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

          START WITH TRUTH


  V 1.1  March 2009
LOS ANGELES BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
the biggest and baddest of them all

It is fitting that the focus of this investigative series has shifted to the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau.  As the originators of the now tainted "A" through "F" grading system, the Los Angeles BBB has come under the scrutiny of both the press and other offices of the BBB.  Our server logs indicate perhaps that scrutiny extends to the national BBB.  If that was all there was to the story, we'd be finished with our investigation, but clearly that is not the case.   Instead, this is the first of a multi-part series that will focus on the Better Business Bureau of Southland, Inc., the official name of the LA BBB.

As the regional office with the largest number of members and therefore the largest contributor to the CBBB coffers, it is understandable that their much ballyhooed grading system would be adopted nationally.  As mentioned elsewhere on this site, it is unfortunate that the national BBB didn't do their due diligence regarding the inherent inequities in the grading system.  Instead, like the rest of the country, they woke up one morning to a stream of negative press which has yet to go away.

The Accreditation Issue

The BBB calls its members accredited businesses.  This is fine.  They are free to call them anything they want.  However, full disclosure demands that they call them BBB accredited businesses, and not simply accredited businesses.  To do otherwise is demeaning, and in some case simply untrue, about certain businesses.  Here's a case in point.

The Chicago BBB describes Sears, an accredited member, as follows:



The Chicago BBB describes the Chicago Tribune Holiday Campaign, an un-accredited business, as follows:




The Los Angeles BBB describes an accredited business, National Bartenders School, as follows:



The Los Angeles BBB describes an un-accredited business, Touch Therapy Institute, as follows:



Both of these accreditation statements by the Los Angeles BBB (BBB Southland, Inc.) fail to mention BBB in the accreditation notice.  This omission is confusing to say the least, and even worse, misleading, for one of the common uses of accreditation has to do with educational institutes.  In both cases there is a strong implication that these schools are not accredited academically.   In fact, the National Bartenders School is accredited with the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (BPPVE), school code 1925631.

To muddle the waters even further on the accreditation issue, Steve Cox, national BBB spokesperson, recently stated "there is no question that companies that are accredited (dues paying members) receive higher ratings"   Yet, the Los Angeles BBB states that the fact that a company is not accredited "does not disparage the company in any way."  Which is it?
 THE STRANGE CASE OF LA SECURITY STORAGE
three guesses about what the nature of their business is

LA Security Storage is located at the corner of Santa Monica  and Cahuenga Boulevards. 

los angeles security storage

As evident in its signage, it provides six stories of business and personal storage for rent.  The picture below is looking at their loading dock.

LA Security Storage

Amazingly enough, the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau can't figure out what LA Security Storage does.

In this screen shot from October of 2008, the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau states that the nature of LA Security Storage's business to be body piercing.  Body piercing?

LA Security Storage does body piercing?

In this screen shot from March 22, 2008, the Los Angeles Better Business states that they don't have a clue about the nature of LA Security Storage's business.

what does LA Security Storage do?

Editor's note:  At some point in April, 2009, the Los Angeles BBB finally figured out that LA Security Storage, Inc. was engaged in providing storage service facilities.
The question of the nature of LA Security Storage's business is about as tough to answer as "who's buried in Grant's tomb?"  The fact that first the Los Angeles BBB had the nature of the business wrong, and then decided to review it (a process that has been going on for over a month) only demonstrates how inadequate the due diligence performed on businesses the BBB reports on is.

For the record, the nature of LA Security Storage's business:  business and personal storage.

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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