BBB Under Scrutiny

Link: http://www.bbbroundup.com

In a five to four verdict, the Supreme Court today found the Better Business Bureau guilty of causing the current global economic crisis. Writing for the majority, Supreme Court Justice William Bergermeister said "While there is plenty of blame to go around, the facts in this case demonstrate a pattern of corruption and abuse of the public trust that is shameful. The court rejects the BBB's central argument that the blame be laid at the doorstep of the Los Angeles BBB who pioneered the BBB's new A through F grading system. The National BBB had plenty of time to scrutinize the new grading system before implementing it nationwide and failed to do so. This court finds the BBB, as the national oversight body in charge, guilty of improperly supervising the conduct of their franchised regional members, and as such, they must be held liable."

Follow up:

In reaching their decision, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the California 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled that the "capricious, wanton, and malicious actions of an arbitrary grading system employed unfairly upon the Southern California business community has had far reaching consequences that the defendant (the Los Angeles BBB ) should have been aware of. This violation of the public trust is beyond precedence and deserves this court's contempt."

The case, originally tried in Los Angeles Superior Court, was brought by Washington Mutual Bank against the Los Angeles BBB, and its owners, Gil Winchell and Barry Walnut. Washington Mutual, which became the nation's largest bank failure when it collapsed on Sept 27, 2008, was a victim of a run on the bank. Former Washington Mutual Bank CEO, Jerry Killinmead said, "One day we were doing fine, and then the next there was this tremendous run on the bank for no apparent reason. When we asked our customers why they were withdrawing all their money, the vast majority of them explained they had seen our D rating in the Los Angeles BBB consumer report and had lost their trust in us. The sad thing is none of this need happened. We had plenty of assets to cover our liabilities in the normal course of business. I really wish that the Los Angeles BBB had taken the time to contact us over their concerns before issuing this failing grade."

The contention of the Los Angeles D.A.'s office was the owner of the Los Angeles BBB, Gil Winchell, had been denied a personal loan by Washington Mutual Bank, and immediately downgraded WAMU from an A grade to a D. Los Angeles City and County prosecutor Harland Spock said, "The arrogance of the actions of the Los Angeles BBB in allowing personal factors to alter the grade of any company, let alone a major cornerstone of our financial community, had far ranging and omminous consequences. The Los Angeles BBB had an obligation to the public trust to be objective in their grading system, and by allowing personal considerations to undermine this public trust they should be held responsible for these consequences. Essentially, the actions of the Los Angeles BBB were the straw that broke the camel's back and put this nation's financial system in peril."

Justice Department Attorney, Brandon Finehead was elated with the decision. "While this may be a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped, at least we have justice."

BBB spokesperson, Jeeves Fox, was stunned by the enormity of the verdict. "Of course, we feel sorry for all the incovenience we've caused to consumers. For anyone who has suffered the loss of their job from our actions, we offer the opportunity to come and work for the nearest BBB as commissioned telemarketers. As you know, we are now faced with paying an unprecedented $100 trillion fine, and need all the help we can get reaching out to the business community to get new members to help pay this fine. If we can just get every business in America to join the BBB, in ten years time we will have raised the money to pay the fine."

Gil Winchell and Barry Walnut of the Los Angeles BBB could not be reached for comment.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
This reader submitted op-ed piece is an obvious satire, but has been included because of the simple truth it contains. The erroneous and inappropriate grades the BBB has given to many small businesses have cost these enterprises hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales and lost business, and in these times of economic meltdown, have contributed to several business going under. So while it may not be accurate to state that the BBB caused the global economic meltdown, it is accurate to state that the Better Business Bureau has caused more than one small business severe economic hardship that is completely unwarranted. If the Better Business Bureau cannot be bothered with putting in the due diligence to verify the accuracy of their grading system, then the public would be better served if the Better Business Bureau was to cease grading businesses altogether--at least until such time as they can do so without such egregious errors that pose such dire consequences to the innocent. That the BBB has decided to ramp up their efforts notifying the public that now more than ever the consumer should check with the BBB before doing business with a company only puts the organization's efforts in a more negative light.