Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
The Better Business Bureau is a Scam in Itself
#1
After my recent experience with the BBB, I began to question their credibility. A car company refused to replace something that was clearly covered under a warranty. They responded to my complaint that they still refuse to replace the item that was recovered under warranty. BBB thought this was sufficient enough and closed the case on a positive note on the business' end after I refused their response. They didn't investigate anything. So how does this car company that is gaining a reputation for low quality and seeing huge drops in stock value maintain its A+ rating? It pays to be accredited.

What makes BBB even worse is that it punishes businesses that don't pay for accreditation. If they get one or two complaints, even after they've been resolved years ago, they will get F, D, and C ratings. ABC caught representatives telling business owners that, if they pay for accreditation, their rating will be changed to an A. A day after paying, their ratings were changed. The BBB is very well-known, and Americans trust the ratings when making purchasing decisions. The BBB giving businesses a low rating for not paying is borderline extortion and libel.
Better Business Bureau: The Best Ratings Money Can Buy - ABC News
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
Reply
#2
I prefer yelp. At least then you can see ratings from customers rather than some pay to play scenario.
TESC 2015 - BSBA, Computer Information Systems

TESC 2019 - 21 Post-bachelor accounting credits
Reply
#3
Check this story out before you use Yelp again...

Yelp Now Has Court Permission to Change Business Ratings for Money. Don't Forget It. | SFoodie | San Francisco | San Francisco News and Events | SF Weekly
Reply
#4
fourleaf_tayback Wrote:Check this story out before you use Yelp again...

Yelp Now Has Court Permission to Change Business Ratings for Money. Don't Forget It. | SFoodie | San Francisco | San Francisco News and Events | SF Weekly

If you read through the comments, the following court document is listed as the source of the story. The information is not as cut and dry as the story would have you believe. According to what I read in the documents, the business owners that sued Yelp failed to prove their allegations where true.

http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...-17676.pdf

My personal experience with Yelp has been very good. When I hire people to do work at my condo, the first place I go is Yelp. I am not claiming it is a perfect system, but I trust it far more than the BBB.
TESC 2015 - BSBA, Computer Information Systems

TESC 2019 - 21 Post-bachelor accounting credits
Reply
#5
Yelp is just as bad. Here's a recent story explaining that they essentially do the same thing as BBB with constant harrassment of business owners to advertise, and for those who do not, good reviews get hidden.
On a Quest to Be Yelp's Worst Restaurant - ABC News
[URL="http://www.bottobistro.com/YELP.html"]
From the owners themselves: index[/URL]

It does not entirely escape suspicion that it is an ingenious marketing ploy for a restaurant that, perhaps, truly did earn some lower reviews by way of a few bad meals or service experiences. On the other hand, a family friend is a small business owner and commented that he is regularly bombarded with their insistence that he pay for advertising and, as a business that just started and is short spare capital for such things, he's declined and coincidentally seen some of his good reviews mysteriously filter out once he did (from reviewers with more than a few reviews, not just new accounts). I've heard that groups that do pay for advertising see their bad reviews filtered more often than not. That wacky algorithm seems largely driven by the cash deposited, and that defeats the purpose of what most users believe the site is supposed to be.

TLDR - Yelp is just as bad. The only saving grace is that users who are aware of their greasy advertising racket can go the extra mile of seeking out the filtered responses, because that is often where you'll find some of the more accurate viewpoints.
BSBA, HR / Organizational Mgmt - Thomas Edison State College, December 2012
- TESC Chapter of Sigma Beta Delta International Honor Society for Business, Management and Administration
- Arnold Fletcher Award

AAS, Environmental, Safety, & Security Technologies - Thomas Edison State College, December 2012
AS, Business Administration - Thomas Edison State College, March 2012
Reply
#6
sanantone Wrote:After my recent experience with the BBB, I began to question their credibility. A car company refused to replace something that was clearly covered under a warranty. They responded to my complaint that they still refuse to replace the item that was recovered under warranty. BBB thought this was sufficient enough and closed the case on a positive note on the business' end after I refused their response. They didn't investigate anything. So how does this car company that is gaining a reputation for low quality and seeing huge drops in stock value maintain its A+ rating? It pays to be accredited.

What makes BBB even worse is that it punishes businesses that don't pay for accreditation. If they get one or two complaints, even after they've been resolved years ago, they will get F, D, and C ratings. ABC caught representatives telling business owners that, if they pay for accreditation, their rating will be changed to an A. A day after paying, their ratings were changed. The BBB is very well-known, and Americans trust the ratings when making purchasing decisions. The BBB giving businesses a low rating for not paying is borderline extortion and libel.
Better Business Bureau: The Best Ratings Money Can Buy - ABC News

I'm not saying you are one of them, but there are a lot of people out there that think the better business bureau is a government agency, or some sort of watchdog. It is a member ran system. The BBB collects money from businesses to be a middle man. As long as the company addresses the complaint, the BBB considers it resolved. The BBB's loyalty are to its members, and not customers.
CLEPS Passed: 10 DSST Passed: 11 TECEPS: 1

PrLoko-isms
Don't waste time by trying to save time. The only sure way to complete your degree is to knock out credits quickly and efficiently.

Don't let easiness bite you in the rear. Know your endgame (where you want to be) and plan backward from there. Your education is a means to an end.

Be honest professionally, socially and academically. There are people (especially little ones) who look up to you and they're going by your example.

Be proud. Whether you're an Engineer or Fast Food worker, there is honor and dignity in hard work.

Picking on people weaker than you only proves that you are a weak person.
Reply
#7
Prloko Wrote:I'm not saying you are one of them, but there are a lot of people out there that think the better business bureau is a government agency, or some sort of watchdog. It is a member ran system. The BBB collects money from businesses to be a middle man. As long as the company addresses the complaint, the BBB considers it resolved. The BBB's loyalty are to its members, and not customers.

The BBB decides whether or not the complaint has been resolved. I've seen cases where a company addressed a complaint in the same manner, and it was considered unresolved. Now, I'm noticing that the companies that get the better treatment are paying members. If the BBB is not going to give fair treatment to all businesses, then it should only deal with member complaints. Their unfair treatment of non-members has serious repercussions. There are many people who get turned off by a business with an "F" rating.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
Reply
#8
What is the chain of command for a car company? Use that rather than BBB. Write the regional manager, or whoever is next up the chain. Take it all the way up the the CEO. See if your city/county/state has a consumer division. The BBB and yelp are not your only recourse.
TESU BSBA - GM, September 2015

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Earl Nightingale, radio personality and motivational speaker
Reply
#9
LaterBloomer Wrote:What is the chain of command for a car company? Use that rather than BBB. Write the regional manager, or whoever is next up the chain. Take it all the way up the the CEO. See if your city/county/state has a consumer division. The BBB and yelp are not your only recourse.

I already contacted the corporate office. That prompted the store manager to contact me, but she didn't agree to fix everything. I sent a complaint to the Texas Attorney General, but they only collect complaints until they see a pattern. They don't help individuals. I also sent a complaint to the FTC. They're the same. They collect complaints until they see a pattern, but they don't deal with individual cases. I did read a recent news story that said that the FTC has received almost 1,000 complaints about this car company in the past year.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
Reply
#10
Some old guy, who doesn't know very much about anything, wrote in another thread:

Johann Wrote:...If necessary, litigate 'em in small claims court until they don't have a tattered pair of skivvies to stand up in...Go bravely into battle, good soldier! Right is on your side.
Maybe you should get back to the corporate office - tell them you're not satisfied with the dealer's offer - and let them know you're quite willing to sue, if they don't come around. Be sure to ask for / take names and info for service of documents on the company and ask if that's really what they want. If it is - oblige them. Litigation of that sort is pretty easy; I'm sure that's part of why it's such a popular remedy. Smile

Who knows? If you're convincing enough, you might not even have to go that far, after all. But if you have to... fire away!

Johann
Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Why Bitcoin Is a Scam LevelUP 32 5,900 03-22-2024, 09:56 AM
Last Post: Ronald_P
  Nicaragua seizes all assets from INCAE Business School elcastor21 0 466 09-26-2023, 04:55 PM
Last Post: elcastor21
  Business 150 - Figure It Out. bjcheung77 0 584 09-28-2022, 03:11 PM
Last Post: bjcheung77
  Udemy Phishing Scam graduatesoon 0 1,040 04-10-2020, 04:34 PM
Last Post: graduatesoon
  Some Humanities Majors Fare Better than Business and CJ sanantone 3 1,829 10-29-2018, 01:34 PM
Last Post: sanantone
  Interested in International Business? burbuja0512 2 1,360 06-12-2018, 09:30 AM
Last Post: burbuja0512
  Warning: MUST Have STEM or Business Degree burbuja0512 11 3,423 02-25-2018, 04:58 AM
Last Post: burbuja0512
  What sort of entry-level business-related jobs are there? Thorne 11 2,838 02-08-2018, 03:53 PM
Last Post: Bibby
  VIPKids (teaching ESL to kids in China via the internet) -- scam or legit? dmjacobsen 10 4,598 06-11-2017, 12:26 PM
Last Post: dfrecore
  Honor Society Scam keepsingin 8 2,660 12-06-2016, 03:23 PM
Last Post: High_Order1

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 2 Guest(s)