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AN INVESTIGATIVE NEWS SERIES ON THE STANDARDS AND PRACTICES OF THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU START WITH TRUTH |
| V 1.4 Feb 2010 | ||
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| WHAT
YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOUR TYPE OF BUSINESS COULD HURT YOU. |
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| Through the eyes of the Better Business
Bureau, there are only four types of businesses: Standard,
Monitored, Inherent Problem and Illegal/Scam. Regardless of what
your business actually does, the BBB is going to classify your business
as one of these four types. The reality of this is that if your
business is classified by the BBB to be either one with inherent
problems or of an illegal/scam nature, the highest Better Business
Bureau Grade you can earn is an "F." It doesn't matter that you've been in business for 18 years, the last 15 of which you were a dues paying member of the BBB, had three complaints--all resolved during that time or not. If your business gets classified as an Inherent Problem or Illegal/Scam Type of Business, under the formula of the year old BBB Grading Algorithm you now get an "F." Examples of Inherent Problem of Illegal/Scam businesses include: loan brokers, credit repair firms, debt negotiations companies, and wealth and real estate seminars. For the BBB definition of some of these problem industries, refer to this interal BBB document. For a complete list of your choices for Type of Business, please refer to this internal BBB document. Our advice: be sure to use the proper Type of Business when conversing with the BBB, it could be the difference between an "A" and a "F." It gets more interesting when you take a look at the top Types of Businesses by complaint level. In the Los Angeles BBB, birthplace and primary mover for the BBB Grading Algorithm, only one illegal/scam or inherent problem business was in the top 10 for complaints. Debt negotiaton and settlement companies weren't listed in the top 100 for complaints. Nationally, no illegal/scam or inherent problem type of business was in the top 10 for complaints and debt negotiation and settlement companies weren't listed in the top 100 for complaints. In fact, in Los Angeles 8 of the 10 top complaints were against standard types of businesses, nationally 9 of the 10. The lack of complaints against many illegal/scam and inherent problem types of business makes it hard for the Better Business Bureau to defend their automatic "F" grading policy for these businesses. We were fortunate to come across more internal BBB documents that illustrate these points. For the Los Angeles Top 100 Complaints by TOB, click here. For the National Top 100 Complaints by TOB, click here. No segment of industry has been harder hit than the debt negotiation and settlement business. Over the last six months, I have received numerous complaints from debt negotiation and settlement firms who woke up to find themselves with a "F" grade from the BBB in early 2008. Recently, we were able to acquire documents that should be of interest to the debt negotiation and settlement companies. These internal documents describe how the Better Business Bureau branch should evaluate a Debt Negotiation/Settlement Business. In July of 2009 the BBB issued a 9 page Internal BBB Implementation Guide to its branches and a three page Public BBB Explanation. In August 2009, the BBB released another internal document, the 26 page document entitled How To Evaluate Debt Settlement Negotiation & Settlement Businesses for Rating Purposes. In the interests of partial disclosure the BBB released a 4 page Public BBB Explanation in September of 2009. The additional pages found in the internal use only versions of the documents give detailed checklists of areas for BBB personnel to probe the applying Debt Negotiation/Settlement Business. Additionally, the BBB requires the Debt Negitation/Settlement company to turn over their books for what basically is a full audit. This is especially troubling as I have received multiple allegations from multiple sources against multiple Better Business Bureau branches that BBB branch owners have vested interests in competing financial settlement and resolution firms. The allegations further state that these competing firms have "A" grades with the Better Business Bureau while they themselves have been unfairly given an "F" grade. If true, these allegations certainly run directly opposite of the Better Business Bureau's own policy on conflicts of interest. |
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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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