Company Solicited Ethics Award

While Engaging In Potentially Criminal Acts

WALLINGFORD — A Glastonbury-based company being taken to court by Connecticut’s Attorney General deceived the Better Business Bureau by submitting an entry for the BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics while allegedly defrauding consumers.

The owners of Custom Basements, Shelly Dacey and Nicole Kiesman, both of Glastonbury, are named in a March 16 suit. This would be the first known case of a company submitting an entry for the prestigious award while knowingly engaging in potentially unlawful conduct.

The suit, filed in Superior Court in Hartford last month by CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, does not specify the number of alleged victims nor how much money was involved.

The BBB Torch Award recognizes companies with records of outstanding marketplace practices, and has been given to businesses by Better Business Bureaus across the United States and Canada since the 1980s.

When Custom Basements’ owners submitted their application last fall, Better Business Bureau verified there were no complaints on file against the company in the preceding three years, and documents obtained by BBB from the AG’s office reveal no complaints were filed with the Attorney General until late February 2009 either.

Custom Basements of Connecticut reportedly left behind a trail of unfinished home projects and angry homeowners who were asked to pay tens of thousands of dollars to finish projects shortly before the company closed its doors, abandoned its offices and reportedly took off with clients’ money.

Connecticut Better Business Bureau President Paulette Scarpetti says The Better Business Bureau is upset the company knowingly sought the award to use it to promote its business at a time when it was allegedly involved in questionable activities.

Ms Scarpetti says she understands the disappointment and anger of consumers who were duped by the unethical use of the Torch Award to promote the company.

“This is the worst kind of ethical breach and deception: submitting an application for an award and misusing it in an effort to attract clients who later complained they were cheated by Custom Basements,” she said in a release March 23.

“When we learned the company closed up shop in late February, we moved quickly to remove its accreditation, after it neglected to address a number of complaints which were brought to Custom Basements’ attention in late February and early March,” Ms Scarpetti continued. “We were blindsided by the dishonest misuse of a prestigious award that has been given at the local, national, and international levels since the 1980s.”

The Better Business Bureau has no way of knowing about problems with accredited or nonaccredited businesses unless consumers submit their complaints directly to BBB, or unless it is informed by public disclosure of an ongoing government investigation, lawsuit or resolution.

To file a BBB complaint or check BBB Reliability Reports, visit www.bbb.org.

Richard Blumenthal, who was guest speaker at the awards ceremony that presented the Torch Award to the now-defunct company, has demanded the bureau provide his office with documentation on what actions, if any, the bureau took to check the company’s operations before presenting it with the award.

Mr Blumenthal also said there is a criminal investigation of the company and its co-owners.