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AN INVESTIGATIVE NEWS SERIES ON THE STANDARDS AND PRACTICES OF THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU START WITH TRUTH |
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V 1.4 Feb
2010 |
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| COMPLAINTS
AGAINST THE BBB. WILL THEY ANSWER? |
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| One of our original
points of contention with the Better Business Bureau had to do with
their complaint process. We felt then, and feel now, that it
serves no real purpose to the consumer, is poorly managed, and from
first hand experience it appears to be rigged. In early December, 2009, a Los Angeles based business took me up on my request to observe how the complaint process worked from the "accused" side of things. They forwarded me an email from the Los Angeles BBB which contained a link for them to respond to the complaint. When the link was clicked on it sent me to a blank page. This blank page remained in place for another day, then was finally replaced with a response form. I traveled to the business' office and observed them filling out the form and submitting it. There was no confirmation that the response went through. Two weeks later, the LA BBB posted their judgment. In
the absence of any response from you to this complaint despite our two
requests, we are closing our file. We have referred your customer to
other sources of assistance should they wish to pursue the matter
further. Our report to the public on your company will include
information as to your failure to respond to this complaint, and your
company's overall rating may be adversely affected by it.
The original complaint responses were
either ignored on
purpose or inadvertantly. Follow up emails to info@labbb.org were
also ignored. If the accused is not allowed to have their response
aired then the complaint system lacks
credibility. Just for fun, we decided to compile some of the
complaints we received from readers about the BBB itself. The
complaints themselves can be found by following the links. In
decending complaint order, here are the worst offending BBB branches.If you want to respond to the complaint, or if you believe you have responded to it, please contact our Complaint Department at info@labbb.org Los Angeles BBB (8 complaints) Dallas (2 complaints) Minnesota (1 complaint) Fort Wayne (1 complaint) Palm Beach (1 complaint) Chicago (1 complaint) Boca Raton (1 complain) Seattle (1 complaint) West Florida (1 complaint) Worcester (1 complaint) Honolulu (1 complaint) Northwest North Carolina (1 complaint) Provo (1 complaint) Phoenix (1 complaint) Santa Barbara (1 complaint) |
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| Editor's note: Neither I or this website have a problem with the Better Business Bureau. Indeed, there is a need for a consumer advocacy group that the public can turn to, and in most cases, the Better Business Bureau fulfills this role adequately. What we do have a problem with is the BBB's "A-F" grading system. It is demonstratively biased, based on hearsay, weighted in favor of dues paying members and offers no recourse when the BBB makes an error. 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. | |
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