BiggnightsPay For BBB Score Boost
April 27th 2009 20:56
Reporting today in the Orange County (California) Register, columnist Jan Norman discloses that the Better Business Bureau (BBB) gives higher rating scores to businesses that are members of the BBB than to those that are not members.
Despite the BBB website claiming that "not being a BBB member (which it calls “not accredited”) does not disparage the company in any way", the recently updated scoring system does award 4 points for membership in the organization. That means the only way a company can get the top A rating is if they are members.
For many consumers, BBB rating is the mark of excellence used to choose companies to do business with. Isn't this new approach a little (or not so little!) misleading?
Despite the BBB website claiming that "not being a BBB member (which it calls “not accredited”) does not disparage the company in any way", the recently updated scoring system does award 4 points for membership in the organization. That means the only way a company can get the top A rating is if they are members.
The grading system is based on 16 or 17 different factors, such as how long the company has been in business, whether it responds to and resolves complaints, how serious the complaints are and whether advertising raises “concerns.” Cox said the current grading system has been tested and modified since the original one developed by the BBB of the Southland, which serve Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
For many consumers, BBB rating is the mark of excellence used to choose companies to do business with. Isn't this new approach a little (or not so little!) misleading?
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