Buildteam - Clapham based company "Side return specialists"

[Daisy123abc]

Hello world. Has anyone else used this company?
I am seeking others who may have had issues similar to the ones we have experienced in order to convince me that it wasn't all just our bad luck.
We are in recovery (and may need therapy) from using Buildteam's services. A truly ghastly experience which has included: delays, empty promises, appalling customer service, hidden costs, serious disinterest in quality, non English speaking workforce, major building errors, staff changes, some dishonesty, absent project management etc.
The list goes on and on.
Given our experience, their shiny website now reads like an imaginative comedy script detailing all the things we didn't get. I have a huge file (think dossier) of documented evidence, including video, which provides examples of how we didn't. Blog, book, TV series and movie to follow. Maybe.
Who are all these happy customers? Why aren't I one of them?
If you are thinking of a side return I am happy to share details so you can make your own mind up but if you want my advice, don't go there.

My thinking was that if this practise were known about and it was taken seriously by Google, it would be easier to counter claim against DMCAs. If fake DMCAs were frequently overturned then there would be no value in them, and the practice would cease evolve into some new trick to be rumbled

As to the original company, if they are behind this, they really should stop digging. It really does not reflect well on them.

cross posted a few times now. Sparechange - are you saying this is already a known trick? Should that make it easy for Daisy to dispute the DMCA?

Wow ftm123 I'm incredibly impressed with your research! Thank you so much!
I have a photo of the comment that I posted to "Mr Bush" on the gotohomestay website and am looking forward to his response, however I fear I may be disappointed as the website has been displaying a "waiting" status since 2.50PM which might mean my post will just disappear if I navigate away. Such a shame as I put considerable effort into the text and invite him to email me directly on [email protected]
Think the image is a little small, but I will post anyway in case it can be viewed with a magnifying glass.

There is of course no evidence to suggest who is behind any of this, I mean, who stands to gain?!?!

Pending moderation...

FTM123
We received a highly relevant letter on March 18th

I honestly never expected this thread to turn into Poirot!

Daisy, well done for persevering. You should not roll over, how dare they treat you this way (and the others). I really hope you get the outcome you deserve.

What an idiotic company....I completely agree with your philosophy of bad customer service is more exspensive in the long run.

What fools they are. Anyone that reads MN is not going to touch them with a bargepole.

Problem is that at the moment anyway they have done a reasonable job in that if you search for the company this discussion doesn't come up due to the spurious copyright claim. So it needs to be reversed so that people looking can find out what they're like.

I'm shocked! I cant believe the effort involved in running such a scheme. well, Daisy at least we can see that negative reviews were having an effect, such that they felt the need to take action to clean up their online reputation.

Yes, I thought that I had been told so long as the offending post was removed then the thread could remain in the search?

My message from Mumsnet copied below:

"We had an email from Google stating that they would take the whole thread out of Google search as this content has been copywritten by another website written by a Douglas Bush: www.gotohomestay.com/buildteam-interior-designers/
The post on this website does predate your post on Mumsnet. We have removed it and asked Google to keep the thread in their search engine as we allow freedom of speech. We felt we had little choice but to remove your post, however, we are keen to allow the thread to remain."

Looks as if that might not be the case. Mumsnet might be able to advise?

If necessary we can just start another thread with a summary of the key points and a link to this one. I suspect Douglas Bush was very insistent with Google that the thread be removed, even if the offending content had been removed.

Anyone else imagining the reactions at BuildTeam head office as this thread refuses to die?

Just reread your original post "Blog, book, TV series and movie to follow. Maybe". When I first read this I thought you were being overdramatic, now I am looking forward to the publication!

Care to PM the offending post to anyone? I'm sure a few people would be happy to share it on Twitter

Happy to oblige, but of course nearly the entire post is available on the hosting website with of course Mr Douglas Bush as the official author. Perhaps "Who is Douglas Bush?" Could go viral....

Ha ha ftm123 I had hoped I wouldn't have to. I wanted the thread to remain so that I could post a happy ending. Everyone likes one of those and no one wanted one here more than me.

I'm just waiting for Douglas Bush to join the thread, I can't wait to hear what else he has to say about Build Team. The "side return specialists" lol. What a ludicrous title to give yourselves..

Ftm
I don't know if it's a 'known trick' but I know there are plenty of companies (one man bands) who will offer to clean up your online reputation.

I have limited knowledge of this, but I think it's generally done by spamming the Internet with lots of pages with the same search term as the negative one.

So if you were a minor celeb who had been having an affair, they would write lots of blog pages saying things like 'FTM had a party which was a great fun affair' within a lot of dull text full of whatever other things Google scrapes for (links to other websites that contain the same key words etc) so those came up top on the search results.

The next step up from there is to create a 'backstory' that allows for pages to either be removed, or removed from searches. The recent EU ruling gives a few instances when search results can be removed from Google, but I'm not a lawyer. Presumably there are also plagiarism rules and/or laws that can be used.

It seems very clear that BuildTeam are using the latter to try and get posts removed. It is verging on fraud, if OPs version of events are correct (and we have no reason at all to believe they aren't) and either way, is pretty blood dishonest.

Again, they are shooting themselves in the foot so spectacularly with this.

The nappyvalley thread now has several references to this thread, and particularly how we are holding our nerve in the face of legal action.
Annabel at NappyValley has spelled out the reasons for her having to remove threads from her site.

And God help them when this leaches over into the local mummy FB groups, which are closed and unsearchable by them, but read by thousands a day.

This is going to fall into Internet folklore at this rate...

As I am concerned that my attempt to contact Mr Bush might not work, given that my comment may remain in "pending moderation" for perpetuity I thought I would post it here in case he happens by:

April 29, 2016 at 2:50 pm |
Reply
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Dear Mr “Bush”,
I do hope that this comment reaches the correct person. If so I know you will understand immediately what I mean. I was very interested to discover this website, and am so grateful for the provider of the information that pointed me to it. It seems I owe you a sincere apology as I understand that you were most aggrieved to discover a review almost identical to your own here on a UK website. Amazing! I didn’t know that Mumsnet was international, it is such a friendly community. You should have posted directly to the thread as that would have been the easiest solution and we could have worked this out personally and so quickly. How are things in “South End” or – apologies again if so – do you live in CA as stated in your complaint? You see, the incredible thing is, my review is entirely original and the person who helped me write it is astonished as I am at this turn of events and even says they will assist me in proving this if we ever needed to. It’s terrific having a lawyer as a friend. The only explanation I can come up with is that, given my review really is 100% mine, somehow by a twist of fate, we must have had a shared experience and by an incredible coincidence have written about it in exactly the same way. It is almost supernatural! Is this a case of monkeys and typewriters? Or perhaps we are psychic? (Actually I really don’t think I am, however are you? ha ha) This is all so confusing, but I think it is so great how the internet works, because now we are officially connected with the eyes of the world on the whole situation which is so reassuring for us both.
I actually work for an international charity and will be in the States later in the year so perhaps we could meet up to discuss our common interests? I’m happy to travel to meet you as I think this an incredible story which could be newsworthy. Incidentally I note that you are a builder and so I really sympathise so much with how it must be difficult for someone like yourself to have been treated so badly by another person in the same industry. As you are obviously the expert here, I wondered if you had any advice for me, or if you could let me know what you did in the end? I was very interested in your photos and wondered if you would like to see mine? I have a huge collection and can show you our own actual ceiling collapse, puddles of water on the floor, and the skip outside our door as mentioned. Plus many others that illustrate our own disastrous experience over exactly the same timeline as yourself. Naturally the photos are all dated at the time they were taken just in case you were worried about the authenticity of my claim! Anyway, please do keep in touch, perhaps drop us all at line at Mumsnet and tell us about your own story. Here is the link again in case you need it. All the info is recorded there. Thanks again for making contact.
Kindest regards
Daisy123abc
April 29, 2016 at 3:48 pm |
Reply
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Apologies. I meant to post the link to the thread, but then I realised that you will have it already of course!
Silly me. Here it is anyway just in case:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/2533596-Buildteam-Clapham-based-company-Side-return-specialists?watched=1&msgid=60763524#60763524
Really looking forward to hearing from you.
By the way do feel free to email me on: [email protected]
Daisy123abc

Sheesh, they just build side returns, it's not counter-espionage

I'm sorry the situation hasn't resolved for you Daisy. This is all very enlightening and I am sure even more damning to their reputation than build quality (or lack thereof!).

Have you considered contacting your local Trading Standards, it sounds like they may already have a big dossier on BuildTeam? I would also write to your local MP.

It sounds like you may potentially have grounds for raising concerns about defamation because of this false accusation of plagiarism. It's possible BuildTeam will have account records showing payment to this company 'cleaning up their online reputation'.

Nice one Daisy. I am on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what "Mr Bush" has to say for himself.

imip
Granted, this isn't a matter of national security, but they are extracting six figure sums from people who aren't getting the whole picture of their track record because of extraordinarily heavy handed treatment of anyone who dares tell the truth about them.

The stress of living with the fall out of incompetent or underperforming builders in your family home is extraordinarily stressful.

All power to OPS elbow to ensure this bunch of clowns don't dupe anyone else by erasing the truth online

I'm not being rude, it's more a comment on the lengths the building company are going to to protect their name. I wouldn't expect a small company to involve itself in such subterfuge. It makes them look ... Well, guilty!!! I completely support everyone affected on this thread. It's why I've commented in support. I've had the emails also - see my deleted threads above...

Must remember not to try try to engage in humor or irony on the internet....