Better Business Bureau

Associations
Associations

The BBB is the mob without the guns! Here is how it really works. They are a franchise. A non profit although I do not know how they get away with that as many of the owners make over a million dollars a year! But they do. They solicit you to become a member with the promise that you will always have a very good rating if you simply "respond" not solve customer issues. Which is true but not fair. And that they have hand picked arbiters who almost always side with their accredited members. Also true. Their membership fees are based on the size of company and range from $420 to $75,000. You can likely guess your chances of wining arbitration against a $75,000 company! Also each local branch of the BBB has a "managing member committee" who are also accredited members and handle complaints against these members. Funny they never have a complaint. Must be perfect companies and screen their customers. I myself was a member and everything went well until I started taking tons of money from a managing partner of the West Michigan BBB, Above Roofing. The BBB demanded that I allow them to come into my office and they be able to take any customer file they wised and call for reference. They solicited and stole customer files with the help of an employee who had been fired. Contacted several customers soliciting complaints and even turned names of customers and their information over to news 8. They removed my A+ rating. I purchased $17,000 worth of advertising from Yellow Book who is an advertising "partner" of the BBB which simply means the BBB gets a kick back for advertising through them. Thought I would get my rating back. To my surprise I didn't. So I cancelled the next day only to have Terri Glenn call me within an hour stating they would reinstate my A+ rating if I did not cancel!!!! Other items you have to know.
1. If a company is being sued by a customer that customers compliant can not be posted!
2. If you become a member you sign a contract with the BBB that you will not make any kind of statement true or not that is derogatory about the BBB and if you do they will REVOKE YOUR MEMBERSHIP! And they do.
3. In this contract you give up your rights to sue the BBB.
For fun look up Jack's Wholesale Windows. He has an A rating. All negative reviews and tons of complaints yet an A rating. He buys advertising guaranteed.

Why doesn't the media report this? Because the BBB sells advertising for the local media. Although these facts have appeared on Money Line.

My request is for every small business TO UNITE AND REFUSE TO BE A MEMBER.

It is very unfortunate that many people actually believe this agency is a legitimate business. I have heard rumors that Al Capone started this agency. Can not verify that fact but can say he would have if he had thought of it!

Start with Trust: striving for an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers trust each other.The Better Business Bureau (BBB), founded in 1912, is a nonprofit organization focused on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 112 independently incorporated local BBB organizations in the United States and Canada. Nearly 400,000 local businesses in North America support the BBB.The BBB...

Start with Trust: striving for an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers trust each other. The BBB collects and provides free business reviews on more than 4 million businesses to over 123 million requests from consumers, helping make the BBB's website rank among the top 300 most-visited websites in the United States. The BBB serves as an intermediary between consumers and businesses,...

Mission An ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust each other Company Overview... Our Values To accomplish our mission, we commit to the following values to guide all of our decisions and behavior, with each other and with all those we serve: everywhere we operate. Integrity: Be honest and ethical in all of our business activities. Treat everyone with integrity, keeping our...