Homebuilders Pay Off Gripe Sites That Have Prominent Search Engine Visibility–A Wise Decision?
In Online Brand Protection | 20 comments | permalink
Reminiscent of the RSA Homes Sues Google fiasco, NewsWeek published a story earlier this week that reveals how homebuilders are responding to gripe site participants screaming shoddy construction–pay them off! From the Newsweek story:
“Because of the binding arbitration clause in many new-home contracts, unsatisfied homeowners rarely make a court hearing—or the headlines. “I think that the problem with construction defects has been under the radar for so long,” says Nancy Seats, president of Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (HADD), a nonprofit consumer protection group for homeowners dealing with defective construction.
“People just don’t understand how many people are just being financially destroyed by bad construction and binding arbitration. But now more and more people are going to the Internet to expose their problems and get back at the builder.”
“What happens instead of a trial, Seats says, is that big builders pay people to shut down their builder-bashing Web sites. It’s true that many links to former sites are now defunct, including the once-popular KBHomesSucks.com. “
This was the most outstanding Web site, and KB Homes tried to sue them,” Seats says. “The vast majority of [now-defunct sites] were people that were paid to shut up and go away.” Repeated calls from BusinessWeek to KB Homes (KBH) have, as yet, gone unanswered.”
Indeed, the once famous KBHomesSucks.com gripe site has mysteriously vanished as the screenshot below illustrates. But at what cost?
The NewsWeek story also lists a handful of homebuilder gripe sites:
- www.khovsucks.com
- www.FightPulte.com
- www.FightDiVosta.com
- www.FightDelWebb.com
- www.crapconstruction.com
- www.defective-homes.net
The screenshot below illustrates prominent brand visibility in Google for the K. Hovnanian Homes Suck site, www.khovsucks.com.
Is it wise for homebuilders to pay off branded gripe sites? There are other solutions. Download our Brand Command White Paper to learn how to protect your brand from prominent gripe site visibility in the search engines.
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Homebuilders Pay Off Gripe Sites That Have Prominent Search Engine Visibility
Does paying off gripe site owners only encourage the creation of more gripe sites?
If a builder “promises” to deliver a defect free home and is able to leverage “control” over the homeowner via the Mandatory Binding Arbitration clause” in the sales contract — the homeowners have the right, free speech, to make consumers aware of their situation. If my home were a car — the manufacturer would be forced to issue a “recall” based on the multitude of defects. But since our nation has no “Consumer Proection” laws that protect the homebuyer, the gripe sites are a method to spread the word and warn others about a particular builder’s poor construction practices.
Cynthia,
Thanks for your comment. Although I haven’t experienced this firsthand, I certainly empathize with your Pulte Homes experience.
In addition to helping companies manage their brand real estate in the search engines, we encourage our clients to address any and all product and service issues online and to offer an ombudsman in the form of a corporate blog. This initiative provides their clients and customers with a public face they to interact with, and have their issues resolved.
I would like to see a continuation of the topic
For all the gripe sites that are out there, there are thousands of people who are thrilled with their new homes. It seems to be human nature that people complain louder than they voice their pleasure.
http://www.khov4newhomes.com
I think it’s best for consumers to do their own research, perhaps by searching the web with their builders name and the word reviews, or checking in with consumer reports from places like JD Power to judge a companies product rather than rely one the word of a few disgruntled individuals.
I don’t advise potential homebuyers to rely on the JD Powers rating for homebuilders. They should check with the BBB, the state Attorney Genral’s consumer protection division and the HADD data base for complaints. Some of the top rated builders by JD Power have serious complaints regarding construction defects.
Some homeowners have used the JD Power survey to persuade their builder to do proper repairs. Too bad EVERY homeowner doesn’t recive a request to fill out their survey.
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Just wanted to post a thank you for featuring my site. Khovsucks.com is still up and running (I just haven’t had time to update it in awhile). I was initially threatened by a law firm representing K Hovnanian Homes to go away and offered $500 for my troubles and to transfer my domain to them. I told them no. I didn’t ask them for more money and I have never asked them for any money. Just to fix the piece of S*!# house they built (but I wouldn’t complain if they paid off my mortgage on this lemon :) ) I know Khov paid the owner of Khovalert.com to go away and now Notkhov.com is gone. I will still fight the good fight.
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