NY Bagel Café franchise CEO Joe Smith responded to an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General by claiming that he is in litigation with UnhappyFranchisee.Com and that NY Bagel Café never ran franchise ads in Michigan. Did Joe Smith lie – in writing – to the Michigan Attorney General’s office?
The investigation was sparked by a complaint by UnhappyFranchisee.Com. We have also filed complaints about the unlawful advertising and sale of the NY Bagel Café with other registration states, including New York, Virginia, Maryland & California.
When confronted with the complaint that numerous NY Bagel Café franchise ads had been run on Michigan Craigslist sites, Joe Smith responded “…I can assure you if any ads were place in the State of Michigan they were not done by N.Y. Bagel.”
UnhappyFranchisee.Com has issued a public service announcement [left] to help CEO Joe Smith locate the miscreants placing his company ads where he is not legal to sell.
The State of Michigan Department of Attorney General forwarded our complaint to NY Bagel CEO Joe Smith.
In a letter dated 9/29/15 and received October 2, 2015, Joe Smith responded on company letterhead. While the response was only three sentences long, it included four false (in our opinion) allegations that 1) NY Bagel Café was in litigation with UnhappyFranchisee.Com, 2) that the UnhappyFranchisee.Com website and its author published “false and malicious claims about NY Bagel,” 3) that UnhappyFranchisee.Com website and its author made “false claims” to state agencies, and 4) that neither NY Bagel nor its agents placed franchise advertisements in Michigan.
NY Bagel CEO Joe Smith wrote:
SMS Inc. / N.Y. Bagel Café & Deli
300 Delaware Ave.
Suite 210
Wilmington DE 19801
To: Consumer Protection Division
Re: Sean Kelly Complaint
NY Bagel nor any of its agents have not posted or advertised a business opportunity or franchise for sale in the state of Michigan. We are currently in litigation with Sean Kelly and his blog unhappyfranchisee.com for posting false and malicious claims about NY Bagel contacting various state agency’s making false claims to them. So I can assure you if any ads were place in the State of Michigan they were not done by N.Y. Bagel.
Sincerely,
Joseph Smith
President
9/29/15
Katharyn A. Barron, Division Chief, Consumer Protection Division, Franchise Section, of the Michigan Department of Attorney General responded to Joseph Smith in a letter dated October 6, 2015:
Dear Mr. Smith
Re: Sean Kelly Complaint
Thank you for your response, received October 2, 2015 regarding Mr. Kelly’s complaint. Please see the enclosed that appears to be an active on-line ad. You indicated in your response, that any ads that were in place in the state of Michigan, were not done by N.Y. Bagel. Please provide any information you have on who is responsible for this ad.
Any information you have should be provided as soon as possible, but no later than 15 days from receipt of this correspondence.
Sincerely,
Katharyn A. Barron
Division Chief
Consumer Protection Division
Franchise Section
As of 11/4/15, The Ms. Barron’s office had not received a response to the requested information from Joe Smith.
On 11/5/15, we sent Joseph Smith an email requesting that he either substantiate each of the statements made in his letter to the Michigan Attorney General’s office, or provide a retraction to Ms. Barron (with a cc. to Sean Kelly) correcting each of the false statements.
Dear Joe:
It appears you made the following statements to Katharyn Barron of the Michigan Attorney General Department. I believe these are false statements of fact specifically intended to defame me and UnhappyFranchisee.Com.
Please provide factual substantiation for each of these statements, or issue a retraction to Ms. Barron (with a cc to me) stating which of the statements you cannot substantiate:
1) You stated that you and/or one of the NY Bagel entities were in litigation with Sean Kelly or UnhappyFranchisee.Com at the time your letter was sent on 9/29/15.
I am not aware of any such litigation. Please provide proof of litigation or retract this statement as false.
2) You stated that you sued me for posting “false and malicious claims about NY Bagel.”
I am not aware of any false and malicious statements, and have repeatedly requested that you indicate any statements you regard to be false or incorrect. Please provide proof of false and malicious statements of fact or retract your statement as false.
3) You stated that you sued me for posting for providing “false claims” to various state agencies
Please provide proof of false claims that I made to various state agencies or retract this statement as false.
4) You stated that that you or your agents did not place any ads in Michigan.
I have posted copies of 8 NY Bagel Café franchise ads (You may view them here: ) These ads have the standard NY Bagel ad copy, photographs and contact information of your agent Dennis Mason and the NY Bagel Café phone number 888-550-8020 posted directly to local Michigan Craigslist sites. When you received calls from these ads, did you alert Craigslist that bogus franchise ads were being run by an unknown party in violation of Michigan franchise law? Did you request the account information of the poster? Will Dennis Mason provide a sworn statement that he did not place these ads and doesn’t know who did? Please provide correspondence with Craigslist or retract that statement as false.
Sean Kelly
Publisher
UnhappyFranchisee.Com
CEO Joe Smith stated: “I can assure you if any ads were place in the State of Michigan they were not done by N.Y. Bagel.”
Who the heck placed these NY Bagel franchise ads on Michigan Craigslist sites?
We believe that Joe Smith and his sales agent Dennis Mason are avoiding registration with state agencies because they do not want to show the franchise disclosure documents that they are or have been providing prospective franchisees. In investigating our complaint, the Maryland Attorney General found the unregistered NY Bagel Café disclosure document provided to one of its residents to contain material misrepresentations and omissions.
We will post any responses provided by Joe Smith or Dennis Mason.
ALSO READ:
NY Bagel Café Franchise Scam Overview
NY BAGEL CAFÉ Franchise Graveyard
NY BAGEL CAFÉ Franchise: How Many Have Closed? [UPDATED]
NY BAGEL CAFÉ Franchise Fraud Investigation by MD Attorney General
Joe Smith, Dennis Mason & NY Bagel Café Franchise Exposed: 10 Things You Should Know
NY BAGEL CAFÉ & DELI Franchise Complaints
DENNIS MASON Franchise Complaints
NY BAGEL CAFÉ Franchise a Scam? MA Woman Says Yes
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH NY BAGEL CAFÉ, THE NY BAGEL CAFÉ FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY, JOE SMITH OR DENNIS MASON?
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