A group of protesters, organized by local businesses fed up with the LA BBB strong arm tactics took to the streets, passing out over 7000 flyers to concerned citizens as well as state, federal and local employees.

Over 100 protesters joined in the demonstration on the steps of city hall.

For the full story visit http://www.bbbroundup.com/Aug242-2010.html

If you have a gripe with the Better Business Bureau and want to get it heard, send me an email at editor@bbbroundup.com. I'll make sure it gets to the right people to give your version of the BBB nightmare heard.

Of particular interest are the following:
- Are you a small business being 'coerced' to join the BBB right now?
- Are you a former or current employee of the BBB and in a position to reveal how things are really done on the inside?
- Are you a consumer who feels the BBB has been unfair in helping you with your consumer dispute?
- Do you know of any conflicts of interest where one of the BBB higher ups owns a business that gets favorable treatment from the BBB?
- Have you complained to the BBB about your business' bad grade and they've lowered it further in retaliation?

Keep 'em coming
Jimmie Rivers
editor@bbbroundup.com

It was quite a week. We led with our exclusive story on the LA BBB giving HAMAS, a fictitious business, an A- grade. The Connecticut Watchdog and Mother Jones jumped on the story and before you knew some 45,000 websites had picked up the story. I think we got the attention of the Better Business Bureau.

It was gratifying to see this unfold and the small business feedback has been amazing. But let's not lose sight of the main principles we're discussing:

- The BBB Sells Grades
- The BBB cannot be held accountable for anything they do thanks to the anti-SLAPP law
- The BBB grades in themselves are totally irrelevant, misleading and often wrong
- The BBB does a miserable job handling complaints.

HAMAS was just the opening shot, fired across the bow of the BBB. Merely a wakeup call. More developments coming soon, so stay tuned.

Today was interesting. Traffic up to even higher levels than yesterday. May have to upgrade my server?

Thanks to George from ConnecticutWatchdog.com for tracking down Gary Almond from the BBB. I know a couple of Los Angeles businessmen who are anxiously awaiting their refunds.

Nice job too from Melissa at InvestorsResourceNews.com in telling the complete Goldline story as it stands to date.

But to me, after doing two radio interviews, one yesterday and one today, the amazing thing was to come home and find some awesome emails in my inbox.

There were a number of emails from businesses across the United States telling me they were embarking on registering bogus businesses with the BBB.

There were even a handful of emails offering donations to keep the Bogus Business drive alive.

You have to ask yourself this question: "Why would businessmen offer to pay anywhere from $400 to several thousand dollars when they get nothing in return?"

To me, this is the true judge of the frustration level small business has reached with the Better Business Bureau. We've maintained for a long time that the arrogance of the Better Business Bureau will be their undoing.

We hope the Hamas Lesson will open their eyes, but so far we've seen no change in BBB behavior.

Today's three news stories on the BBB were the result of months of planning and hard work. The fact that Goldline decided to make their "A+" grade from the BBB the center point of their defense from an ABC News investigation the night before really helped fuel the flames on the stories. I'd like to thank George at the ConnecticutWatchDog.com and Stephanie atMother Jones for jumping on the story early, before the Better Business Bureau disappeared the bogus businesses from their site. Score one for the good guys today.

Without revealing too much, let me just state there's plenty more in the works. There are dozens and dozens of bogus businesses already accredited and in good standing with the BBB. More will be signing up over the next weeks and months.

We've got the BBB's attention. With your help we can finish them off.

As predicted, the LA BBB got around to disappearing the A- grade they had given back in June to the non-existent business, Moore's Sushi. The trouble is, this cat's already out of the bag. And don't forget readers, bbbroundup knows of dozens and dozens of other bogus businesses that have ALREADY received their accreditation and grade from various BBBs in the US and Canada.

A little bit past 9AM PST, the LA BBB disappeared their listing for HAMAS. This was predicted yesterday on bbbroundup.com. Unfortunately for the BBB is is too little, too late as many reporters have already seen the A- Grade the LA BBB gave to HAMAS.

The real question now is will the BBB show enough ethics to refund the membership fee they accepted?

Apparently, the terrorist organization HAMAS is now a member in good standing with the Los Angeles BBB. HAMAS joined the LA BBB on July 12th of this year and have been given a BBB company ID number of 100096748.

HAMAS is described by the Better Business Bureau as a company who provides educational programs for troubled youth. This sounds like a ‘cleaned up’ description of exactly how HAMAS recruits its members for jihad.

The contact listed for HAMAS is one Bill Mitchell. It may be a co-incidence, but the CEO of the LA BBB is one William Mitchell.

However, five minutes of due diligence reveals that this listing for HAMAS is a joke. Of course, that is five minutes more due diligence than the BBB ever undertook. This speaks volumes about the credibility of the Better Business Bureau. In fact it's all you really need to know to understand just how corrupt the BBB actually is.

For the complete story on how HAMAS joined the BBB and received an A- grade, click here.