up a rim job on my toilet.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 9 Jan 2014 @ 8:59am

      Re:

      In fairness, giving a rim job to someone sitting on a toilet can be logistically difficult to pull off. Next time, try using a better "escort service".

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Jan 2014 @ 5:14am

    The problem with contractors is when they start getting complaints/bad reviews, they close up shop and open another contracting business under a new name.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    I_googled_them, 9 Jan 2014 @ 7:34am

    Did anyone notice that they currently have an A+ rating from BBB? Not what I expected after reading the article...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Kristen, 9 Jan 2014 @ 5:15pm

    I am blown away by this article and support. Thanks for putting it out there. This kind of fight can get dispiriting at times, and reading this article (and seeing my site visits skyrocket thanks to your platform) has been fantastic.

    Just one point of clarification:

    Kristen's mother moved out of her own house in 2011 rather than continue battling Baybrook Remodelers and the city of Milford.

    My mother spends winters in Florida and summers here in CT. She did elect to remain in Florida rather than to try to live in her house due to the City of Milford's unchecked lunacy and abuse. She thought the city might try to force her out somehow, and wasn't going to subject herself to that kind of additional stress. She has never stopped fighting this, though.

    Those signs are still up on her house. If I were a betting woman I would count on them remaining up for as long as the property is in the family. Ken Carney and Baybrook Remodelers are still suing her (although I sense they are anxious to settle rather than incur the cost of traveling to Florida to depose her!) The City of Milford is still suing her too.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Hot in florida, 8 May 2016 @ 6:29pm

      Re: baybrook

      And! And! Not only does the owner of baybrook disrespect his customers, He treats his family the same way! and they have to spend money on laywers1

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Robert K, 10 Jan 2014 @ 9:19pm

    Everyone here can help a bit simply by registering with Insider pages and voting down the fake reviews, while voting up the legitimate ones.
    http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3712092713/baybrook-remodelers-inc-west-haven

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jeff B, 12 Jan 2014 @ 8:07am

    Correction of hosting company

    The hosting company in question is Bluehost, not DreamHost, according to the link document. The hosting company is mentioned incorrectly a few times in the body of the article.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Baybrook, 14 Jan 2014 @ 6:16am

    Kristen Arisian has concocted a crazy story that accuses Baybrook Remodelers, Inc. of throwing her mother out of her home. Kristen is spreading this false story and other negative reviews throughout the internet. Baybrook completed all of the work at her mother’s house in July 2007. Baybrook was paid in full, and her mother was very happy with the outcome of the several contracts she signed with Baybrook Remodelers. Kristen’s mother had her house lifted prior to Baybrook even being contacted for work. Presently, the City of Milford is refusing to issue a Certificate of Occupancy because the Arisians have never produced a certificate of elevation. A certificate of elevation is generated by the original engineer who completed the plans for the lifting of the house. The City of Milford will issue a CO once the certificate of elevation is issued. Baybrook Remodelers, Inc. is not an engineering firm, and had nothing to do with the lifting of the house. It is also my understanding that the City of Milford has not requested that Mrs. Arisian leave her home.
    Baybrook has been receiving numerous threatening phone calls, all from the same person, demanding that Baybrook produce an elevation certificate for Mrs. Arisian. Most disturbing, Kristin has directed her rage at the employees of Baybrook and the family of the owner. Baybrook has no choice but to sue Kristen Arisian for her outrageous actions in order to make her stop. Since 1992, Baybrook has enjoyed an outstanding relationship with over 16,000 customers. Since 1992, we have had to go to small claims court 31 times to collect money. 31 non-payments out of 16,000 is a statistic that speaks to the quality of our work, and the relationship with our customers. Kristen Arisian has tried to spin this very positive information into something that is not true. Kristen Arisian would have you believe that we have been sued numerous times, and that is simply not true. Everyone at Baybrook Remodelers cares about our customers, and our quality of work.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      probably gun get sued, 14 Jan 2014 @ 6:35pm

      Response to: Baybrook on Jan 14th, 2014 @ 6:16am

      And it only took you a week after the articles been up to reply, I'd sure like to use a company that quick at getting back to it's customers. There's companies in the same line of work that have been around longer that have less than 5 so I'd say 32 is a lot.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Kristen, 14 Jan 2014 @ 7:03pm

      Re:

      1. Nowhere does it say that Baybrook threw anyone out. You are confusing Baybrook Remodelers with the City of Milford. I will confess that I have also had trouble distinguishing between the two throughout this drama.

      2. If you look at the July letter from Kuchta, the permit number referenced is the permit pulled by Baybrook Remodelers. It was on this basis that she was thrown out. There is an actual document that proves that your statement above is false. Another word for a provably false statement is lie.

      3. I don't know anything about "threatening phone calls" telling you to get an elevation certificate. I suspect you're completely fabricating that. But on the very slim chance that you aren't, call the police. Or, hey, sue 'em!

      3. Posting a negative online review of Baybrook Remodelers is not an "outrageous action" born from "rage". Nor is creating a website. This will help you understand that.

      4. Why don't you elaborate or offer evidence of this purported rage directed at "the family of the owner"? You are just ridiculous sometimes.

      5. This has always been one of my favorites: You claim that you have had over 16,000 customers since 1992. 1992 to 2014 is 22 years. 16,000/22 = 727 customers a year, or 2 customers a day. Over 22 years, you claim that Baybrook Remodelers has signed an average of 2 new contracts a day. That's assuming you sign these contracts 365 days/year. No weekends or holidays. 2 contracts a day. Uh huh. Sure you do.

      6. As for whether my mother was happy with you...I will let her speak for herself on that in the trial, but there are actual written letters that she wrote to you where she makes it abundantly clear that she is unhappy. There are actually written letters where you write back and address her unhappiness. You're again making a statement that is provably false. I'd work on that before the trial if I were you.

      7. I am not sure that the best business strategy is to say, hey we sue our customers more than they sue us. Just sayin'.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2014 @ 12:13am

    Thank you Kristen for hanging in there and not being intimidated.

    It is absolutely amazing reading Baybrook's comments. It's entirely predictable that their comments don't address the the issues (such as that bogus 'legal' threat letter, or their lodging delay after delay), or offer any documentation in support of their view. So typical of these sort of things.

    I like the way you dismantled their comments in a focused and humorous way, referencing the documents supporting your narrative. Quite a contrast to Baybrook's approach.

    I just love the asymmetric warfare aspects of this. I'll follow this with a bowl of popcorn close at hand.

    Best wishes to your Mom.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Delany Martinez, 18 Jan 2014 @ 12:44pm

    Kristen - need some SEO support?

    If you aren't familiar with SEO, Kristen, it's Search Engine Optimization - writing text in such a way as to appeal to search engine bots and thus turn up higher in the search rankings.

    If, for example, you owned a business and wanted to "rank" on "Business X Scam" or "Business X Negative Reviews" - it would be fairly easy and send a very clear message to, say, a bunch of thugs that seem intent on pursing a lost cause and making you and your family miserable in the process.

    I occasionally do pro-bono work for worthy causes.

    Hit me up, lets talk ;)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Dan Tobias, 8 Feb 2014 @ 9:01am

    Web host

    The web host appears to be Bluehost, not DreamHost. (I use DreamHost myself.)

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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