BBB Under Scrutiny

Link: http://www.bbbroundup.com

I have grave concerns with our Minnesota BBB chapter and the new BBB rating system.

After many months of waiting with the promise that our "grade" would go to an "A" in April 2009, and having held off on special marketing efforts while we waited, we were told we would have to wait until next year before the grade would change. We were informed of the decision near the end of April.

Follow up:

Having canceled our membership our grade went from an "A-" to a "B+". See the email below for my question as to why, and their response. What troubles me is that we divulged information that we do not make publicly available, given the promise our "grade" would increase to an "A" if we gave them this additional information. We were undoubtedly deceived.

This deeply betrayed my trust in the BBB and I question whether this new grading system is truly good for consumers and businesses alike.

It's clear that should one fail to give the BBB money, they will subject the business to a biased letter grade and deceive the public with their powerful slogan, "Start with Trust." This is nothing short of extortion.

The public has a right to know the truth behind the BBB and their "Start with Trust" marketing strategy.

Sincerely,

Lukas J. Dickie
President and CEO, Gimigo

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My name is Mark Strong. I am a partner in Heritage Internet Technologies (HIT), formerly Heritage Web Solutions. Our company is located in Provo, Utah. We have been in business 9 years and have annual revenues of approximately $20,000,000.

I can't thank you enough for bbbroundup's website and illuminating the challenges businesses around the nation are facing as they deal with the BBB.

To make a long story, when Heritage was notified of the new BBB rating system we were alarmed. Together with another partner, we met with the president of the local chapter (Jane Driggs of the Salt Lake City office). The purpose of the meeting was to appeal the rating. Ms. Driggs was most courteous but at the end of our presentation, she informed Heritage that the local offices had no control over the rating system and were not empowered to consider our appeal. She instructed us to appeal directly to the CBBB.

Accordingly, on April 10, 2009 Heritage submitted a 5-page letter outlining the appeal of Heritage's letter grade. Heritage also submitted a one-page Executive Summary. (I will copy the Executive Summary into this email.) On April 27, 2009 the CBBB acknowledged receipt of the appeal and stated: "We will forward your complaint to the appropriate BBB for their response. Please allow at least 30 days for this process."

In a letter dated June 3, 2009 Heritage received word from the CBBB that the appeal had been denied. The grounds for the denial were "Please be advised there is no appeal process. We at the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBB cannot change your rating; we can only help to explain it." Not only was the appeal denied, it appears that the appeal was never even heard. It apparently was dismissed without even considering the merits of the appeal.

The BBB's refusal to consider the appeal, and the rating system itself, are blatantly unfair. In our entire history, Heritage has no unresolved complaints!!

I would be pleased to provide much more detail regarding this issue. Heritage would also appreciate any guidance you or your organization may be able to give relative to how Heritage can best work through this ongoing nightmare.

Again, thank you for your website and the encouragement it gives businesses to know we are not alone in our frustration.

Sincerely,

Mark Strong
Chief Quality Officer/Partner
Heritage Internet Technologies

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I applaud you. As a "non-member" of the BBB of Los Angeles, they have unfairly been damaging our business's reputation with a "D" rating.

We have been in business over 18 years now - in the same location. We have had 3 complaints
in all these years; one not really a complaint, but a shipping issue.

In speaking with them; they indicated to me that they were governed by the State of California. I contacted the Dept. of Consumer Affairs, who advised me otherwise. In fact when I explained that this agency was now costing our small business money, the individual I spoke to advised me to sue the BBB.

After contacting the the BBB back - they could not explain their grading system. I then
received a "sales pitch", after which I foolishly stated "it sounded like extortion" to me.

Because of them; not only are "we" be affected adversely, but our customers are now being
affected. I would love any response from you as how to handle this issue.

My company name is: American International Gemologists & Monteau Gemological Services, Inc.

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Whoever you are, "Jimmie", let me say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for this site. As a business owner for over 15 years, I went from a "satisfactory" rating last year to an "F" rating overnight, just because I am in one of their "categories". We have a total of 3 complaints in 15 years, two of them resolved and 1 not resolved "Company did everything in its power to resolve the problem".

So thank you for bringing to light the truth.

I hope the fact that your last post was on May 29th is not an indication that they got to you ... ?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for caring, and no, the BBB hasn't touched me.

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The following email about the fraud and lies on mechanicsresponds.com
website was rejected by their mail system twice, once with regular
formatting and once with text only. Will you act the same?

EDITORS NOTE (1): As you can see, I'll print things even when I disagree with them

I was reading your website with interest until I came across the table
comparing the Legal system to the BBB system.

a) You don't mention the legal system usually costs the consumer more than the amount in dispute in court costs and attorney's fees but the BBB is free to the consumer.
b) The legal system may have propaganda saying "innocent until proven guilty" but actually it also requires proof of innocence.
c) Juries are not composed of peers except by accident, usually low life liberals who have no more brains than Jay Leno's All Stars.
d) The oversight bodies such as the state BAR are more biased toward their members than the BBB.
e) Hearsay and lawyer's lies are allowed and relied on unless objected to by the other lawyer which doesn't always happen.
f) "would rather let 100 guilty go free than convict one innocent party" is ABSOLUTELY FALSE. 25% of people in jail are actually innocent according to both stats in the book Actual Innocence and generic human error figures. For some crimes like Mondale's sex law,
the error rate is 60%. Some DA's aggressively prosecute the innocent convincing juries with their vaudeville acts but no true evidence.
g) Right to a speedy trial is a joke -- if you go to trial in a couple of years you're lucky.
h) Transparency in the public record is dubious - even the audio transcript may cost more than the amount in dispute with the BBB. And written transcripts are not even made unless there's an appeal at much greater expense. Some DA's even lie on the record about events that transpired right in the courtroom during the trial knowing they'll never be accountable until they meet God.
i) The best system of justice developed by man? Perhaps, and it's so utterly corrupt it proves we need a system developed by God.

I conclude you are egregiously misrepresenting the Legal System. You should thank God for the BBB which handles cases for smaller amounts than the courts and be happy to pay them as a cost of doing business for if they didn't exist, you might get class action suits taking care of many complaints at once which could drive you out of business.

Sincerely,
Kirk Fraser
http://usaFounders.com

EDITOR'S RESPONSE: I would point out that first of all the BBB has absolutely no legal standing so they really can't settle disputes unless the business is inclined to do so anyway. As to point (f) you make my point for me, though obviously you don't realize it. Finally, ever heard of small claims court?