How to resolve a complaint against the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
While the Better Business Bureau’s core goals are laudable, a growing number of
media and online reports reveal serious problems in the structure and practices
of individual branches, and perhaps the entire organization. Reported problems include
conflict of interest, aggressive marketing practices, bad ratings for good businesses
or good ratings for bad businesses, and uneven application of rating criteria.
The BBB was founded in 1912 to combat marketplace fraud; its stated mission is “to
be the leader in advancing marketplace trust.” For decades it functioned well as
an organization for industry self-regulation—so well, in fact, that consumers have
come to think of it as a government agency. It is not.
The BBB is essentially a franchise business, with a sales force that solicits membership.
As a non-profit it pays salaries of its choosing but cannot have shareholders. It
asks both member and non-member businesses to address complaints regarding transactions
and decides whether the response is reasonable. Some complaints are outside the
Bureau’s scope, for example complaints about policies, pricing, landlord/tenant
disputes, or professional procedures. The BBB also creates and publishes business
reviews based on complaint resolution and other factors, awarding businesses grades
ranging from A+ to F.
If your business reputation has been damaged by an unfair review, or if you believe
that a BBB review misled you or a complaint was not properly handled, you can take
action to resolve your complaint.
Many BBB franchises are ethical, diligent and helpful. However, differing franchise
and compensation structures mean that practices and standards of professionalism
can vary widely from branch to branch. PeopleClaim ratings of BBB branches range
from A+ to F.
As popular consumer review and complaint sites continue to grow rapidly, the BBB’s
new and old practices have increasingly generated complaints. Some companies complain
that their business has been damaged by a particular BBB office’s capricious, competitive
or subjective tactics. Equally, some consumers complain that they’ve been misled
by ratings.
Controversy
Complaints about the BBB’s operations increased dramatically in 2009 after it changed
its rating system from “acceptable/unacceptable” to a controversial A+ to F grading
system. Questions multiplied when an ABC 20/20 investigation and a number of news
articles spotlighted a system cracked by serious ethical breaches. Some BBB franchises
didn’t conduct basic checks into the businesses they were rating—Hamas and white
supremacist group Stormfront received A ratings once membership fees were paid;
complaints against real businesses ‘went away’ with a paid-up membership.
"If I'm paying for a grade,” one business owner asked 20/20, “then how are the customers
supposed to really trust the Better Business Bureau?"
Common Complaints about the BBB
- Inconsistent application of grading criteria: Each BBB branch is independently
owned and has a certain amount of autonomy. Businesses have complained that they’ve
been given an F grade after a single complaint—or been downgraded despite a very
low complaint rate, based on a subjective ‘advertising review’ or ‘failure to disclose’
information that in some cases was available on the company or charity’s website.
The BBB has also determined that some businesses will never be able to earn more
than an F, not because of the company’s own practices but simply because of the
BBB’s experience of the ‘business type.’ Some accredited businesses have retained
an A+ rating despite government action against them, and/or despite red flags raised
by other BBB branches. (See
here for a Beaumont Enterprise story about this.)
- Overstepping: Businesses have complained that Better Business Bureaus unilaterally
demand information about marketing, operations, and customer lists, even in the
absence of consumer complaints. Although a business is not legally required to comply
with fishing expeditions by another business, refusal to do so may result in a downgrade.
Such grades do not reflect actual marketplace problems but can damage reputation.
- Subjective criteria for grading resolution of complaints: The BBB decides
what counts as a ‘reasonable’ or ‘unsatisfactory’ response. See what The New York
Times’ Haggler, David Segal, has to say
here and
here, including “...critics of the Bureau have also contended that, in recent
years, membership buys a business what could politely be called the benefit of the
doubt.”
- Inherent conflicts of interest; failure to maintain neutrality: The BBB
makes its income from business accreditation fees, from BBB sponsored listings websites,
and, according to Smart Money’s
“Is the BBB Too Cozy With the Firms It Monitors?”, from selling customized
consumer data collected during the complaint process.
The ‘request a quote’ link, through which consumers can contact an accredited business,
is a membership benefit that could be considered a form of advertising or endorsement,
although the BBB disagrees with this perception.
Accredited business descriptions in a BBB review may include non-neutral statements.
For instance, one BBB business review states, “This company provides both business
and individual clients a strategic, ethical and highly-effective approach to solving
tax debt issues,” just below the accreditation and rating information.
Above: Business description, or commercial message?
Some consumers have complained that complaints against accredited businesses are
not properly handled.
- Misleading consumers: According to former Connecticut Attorney General
Richard Blumenthal, “There are clear, practical and logistical limits to the BBB’s
ability to accurately and fairly implement a full ratings system for businesses.
Extensive resources are necessary to verify the self-reported information that the
BBB receives from businesses. This information includes compliance with state and
federal licensing and registration requirements, outstanding lawsuits, time in business
and financial stability. My understanding is that the BBB does not have the resources
to verify all self-reported business information.”
Blumenthal strongly criticized the BBB after a business that had won the Torch Award,
the BBB’s award for the highest ethical standards, allegedly defrauded people while
touting the award.
- Non-response to complaints and failure to correct false or misleading information:
The BBB might not investigate, or respond to, complaints about itself. Some businesses
have noted that disputing a grade has led to a further downgrade.
- Aggressive marketing techniques: Businesses have complained that they feel
undue pressure to become BBB-accredited. Jan Fletcher notes on the Intuit Small
Business Blog that the BBB “will only review the validity of complaints if those
businesses are accredited.” When FeeFighters wrote a blog post about complaint review
incentives (see here)
they lost their accreditation (see
here).
- Public confusion over the BBB's status and authority: For instance, a BBB-accredited
A+ rated business continues to refer to the BBB as a ‘government agency.’ The BBB
is not a government agency and has no legal authority, but public perception may
lead consumers to place undue trust in its grades. It could also cause businesses
to feel undue pressure to buy membership when contacted, or provide information
that need not be publicly disclosed.
Above: Above: Confusion – Is it, or isn’t it? (It isn’t.)
So…what to do?
If you have a business:
Say a customer calls and asks you to explain your F rating. You’re mystified. You’ve
never even heard from the BBB, or you’re concerned that the grade is connected to
a BBB sales call, or you’ve apparently ‘earned’ a lousy grade even after a very
small number of complaints. Now what?
1. Respond courteously to complaints filed about your business—that should
be a given—and provide a copy of the terms that the customer agreed to, if appropriate.
Review complaints seriously. Does the consumer have a point, and should you change
a practice? But also ask to file a publicly viewable rebuttal if the BBB does not
consider your response reasonable.
And some, but not all, BBB offices will allow you to post clarification of common
issues, e.g. a return policy, or preferred methods of contacting your company prior
to complaining to the BBB. (The BBB says that “BBB’s strongly encourage consumers
to first contact the business.”)
2. Ask for corrections.If the BBB displays incorrect contact or personnel
information for your company, or other incorrect information, ask the office responsible
to correct it. Failure to do so may be a bad sign.
If the BBB’s review of your business contains incorrect, false, or misleading information
or if you believe that a grade is arbitrary, notify the franchise responsible in
writing.
3. No response? Notify the CBBB (Council of Better Business Bureaus) in writing.
Though each BBB office is independently owned, the BBB national organization needs
to be aware of issues involving its franchisees and the public perception of the
BBB brand if it is to exert any influence correcting situations at the local level.
4. File a formal, structured complaint through PeopleClaim.com for the price of
your lunchtime salad. PeopleClaim doesn’t publish the names of claimants,
but in order to challenge any negative content the BBB is putting out you should
use your business name frequently within the body of the complaint. Tell your side
of the story.
We’ll deliver it by email and/or mail—certified mail if you like—and the BBB will
have the opportunity to respond. If the franchise doesn’t resolve your complaint,
the complaint will post publicly after the negotiation period.
How does this help? It’s important if, say, the BBB really doesn’t understand your
business and hasn’t taken the time to learn about it before deciding you didn’t
make a good-faith response. There’s a good chance that anyone researching your business
will find your SEO-optimized claim, too, and read what you have to say. You can
post your unresolved complaint to your Facebook page, and otherwise share it.
You can also invite communication from people who’ve had issues with the same BBB
franchise, and from lawyers who may consider taking action—they can contact you
privately or publicly via the PeopleClaim system.
5. Notify regulators. Take it further—the FTC, your state’s Attorney General,
and other regulators all monitor patterns of complaints and intervene when appropriate.
PeopleClaim can even forward your complaint to appropriate regulators if you choose.
6. If you end up having to file a lawsuitas Incorp did—see
here—your PeopleClaim documents your attempt to resolve the problem.
If you’re a consumer:
You saw that the BBB gave a company an A+ rating and accreditation, so you went
for the offer. But it turns out the business review contained gamed or inaccurate
information, and some patient people now have lots of YOUR money. Or maybe the BBB
just didn’t get your complaint resolved—and you’re not convinced they even tried.
What now?
1. Do your diligence and avoid problems. Don’t rely solely on BBB ratings—that
information may be incomplete or incorrect. Research widely on as many sites as
possible. If an unresolved complaint has been published on PeopleClaim.com, read
it. Think carefully about what the claimant says, and how the business responded
after it was notified. If you look at Yelp, make sure you read reviews caught in
the filter (there’s a tiny grayed-out link at the bottom of the page). Rely on your
own brain—what could go possibly wrong if you do business with this company? Could
you afford to lose the money? Check licensing, any security bonds, and common complaints
about similar businesses, or issues noted by your state’s Attorney General. Read
ALL Terms and Conditions before you agree to them.
2. Understand the limits. Not every complaint is going to be resolved. If
you agreed that you’d return a package within 10 days in order to cancel, and you
didn’t, then the company you’re complaining about may have the right not to refund
your money—even if you didn’t read the Terms and Conditions. If you wired money
to the Caymans for a timeshare deal offered over the phone, you may not get it back.
But you can check that your complaint was properly reviewed and documented, and
given a full and fair hearing.
3. Rate the ratings. The BBB has been known to give great companies lousy
ratings (the Ritz-Carlton, Starbucks and Wolfgang Puck all got Fs) and bad companies
great ratings. If your experience with an F-rated company is terrific, or an A-rated
company lets you down, tell the BBB responsible for the grade. Challenge those ratings
at the source.
4. If you were misled by an undeserved rating, file a PeopleClaim. . Document
exactly what happened, when, why, and how much you lost. The BBB will understand
that you’re serious. And if they don’t resolve your comlaint, your claim will serve
to warn other people if you choose to have it publicly posted. Other people with
similar complaints or attorneys will be able to contact you via the PeopleClaim
messaging system, too.
The BBB can be a very valuable resource. But it’s not a perfect one, and it’s not,
as commonly believed, a government agency—it’s a business. As such, it has to make
money like every other business and, like any business, it makes mistakes. You have
a right to complain about those.