Better Business Bureau

A lot of people are surprised when they see that I wrote a negative review about the Better Business Bureau. They assume the review is about how you can use the Better Business Bureau as a resource for going after scam artists.

No, I think the Better Business Bureau is as bad as many of the scammers they go after. I will give you my story and why I feel that the Better Business Bureau is a resource that you should not only avoid joining but also avoid using. You be the judge.

Let me give you a bit of background information first.

1.    The Better Business Bureau is not a governmental agency.  Each office is run by a board of directors,  but are not governmentally owned and have no real power.  If you have a complaint, they can suggest only.  They can't do anything.  All they can do is say that you are bad or good (their opinion) and send you a form to file a complaint. Again,  they have NO power!  If you don't agree with what they recommend, they can't do anything!  The only agency that has the power to resolve, help mitigate and/or fine or inflict punishment is The Attorney General of the state where the business is located.  

2.  The BBB charges to be a member. I have no problem with them charging but the way they have it set up is a total scam. There is an offline BBB and an online BBB. You have to pay $350 a year to belong to either. If you are an online business you must first join the offline for $350 and then the online for another $350.  Their methods- or I should say "undertone" they use is intimidating.  You get the impression that you're "in for a rough time" if you don't join.  They don't say it in so many words, but the implication is there just the same.  In my opinion, the reason most businesses join the BBB, is because either:
     a) they felt intimidated, or
     b) think the BBB logo gives them credibility

3.  The Better Business Bureau will not list information about you unless you are a member or have complaints. Sometimes they do keep a file on you even if you don't belong.  That means that if you don't join and have zero complaints, this is what customers hear if they try to check up on you, "The Better Business Bureau has NO  info on this company". That makes it sound like you are shady or something.

We've been in business over 15 years and we seldom get a complaint.  Yes,  we've had a couple of unhappy travelers over the years, and we solved the complaint in house.   There was no need for an outside negotiator.  If you have ever been in business, I'm sure you'll agree...no matter how you try extra hard  to try to please everyone- it's impossible!  There are always a couple of people  you can never satisfy.

Have you ever heard of an attorney belonging to the BBB?  How about a doctor, your grocery store, department store, car repair garage, restaurant, drug store, etc?  Get the picture?  These people must know something.  Why do you expect certain people to belong to the BBB- but not others? The Attorney General is probably not the governing agency for all of these people to file a complaint, but there is a governmental agency that polices each of them.  Also, your credit card provider or your bank is a good place to go for help, but certainly NOT the BBB.

The BBB might disagree but I would think most people would back me up. Here is what happened to me. I hope you can benefit from it:

A gentleman purchased one of my vacations after reading one of my newspaper ads.  He told me "he wanted to surprise his wife". 

A few days later, I received a letter from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and enclosed was a  copy of a letter from a woman making a complaint.  After reading the name and a few lines of the lady's complaint, I realized it was obviously the wife of the man who said "he wanted to surprise his wife."

Needless to say, I was stunned!  The lady made a lot of accusations:  She claimed I had abused her while speaking on the phone.  She claimed that I had over-charged her, and that I was running a scam.  She went on with several more accusations.  She said she wanted her money returned.  I hardly knew how to respond to such an accusation and complaint. 

I wrote back to the BBB and answered.  I said "I've never spoken with or met the lady, so how could I abuse and over-charge her"?  A few days later her un-knowing husband eventually found out what his wife was doing and interceded.  He was unaware that she even knew anything about his purchase.  But he did step in and told the BBB that "he was indeed intending to surprise his wife with a cruise, and didn't understand how his wife found out or how she became involved".  He did say that "the person at The Bahamas Connection had never spoken with his wife"...and he apologized for the trouble his wife had caused.

And what did the BBB do?  They wrote a report that the complaint had been settled "satisfactorily".  SATISFACTORILY!  What would anyone deduce from reading this report?  The report didn't say that an "insane" lady had made a complaint, and she had no basis to file a complaint  No, the BBB made it sound like we probably had to repay some money- or perhaps that we had been given a tongue-lashing and told "don't do it again"...or perhaps the BBB had "rescued a citizen from an evil merchant".  The BBB made it sound like we had done something wrong, but had we had settled.  The Better Business Bureau indeed!

At the time of this writing, we are boycotting the Better Business Bureau. We will still use businesses that are members but only if we have to. Maybe the name is a credibility builder for some people but not to me nor to the people who have heard my story.  I've heard of some businesses  members that felt  pressured into joining.   Yes, we lose some business because we don't belong.  Sometimes  a caller asks if you belong to the BBB before asking about your vacations.  But that will just have to be.

I appreciate any e-mails or stories that people can send me about their experiences with the Better Business Bureau (good or bad). You can forward them to me at the e-mail address.