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AN INVESTIGATIVE NEWS SERIES ON THE STANDARDS AND PRACTICES OF THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU START WITH TRUTH |
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V 1.3 May
2009 |
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| HAMAS JOINS
BBB. PAYS LA BBB $425. GETS “A-“ GRADE. |
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| This story has
its genesis back in May of this year when Representative Anthony Weiner
(D-NY) appeared on Bill O’Reilly's show to talk about the bad business
practices of Goldline (A+
from the BBB). Here’s that video clip. Representative
Anthony Weiner (D-NY) on the O'Reilly Factor
At the end of the clip an incredulous Mr. O’Reilly is heard to ask “Are you saying the Better Business Bureau can be bribed?” Yes, Bill. In a word, YES! That's exactly what we're saying. The BBB has been busted in a grading scandal. The ONLY requirement to membership in the BBB (and the A grade that goes with it) is a valid credit card. BOGUS BUSINESS BUREAU We stated in an article last week, there’s a reason the LA BBB has spent $400,000 in legal fees to keep a slander case filed against them from ever going to trial. That reason is now clear. If this case were to go to trial, the entire scam of how the Better Business Bureau conducts business would be exposed for the world to see. Fortunately, we no longer need to wait for the outcome of this legal situation to play out as the BBB has just been exposed. Here's a screen shot of one of the LA BBB's newest members...the terrorist group HAMAS. Click on their grade to go directly to their full listing on the LA BBB website.  EDITORS
NOTE
The screen shots in all of the stories filed today represent a true and
accurate representation of the BBB reliability reports for HAMAS,
MOORE'S SUSHI, STARBUCKS AND VERIZON as they appeared at 12:03AM,
TUESDAY, JULY 20th, 2010.
If the BBB follows past behavior, these grades or business listings will be be disappeared sometime on July 20th, 2010. For those of you who question the veracity of the screen shots published in today's stories, rest assured we took the appropriate steps: we hired a forensic computer, expert witness, firm to verify and archive the contents of the website pages and screen shots used in today''s stories. We also notified a few of our colleagues in the mainstream media in advance of publishing these stories so that we'll have additional third-party, independent verification of the screen shots published in these stories. If you are a member of the media and want to verify screen shots (assuming the BBB has altered them in the meantime, please contact me at editor@bbbroundup.com and I will put you in touch with the forensic computer evidence firm. It would seem the BBB is in a dilemma of their own making. If they delete the listings outright it will smack of cover up. If they change the grades on any or all of the listings it will underscore the flaws in their grading algorithm. If they try and track down and prosecute those who joined the BBB with phony businesses (though this reporter is at a loss as to what possible legal basis said circumstances would fall under) then these business owners will finally get their day in court as the anti-SLAPP won’t apply. It would seem that the BBB’s only recourse is to pull a Steve Jobs G-4 strategy and admit the problem and fix it immediately. This would mean the immediate cessation of all forms of assigning grades to businesses, whether the current letter grade system or the previous satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade system. The BBB has been riding on the coat tails of their brand for at least a decade now. Today’s BBB bears no relation to your parents' BBB. Yet the BBB is quick to point out their high accreditation standards and the review process all business are subjected to before they are accepted as members of the Better Business Bureau. Click on any image to go directly to the corresponding page on the BBB website. 
 CBBB's President, Steve A. Cox, explains BBB's Core values and beliefs on October 5, 2009. His statement is notable for being as bogus as the bureau he represents. INESCAPABLE CONCLUSION: BBB
GRADES ARE FOR SALE.
So, where were these standards when the BBB accredited and welcomed the terrorist group HAMAS as a member? Now in case one might think this an isolated instance, be assured it’s not. A group of angry and frustrated businesses across the United States and Canada have decided to fight back. The registering of these BOGUS BUSINESSES has been ongoing for quite some time. The HAMAS registered with the BBB does not actually exist, except as a member of the Better Business Bureau. Here’s another Bogus Business that was awarded BBB accreditation from back in June of this year. Whatever happened to the review and acceptance that's supposed to be done by the local Board of Directors of the BBB?  GOOFY GRADES As bad and inexplicable as these Bogus Business grades from the BBB are, at least they harm nobody other than (possibly) the BBB itself through whatever fallout sticks to them for not following their own standards. Far more serious are their inexplicable Goofy Grades for non-member legitimate businesses. This reporter has long pointed out that the BBB grades non-member businesses unfairly. The BBB admits to a half-grade dissing of non-members just because they haven't paid to join the Bureau. (From an A- to a B+ for instance.) In my experience, the penalty for being a non-member business is far more severe. A telling case in point is the BBB grade for Starbucks.  The BBB seems fine with terrorists (and sushi restaurant suppliers), but draws the line at coffee shops. Why is that? Starbucks is lucky however. Their “F” grade has little, if any, impact on their bottom line. After all, what consumer is likely to check with the BBB before getting a cup of coffee. However, when it comes to the small business, a derogatory BBB grade can be disastrous. The BBB will no doubt pull out one of their hackneyed clichés about how their grade is just the BBB's opinion and the public is free to interpret it however they want. But when their grade is so prominently displayed--it's the number one attention getter on any company's BBB reliability report--then they are passing judgment. And when you pass judgment there can be consequences.  Unfortunately for Mile Chai (above screenshot) they are the poster child for Better Business Bureau abuse. We talked with the Aharon, owner of Mile Chai, a Jewish Bookstore in Denver, Colorado earlier today. He re-iterated a common theme among non-member businesses. The BBB refuses to discuss, meet, explain or otherwise substantiate their reasons for slanderous grades. In the case of Mile Chai, the 43 complaints posted by the BBB date back five or six years (not the three years stated by the BBB), have already been answered to the BBB on multiple occasions, and in all cases resolved to the customer's satisfaction. But the BBB claims that Mile Chai didn’t answer numerous complaints and deserves their poor grade. The truth is Mile Chai never received these alleged complaints because where ever the BBB may have sent them, it wasn’t to Mile Chai. In fact, the BBB has the wrong phone numbers and email addresses for Mile Chai so it's no wonder their complaint notifications never got through. Of course, the BBB, as previously reported, does not use email receipts to verify that their notifications have indeed reached the correct party.l It asks too much of a small business like Mile Chai to be clairvoyant enough to know and respond to complaints they never received. Yet, the BBB says they should be. Unfortunately, this is a complaint given by many non-member small businesses about BBB’s abusive tactics…the frequency with which this reporter has heard this scenario makes it impossible to overlook. But it gets worse. Mile Chai left multiple phone and email messages with the Denver BBB so they could clear up the situation. All were ignored. But Mile Chai was persistent, and finally decided to drop into the Denver BBB and explain their side of the situation. When they arrived, they were told in no uncertain terms to never, ever show up at the BBB without an appointment (which is impossible to get) and then shown the door. Of course, on the way out, they were told that if they were to pay the $400 plus it costs to join the Better Business Bureau, all the complaints would disappear and their grade would miraculously be transformed into an A. This is the type of arrogance and fraudulent behavior that is common place at BBB offices throughout the United States and Canada. |
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| CONCLUSION It’s obvious that the grades given businesses by the BBB are meaningless. Sure, they may use some “algorithm” or formula to produce a grade, but this grade is not worth the pixels its displayed with. BBB Grades certainly have no usefulness to the consumer. Undeserved, unwarranted Bad Grades besmirch innocent businesses unfairly. This costs jobs in the long run. And all the while the BBB hides behind the anti-SLAPP motion, claiming they are a consumer watchdog and entitled to protection from the courts. What’s clear as day is that the BBB does absolutely zero due diligence on the companies they grade. They mislead the consumer into believing some businesses are great when they in fact might not even exist, and that other businesses are frauds when they in fact are excellent businesses with a great track record of outstanding products, services and customer relationships. The sad part in all this is that the consumer is being ill served, and small businesses are being driven out of business (with the corresponding loss of jobs) in these perilous times, just so the BBB can line its pockets with ill gotten gains. It’s hard enough to start a small business, or keep an existing small business alive, in today’s economic environment. To have an organization like the Better Business Bureau so grossly misuse their power and prestige to harm innocent small businesses is unacceptable, while simultaneously misleading consumers about the merits of dubious companies is just plain wrong. Excessive greed has no place in America. It remains the underlying cause of today’s economic climate. When excessive greed is found in an organization that has the public trust, that is supposed to be a non-profit, good works organization, it's a far greater tragedy. A few days ago the GOP called for the IRS to strip the NAACP of their tax exempt status. I’d like the see the DEMOCRATS call for the IRS to strip the BBB of its tax exempt status. And while that’s going on, I suggest the BBB rename itself the BOGUS BUSINESS BUREAU. It certainly fits far better than the Better Business Bureau and at least would have the distinction of being one of the few true statements put out by the BBB these days. |
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| Editor's note: There is a need for a consumer advocacy group that the public can turn to, and it used to be that the Better Business Bureau fulfilled this role adequately. No longer. 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. If they refuse to reform, then they must bear the consequences. | |
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