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      AN INVESTIGATIVE NEWS SERIES
    ON THE STANDARDS AND PRACTICES   
    OF THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
       
         START WITH TRUTH


  V 1.4  Aug 2010
LOS ANGELES BBB ON TRIAL.  PART II.
AUGUST 22, 2010

The Los Angeles Better Business Bureau has officially moved--their website address, that is.  Formerly accessible at la.bbb.org, the LA BBB is now redirected to los-angeles.bbb.org.  I guess we can no longer confuse them with Louisiana.

UPDATE: AUGUST 22, 2010:  The LA BBB, formerly accessible at la.bbb.org, since redirected to los-angeles.bbb.org has now been further redirected to labbb.org.   Wow.  The LA BBB finally has their own website as opposed to a sub-domain of bbb.org.  Could be much ado about nothing, or a case of the tail wagging the dog.

Once again, the LA BBB reacted with startling speed to rectify a Goofy Grade uncovered by bbbroundup.  This is why we do forensics.  What do I mean by that?  Well, the same computer lab that does Internet research and documentation and detecting for the FBI has been engaged to verify every Goofy Grade before we publish it.  That is because the BBB websites are dynamically generated--change the data base and you've changed the website, leaving no record of what was there before.   If anyone from the media wants a look at the forensics, just let me know at editor@bbbroundup.com

Case in point.  Here's what the BBB Reliability Report for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center looked like on Friday, August 20th.

UPDATE: AUGUST 23, 2010:  Sometime today, one day after getting an A- grade (scroll down), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center reverted to this screen shot.  I guess their A- grade on August 22, 2010 was a glitch.  At least it saved me the trouble of doing the graphics for another screen shot.




Here's the LA BBB's Reliability Report for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center two days later on Sunday, August 22.
cedars-sinai bbb grade
Of course, this begs the question:  How come 5 complaints warranted an "F" while 9 complaints warrant an "A-"?   Instead of acknowledging their errors, the LA BBB continues to "cook the books" and change Goofy Grades under the cover of night.  This is shameful.  The reality is that when the LA BBB has been caught with their pants down, they've changed the grades for Big Businesses, but refuse to do so for the Small Business.  We've seen this countless times, including the example above.

EDITORS NOTE: AUGUST 23, 2010.   We just saw it again.  Amazing.

The reality is the BBB's Letter Grading system has serious flaws.  It's unfixable.  Garbage in = Garbage Out and only the intervention by manual manipulation is able to fix Goofy Grades.  This is not a working algorithm.  It's not even a working grading curve.  It's a broken down system that will grow more and more unreliable and faulty.  It continues to prove its meaningless on a daily basis.  At least it's nice to know the BBB is reading bbbroundup.com.  Too bad they don't pay attention.
Editor's note:  There is a need for a consumer advocacy group that the public can turn to, and it used to be that the Better Business Bureau fulfilled this role adequately.  No longer.  It is obvious the Better Business Bureau does not now, nor ever will have, the resources to fully investigate the four million businesses in their database, much less grade them with any sense of accuracy.  It's an impossible job, and to think otherwise is a mistake that the BBB should acknowledge so they can get back to their reason for existence--protecting the consumer.  There's an old saying, "who will watch the watchers" and it applies here as the BBB has set themselves up to be above the law.  We are simply here to help the Better Business Bureau do a better job so that they may properly serve the consumer, the business community and themselves.  If they refuse to reform, then they must bear the consequences.
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