Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois Gave Me Poor Customer Service! f**k YOU!
Back on Tuesday, June 6th, 2023 at approximately 12:10 p.m. - 12:15 p.m., I contacted the Better Business Bureau Of Chicago & Northern Illinois because I had a legitimate issue that I wanted to resolve! When I called them up, a lady answered the phone and all that I said was if she was still there? When I said that, she Hung Up On Me Immediately! I then called back and I believe the same lady answered the phone who went by the name of "Larissa Smith" and she also Hung Up On Me for just Being Upset For Being Hung Up On By The First (1st) Female Representative! I Honestly Believe that Both Hang Ups Were By The Same Individual! This type of Customer Service was Beyond Poor And Disgusting and Far From What I Expect To Receive Coming From The Better Business Bureau Of Chicago & Northern Illinois! I did call them back for a Third (3rd) Time and spoke to a male representative who solved my problem, but the Experience Overall Was Very Poor! I have a 0.00 Tolerance For Abusive Behavior Coming From Anybody Whether It Be Family, Friends or Especially In The Corporate World and this "Larissa Smith" Needs To Learn How To Deal With Customers Or Else Do Not Do Your d**n Job Anymore! Thank you. Sincerely yours, Howard Paul Shore Executive, Volunteer Writer And Promoter For Google Maps And Tripadvisor Websites Angry, Upset And Pissed Off Better Business Bureau Of Chicago & Northern Illinois User And Customer And Social Media Writer /HPS
I give the Better Business Bureau of South FL (aka BBB of South Florida) and especially the lousy, rotten weasel named Andre Amaro who works there, an F-RATING for extorting small business owners such as myself with a bad alphabetical rating due to UNVERIFIED NON-CUSTOMER complaints that they base the rating on. Andre Amaro is in charge of approving reviews and complaints and he is a scum of the earth punk.
ANY anonymous individual can log-on to the BBB's website and file a complaint or post a negative review about ANY company. ANY individual can do this, even a competitor in the same industry as the business receiving the complaint, for the sole purpose of bashing the competition. For this reason (and many others), the BBB is a SHAMEFUL ORGANIZATION that should be sued by more small business owners until hopefully they go bankrupt defending all of the lawsuits.
Just Google "ABC 20/20 BBB investigation". There is a video where the acclaimed ABC Network TV show '20/20" exposed the BBB for engaging in the practice of "ratings for dollars".
The BBB has to be on the list of one of the most corrupt, business paid off organizations. Much like our government themselves. No matter how many complaints you submit to the BBB they pretty much do nothing besides collect their money and allow businesses to engage in illegal practices.
The BBB needs to be completely put out of existence they serve 0 purpose besides protecting businesses.
I filed a complaint about Extendicare who owns ParaMed regarding one of thier PSW's I hired who stole from me while in my home, taking over my accounts info, and having me make them my POA as well as Estate Trustee and Beneficiary.
I was so ill, with no family to rely on, needed care and food and she used her postion to ingratiate herself to me and I was helpless and she gained my trust.
I filed said complaint after a ten month recuperation and paying the agency who would do nothing about what happened and was spinning my wheels all the while so I wrote a complaint to BBB who sent a generic refusal to file complaint to me via email months after my complaint, and left a no. to call if I disagreed with them.
No answer back so I pushed the issue since a few years back I had filed a complaint about a company who tried to steal thousands of dollars and they refused that complaint as well. I took the matter into my own hands and recouped my funds after making the issue very clear to their lawyer.
In this complaint about Extendicare which owns ParaMed, again BBB Kitchener is refusing to post my complaint. I not only smell a payoff of somekind, I am now sure of it and am less than impressed with someone who is employed by BBB, is unable to respond in any sort of professional manner and is covering for a large corporation this time round.
If is walks like a duck, it's a duck.
I am a Law Clerk, do not ever say anything I can't back up with paper trails and proof if Ms. Jen Bowman would have taken the care to ask for it.
I had already tried dealing with pertinent employees of ParaMed and all they wished to do was spin it to my frustration. This employee is going to seriously endanger some at risk patient and at the very least steall all their estate and this company and BBB could care less!
As far as I am concerned BBB is not only a complete joke, they are bordering on illegal activities and pay offs.
In 2008, i won the houston better business bureau's most coveted first-place pinnacle award for my former employer, owner of a well-known window and door company, and subsequently reported him to the houston bureau for awards fraud, but the houston bureau refused my complaint, protected the employer and vilified and persecuted me. I later learned And wrote about) the history of awards and that the council of better business bureaus Cbbb) launched the awards program in 2000 because the organization was essentially broke and needed a dependable cash cow to expand and compete against encroaching consumer advocates in the 21st century; the bbb previously depended upon inconsistent donations and memberships.
The awards program was a meritless advertising gimmick whereby whimsical judges picked recipients from winner-centric applications, not on-site evaluations. Yet the bbb speciously advertised, expressed or implied, that its "awards for excellence" was evaluated. Furthermore, even though i complained, the bbb never divulged to the public the truth about its awards, which evidenced fraud. The online awards program attracted millions of dollars in business to members every year, and members turnstiled awards-garnered revenue to the houston bureau through advertising and membership fees, and the houston bureau trickled income to the cbbb as "bureau dues."
I alleged the awards program was an awards racket and money laundering scheme. As a result, consumers favor products and services from bbb-endorsed award recipients. In fact, only bbb members can participate in the awards program, and the bbb's online business-reporting service promotes members over nonmembers; both initiatives infringe upon free trade and nuance a monopoly of the marketplace.
When completing answers for the awards application in 2008, i warned my former employer that he had to fulfill all procedures that i wrote; that procedures would increase sales and improve customer service by correcting outstanding service and sales issues. The employer promised, and i submitted the application. But the employer lied, refused to enact procedures, and threatened me into silence. He hired a felon as my assistant in the accounting department with access to customer files and finances; he warned me "it's easy to set up someone." we won, and the employer accepted the houston bureau's ultimate truth award, the pinnacle. Thereafter, sales and services deteriorated to the detriment of customers while he bragged about his pinnacle.
The houston bureau distributed award entry forms to its members about january of every year, which included several "ethics" questions. Judges selected award recipients from best-written responses and announced winners every may at a banquet ceremony. There were no interim on-site visits to substantiate finalists.
I left the employer in september 2008 and reported his awards fraud to the houston bureau and cbbb. An abundance of evidence proved the employer's magnitude of awards fraud, and that i authored the awards application. Dan parsons, president of the houston bbb, stepped in and dismissed the investigation after meeting with the employer and without allowing my rebuttal. And the cbbb sided with the houston bureau. Thereafter, i reported the houston bureau and cbbb to the texas attorney general and federal trade commission with no results. During this time, in january 2009, the cbbb launched its alpha-numeric rating score to replace its "satisfactory/unsatisfactory" predecessor. My complaint did result in the introduction of a compliance statement on the awards application.
In 2008, i also filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the employer, not the bbb. The employer floundered for several years until the houston bureau allegedly hijacked my lawsuit to prosecute me through employer counterclaims, including slander, breach of fiduciary duties, and conversion/theft, in keeping with my former duties as a chief financial officer whereby i was in charge of company finances, accounts receivable, and customer files. Slander was charged because i reported the employer to state and federal regulatory agencies. Breach of fiduciary duties was charged because the employer staged my office after a hurricane in a manner to create liability; another company officer admitted on the witness stand that he staged my office. Conversion was a given because i admitted keeping paperwork as evidence against the employer for self-defense, but conversion had a two-year statute of limitations, which the judge did not honor. And theft was a maliciously fabricated throw down meant to ruin and imprison me to protect the bbb's pristine image and lucrative awards program; the employer was also carrying out his previous threat to set me up like the felon. I escaped pinstripes by representing myself because i believed my attorney was compromised by the bbb and its attorney litigating for the employer. From the witness stand, i accused the employer of being a "liar and thief" for stealing the pinnacle. I wasn't allowed to elaborate on the bbb's scandalous history and proclivities. Additionally, the houston bureau presented its executive director, candace twyman, as a witness for the employer; she accused me of false statements, yet she said nothing about my good-faith attempt to report the employer for consumer fraud and demand for revocation of his pinnacle award. After i accused the employer of defrauding the houston bureau, twyman never testified.
I later learned that our trial had been delayed in order for the houston bureau to complete another trial involving defamation respective to a bad rating score. The houston bbb won the case, greenlit my trial, and segued the verdict into my court proceedings to enable defamation against me; verdict determined that rating scores could essentially defame anyone under the right of opinion. My trial's verdict denied employment discrimination claims against the employer, charged me with conversion, and opened irs charges against the employer. The jury denied theft charges. The employer sought dismissal of the case and he walked free of liability. I sought justice through writer's requital and wrote the apo$tate, which includes extensive research and emails and evidence omitted in court that also substantiate my claims and allegations against the bbb, including violation of its irs nonprofit exemption classification as a profiteering-based organization. One has to ask how and why a humble nonprofit attacked a civilian? My book explains. @caryncain https://amazon.com/dp/0578216906
Additionally, my book includes a subject also covered by the scamion involving abc 20/20's documentary about a "terror group..." written in 2010. The article included a link to a letter written by the former attorney general of connecticut, richard blumenthal, whereby he criticized cbbb's new rating score. Cbbb introduced the school-style rating score in 2009 to reinforce the awards program and fuel new memberships by trading high rating scores for membership fees. Blumenthal's letter was later removed, but i present a copy of his letter herein.
The apo$tate contains copies of all other stated evidence with the exception of the 2008 list of pinnacle award winners, which i present herein because the houston bbb apparently deleted from the internet.
Furthermore, all information provided herein is presented under the protection of the first amendment and right of opinion, same as the bbb allegedly abuses to disparage and manipulate its adversaries.
I am renting and have had to deal with roaches, mold, damage to property, landlord allowing people to come into home without notice, no hot water, etc. The list goes on and on.
I sent a letter to the BBB requesting assistance. This is the response I received:
BBB Complaint Case 34066052
We regret to inform you that BBB cannot process your complaint. The case has been reviewed and was found to contain issues that are out of BBB's Purview. Your complaint would be best handled by the Attorney General's office listed below:
SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Physical Address: 293 Greystone Blvd STE 400, Columbia SC 29210
Mailing Address: PO Box 5757, Columbia SC 29250
(803) 734-4200
(800) 922-1594
www.consumer.sc.gov
Although we are unable to assist at this time, please remember that your BBB provides many valuable services to you both prior to making a purchase and after. If we can be of service to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us.
I asked why they wouldn't help and have not heard back. This tells me that the BBB will help who they want and not help the people who need assistance. I will NEVER ask for assistance again. What a worthless agency. Again, just a bunch of people behind a desk who want money and don't want to help.
In April 2020 I submitted a complaint through the BBB website (https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/get-started). In lieu of Small Claims Court I was seeking mediation regarding a contract dispute I'm (as of November 2020) having with an obstinate, unprofessional drywall company in Portland, OR.
I was clearly complaining about a specific drywall company (subcontractor for a General Contractor in my town) but a BBB representative recorded my complaint against a fake company with similar spelling (similar as the General Contractor) in a different city. I informed 4 different people at the local BBB and international BBB of the deception, but the BBB failed to acknowledge the deceipt or correct the record.
On 18 June, 2020 the BBB informed me that it was "unable to pursue the matter further, we have closed your case as unresolved. Your complaint will remain on the business's record for three years and will be reflected in their Business Review." There is no such business CURRENTLY (and never with business license of my General Contractor).
Therefore there is no record of a legitimate complaint against drywall company of Portland, OR.
I can't believe how incompetent this office is at their jobs.
I filed a complaint against a contractor for failing to install 7 fence posts per the terms of the written agreement. I had contacted this company numerous times before the complaint over the phone and in writing, and they failed to respond. I gave them a deadline and stated if I didn't hear back from them by "x" date that I would be filing a BBB report and one with the AG's office. So, I filed.
Immediately following filing, the contractor arrived at my home, banging on the door without an appointment and sent me written correspondence. Over the course of two weeks, the CEO and the contractor's son sent written correspondence to me by e-mail. All of this correspondence was forwarded to the BBB for their records. I planned on filing suit in small claims court per the AG of Kansas's recommendation, but I discussed the problem with my credit card provider and they agreed to open a dispute to reduce my stress and to expedite the problem.
Mackenzi, the BBB rep, closed out the file without a proper written response from me, citing she had my response from the correspondence and that the CEO was obviously trying to work out an arrangement with me, although I knew better from their track history with me and others. And, following their supposed resolution, they sent a contradictory one in the mail that failed to match the original written terms, trying to wriggle out of properly applying Creo Coat to the posts by extending the warranty. That wasn't the agreement, and I have no faith the company will stay in business that long considering their shoddy workmanship. No other BBB handles complaints this way.
They formally send the customer a response by e-mail asking if the resolution from the business is acceptable. Then, the complaint is closed. Moreover, I had to hear the complaint was closed from the CEO who openly bragged in writing about getting it closed. When I requested that it be reopened, Mackenzi flat out refused. I asked to speak to her supervisor, and she initially didn't provide her information although she claimed she would call me. Another 3 weeks later, still no callback. Over the course of over 45 days, I e-mailed the contractor 3x regarding setting a date for utilities and reinstallation. No replies.
I e-mailed Mackenzi and stated the contractor didn't live up to the resolution. She agreed to reopen the complaint, and I said I'd give them another 2 weeks to respond. At that point she finally provided her supervisor's phone number. When they failed to respond and American Express honored the dispute in my favor, I sent Mackenzi an e-mail with an update and told her I was tired of haranguing the contractor. I said she could reopen it or not, but I was providing them with the new information all the same for public records. I further said I would happily repay the contractor when they install as contracted. I received this message back from Mackenzi: "The BBB has audited your complaint history through our system and found that we can no longer handle your complaints against a business in good faith. Any current and future complaints will be closed as invalid."
What? I will freely admit I file my share of BBB complaints and am prone to whinging if something goes awry because that is what the forum is about, but all of my complaints are factual. Period. And, this e-mail isn't going to prevent me from continuing to file complaints. In the future, I am copying and pasting all complaints into a Word document. And, I will be compiling them and submitting complaints about this office and other offices that fail to properly record my complaints for record or fail to forward my complaints to the business.
I'll further say that I have filed BBB complaints recently, and the only office failing to process them is the Kansas City location. I recently pulled up the complaint history with the contractor, and they removed my complaint. I also pulled up the Google review I left for their office through Kansas City. Under my Google login, it shows the complaint is posted for the public to see. If I pull it up without the login, the complaint isn’t shown. Therefore, I believe the BBB of Kansas City contacted Google and suppressed my complaint.
More importantly, they sided with the business when I supplied ample documentation to show they were at fault, they had not resolved the matter and even sent them a record of the CEO’s criminal history published on the Missouri Secretary of State’s website. I have recently filed a complaint against the BBB with the attorney general of Virginia, where their International Association of Better Business Bureau’s is located. The behavior out of this office is absolutely atrocious.
I tried to keep an open mind with the BBB over the years, but all the bad press is valid. They don't care about the customer; they care more about collecting fees from business owners.
I discovered that BBB has been serving consumers since 1912, but the rating system has been called 'seriously flawed.' the BBB is merely facilitating communication between themselves and a company or that to learn that the BBB was unable to force a company to take action. This stems from an erroneous perception that the BBB is a government agency. It is not. It is, in fact, a business membership organization with chapters spread across the country.
What surprise is that BBB is primarily a business membership organization, not a government agency. A company has an "A" rating with the BBB, that doesn't mean the company is trustworthy. It simply means that the company has upheld its obligation to the BBB and followed their membership rules.
BBB may offer consumers a way to communicate with a business and voice their concerns but unable to force a business to do anything. And just because a business is responding to you through the BBB does not necessarily mean that you'll get anywhere. Businesses wanting to display that blue torch on their BBB websites and marketing materials must pay an annual fee. Small businesses with up to 100 employees generally have to pay anywhere from $500 to $1,500 per year; larger companies could pay upwards of $10,000 annually.
I filed a complaint to BBB of Los Angeles and Silicon Valley against a company name Your Mechanic. Your mechanic provides mechanic mobile services. I scheduled an installation of brake pads for my back breaks for $158.77. Your mechanic sent out a mechanic name Hugo and he suppose to have 21 years of experience. He installs brake pads on top of wrapped rotor which cause my car to make noise and a burning smell.
I called Your mechanic to report Hugo and the installation brakes issue. I inform them about the issues about my car such as loud noises and smell of smoke. I had a warranty and Your mechanic refuse to honor their own warranty. I filed a complaint through BBB March 2020, and it is still unresolved, they closed my case after I had my car inspected by another mechanic. BBB wanted to protect the poor reputation that Your mechanic has with customers. It was a waste of time to go through BBB process, they favor their members such as Your mechanic who pays them a fee.
Beware of Better Business Bureau, customers should be cautioned that the Better Business Bureau can in no way obligate a business to do anything. While a consumer sits around hoping for a response from a company, a response that might never come, that consumer could have already contacted your States Attorney General's Office or bega n legal proceedings.
The BBB has given Chegg, Inc, an A+ rating, in spite of the fact that Chegg is not rated A+ anywhere else on the internet's biggest rating sites. They censored complaints that I made against Chegg for their dishonest and deceptive billing practices, and unfair banning of accounts. This was an issue with several different users, as evidenced by social media comments and TrustPilot, SiteJabber, and ConsumerAffairs reviews, as well as complaints on BBB's own website that were censored.
Chegg bans paying customers for using multiple devices (even though it's not against their ToS), falsely accuses them of account sharing, revoking the account just a few days after deducting money from your bank. They're a clearly dishonest business, yet the BBB gives them an A+ rating.
Similarly, BBB gives other dishonest businesses, like AT&T, an A+ rating as well. the BBB is clearly corrupt and unreliable, and not credible.
When a Consumer who paid money for services, or for anything takes the time to write a letter to the BBB in Connecticut, they get nowhere in their complaint, AND the business in question has an "open microphone" to sling mud, falsely assasinate the Character of the Consumer, lie, deceive, etc., AND THE BBB DOES NOTHING TO ADDRESS THIS ABUSE!
In fact, they will ignore the lies of the hateful responses that are far below professional and often downright unlawful character and consumer abuse.
What the BBB in Connecticut WILL do is take the money of the BUSINESS and call the complaint "settled" or not allow such a legitimate complaint even appear at all.
Why? They are totally funded by the BUSINESSES that pay annual dues and NOT by the Consumer, so the more "members" of this privately held company the better for them...
After some investigation, it turns out that the BBB [also shown on 20/20 and other news shows] is entirely funded by these crooked businesses that violate ethical, moral and legal standards everyday of their existence and often times deserve to find themselves in jail, but the BBB covers for these abusive, mud-slinging companies and "close" the complaint!
Whatever happened to Mediation services?
Not offered. When you contact the BBB headquarters to complain about the Connecticut Branch, you are told that the BBB branches are much like a McDonald's chain store as they are FRANCHISE!
The "Owner" of such a Franchise can ignore their duty to fairly mediate disputes entirely because, after all, they bought the Franchise and will take as many Dues-paying companies as possible.
And get this- IF you are complaining about a company that is NOT already a dues-paying member [big mistake], they will ENCOURAGE THE NEW BUSINESS WITH AN A+ RATING IF THEY JOIN THE BBB!
I have seen this done several times.
A woman who worked in the Connecticut office named "Kristin" was the worst of this.
Would not listen to reasonable complaints at all if the business was to be a new member for them to get money paying dues from.
This is FRAUD.
All Consumers should see the BBB as a Franchise business that does nothing to protect Consumers.
The site promises Business To Business Or Customer To Business: But it doesn't do anything.
If you complain about a company and then the company responds, the result is the company automatically wins, there is no negative outcome for the buisiness complained about and not matter what was said or done by the business including:; horrible customer service, denial of service, failure to complete a service, low quality goods, low quality service, failure to provide those goods, as long as the business responds there is no negative outcome for the accused business.
The problem is they never do anything. If you complain to them then they contact the business and if the business replies then the business wins. But even if the accused business does not respond at all nothing happens and nothing is ever done. So they do not do anything, ever.
As far as I am concerned, the BBB is a scam because how is it you can get away with doing nothing and offering a service you never do. The Better Business Bureau is a scam which is funny because people report scams and file complaints to them but they don't do anything with the information and they get paid to do nothing.
Imagine offerring the ability to report or complain about a business and then do absolutely nothing and whether or not the business responds at all is abitary because they do not do anything but contact the business, ask for a reply and that is it and if the business replies then the business wins if it doesn't reply nothing will happen to it.
After all businesses pay the BBB, so why would they take away their A+ rating because they are paid for the rating?
And if I complain then they don't do anything but contact the business, if there is a response then they win and I get "Business responded but customer not satisfied." And the rating is still A+ and nothing happened.
If the business does not respond then I receive "Business did not response. We take these things very seriously here." And then nothing happens and no punishment is issued.
There is no punishment and therefore no service or arbitration which is what they are offering.
Consumers - Watch out for this BBB location. They do not do the work to help consumers and cover for their paying corporate clients. Most consumers are not aware that how the BBB gets funded is through corporate/company money and by paying the BBB will take off the bad ratings and cover for unethical companies.
This organization knows that one of their top companies has a lot of issues and looks othe other way routinely. You cannot expect results from the BBB as they are more interested in making sure their high paying corproate clients are protected. And, they blame the consumers and make them wrong.
Here is what appears to be the form email from the BBB in closing my complaint:
Thank you for following up with BBB regarding your position in the above-mentioned dispute.
We understand you are NOT satisfied with the business's response, and have noted your disatisfaction in our files. While we regret we were unable to reach your desired resolution, the business has provided BBB with its position. This matter is now closed in BBB files, and will appear in the company's BBB Business Review as: "Answered - the business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer remains dissatisfied.""
We have been on business for over 20 yrs.. NEVER been to court, hold a masters plumbing , electrical and havac along with a class A license i received this email stating we are no longer an "accredited recognized business!" ... we have more experience and have done everything the RIGHT WAY! however we did not pay there fee and therefore are no longer Accredited. this is extortion and misleading to the general public.. Folks use your neighbors and friends for referrals not these pyramid extortionists bbb company. See images from Kelsey Coleman of the washinton DC BBB.
On numerous occasions, I've contacted the BBB to resolve disputes with businesses. It's rarely ever helped.
One time, a company sent me a new laptop that was faulty. When I spoke to customer service, they said they'd pay return shipping because it was their fault. They then refused to. Contacting the BBB did nothing because I was informed that there was some clause in the company's customer agreement that put mediation to another external company or system. I was told I'd hear from them. I never did. I just ended up paying a ridiculous amount of shipping to return a new laptop that didn't work, after being told I wouldn't have to. What's more is that the BBB gave the business an 'A' for resolving things so well. Apparently haivng an external company or system deal with mediation automatically got them an 'A.'
On another occasion, I had a company commit fraud on my credit card. This company toyed around with me for months, dodging me, claiming to be willing to resolve things but not actually doing the work to. They attempted to resolve the issue through the BBB by offering me a gift card. I had them commit fraud on my credit card. I didn't want to be forced to use that money which I never intended to spend at their business on things at their store. The BBB thought this was a great resolution and closed the case, giving them a good rating.
All of this was sickening to me. The BBB revealed itself as corrupt and ultimately more about giving the appearance of a resolution than the actuality of it. Don't trust them with a resolution process. You may end up being stiffed time and again, like I was. I've had better results with the Attorney General (though it's taken longer). Next time, I think I'd just file a police report instead. I put my faith in the BBB and they really didn't deserve it. Allowing businesses game the system like this is sickening. But, you'd never know that from the pretty 'A' ratings they're given. Take them with a grain of salt. They don't mean a thing. Trust me.
As is apparently common knowledge, this is a corrupt untrustworthy organization motivated by one thing and one thing only: greed. The business ratings have no weight whatsoever. I opened a complaint for poshmark, and stated that they had allowed for a fraudulent return on the part of the buyer, losing me the money i was owed for the sale. They responded with a couple selected details from the case that i had already stated in my complaint. I marked this as not satisfactory and said that i would not accept anything less than them admitting their wrongdoing. The bbb stepped in after this and considered the case closed. I couldn’t believe it. It’s as if they didn’t even bother examining the business’s response. I was shut down with no questions asked, and certainly was given no real shot at my complaint being resolved. In no way was the business held accountable, and the bbb seemed to exhibit a very strong bias in taking sides with them. But then i put two and two together - over 700+ complaints filed, overwhelmingly negative reviews written, and this business has a b rating? Plus, on top of this, the business gets to respond with a couple of sentences not even addressing the problem, and the bbb swoops in to close the case in their favor?? Then it made sense. Accreditation. Poshmark is accredited. Meaning they can pay bbb in order to maintain a stellar, unrealistically high rating. And all they need to do is 'respond’ to complaints, avoiding any real accountability and ensuring the bbb will always side with them no matter what the complaints say. It’s sad, i thought the bbb would advocate for me - i was proven wrong.
This is corruption at its finest. Bureaucracy winning out over the little people. It’s disgusting. Bbb apparently has been confronted politically and legally about this and they of course deny it. Poor Yscam has an f rating over there - only because the cronies hate to be consistently called out as the con artists they are. I’m going to write an a+ review of Yscam on the bbb site, stating that the f rating is only due to rr not paying them their dirty money- and that it really deserves an a+ for bringing the bbb’s rampant corruption to light. I laugh about the fact that i once thought threatening to file a complaint with the better business bureau was serious...Will never ever resort to this bullying abuse of authority ever again.
BBB Houston is a forum for any unsubstantiated accusations by mentally unstable customers or even "shake-down-artists"
No business can adequately defend itselt against BBB's open solicitation of ANY accusations by ANYONE. They do not bother to inspect jobsites, merchandise, etc. TRUTH has no place whatsoever in their "organization's" desire TO SELL MEMBERSHIPS
TO BUSINESSES ACCUSED OF ANYTHING - ESPECIALLY UNPROVEN CLAIMS or even bizarre claims by persons on
psychotropic medications.
After my Houston, Texas company was BLACKMAILED into paying many thousands of dollars to a narcotics addict AND
twice convicted felon in lieu of negative posts to BBB, we received an "F -' rating. Oddly, BBB CONTACTED ME REPEATEDLY
TO SELL ME MEMBERSHIPS...
BBB did NOTHING WHATSOEVER to help us even though this man's convictions and incarcerations were fully known.
I had an "F-" rating for 4 years!
Incidently, this BBB "complainant" was arrested recently by DEA for money laundering and narcotics traffiking again
and is incarcerated.
When will BBB be sued in a national and regional "class-action"? Or perhaps even be investigated as a possible
Better business bureau in calgary and kooteneys defames small companys with little or no information to go by. Anybody who even hates the way you look can apply!
Just looked at our company profile forced on us by this crooked company. We never gave these crooks permission to put our company name on the web!
Why is our name advertised by them without consent? Crooked system with despots running it!
We never signed up with hese despots! At least with yelp you do sign up. This is a trap also because in their fine print the review records are their property for life!
Don't sign up with any of these reviewer type despots either!
This is why i'm leaving this report. same way they defame people all over the world and slow down the progress of companies all over.
So,
I Found out that there was a review by someone who says they have no paper work to prove their a customer at any given time. With their own words no less!
They claimed to be overbilled and don t like where equipment is placed or where the trucks we use are parked.
I Phoned Better business bureau in calgary and kooteneys(bbb) to tell them they were lost. Worst business bureau despots!
I said why do you post someones review when they themselves admit their not a customer or at least they have no proof of using our company?
Then proceed to say they were ripped off?
This shows that bbb in calgary , despots!, will use any means to dig their teeth into any company small or large.
You have to give them an email address to send back in rebuttle in this case to a non existant and possibly a competitor so called customer.
We have been solicited many times in the past to join this despotic company for $500 per year. The fact is that this is a terrible waste of money that can go to real needs like advertising or a host of other small business expenses.
When they call you they act as an authority like workmans compensation for example. Their tone is cross with you like your in violation of the law because your not paying them.
Also,
Large companies have been known to address issues with customers of theirs. They go back and forth with the customer until it is said to be resolved. The thing is that typically nothing is done and then the company goes on their merry way anyway?!
This proves that this bbb despot system doesnt work and hurts legitimate companies trying to make an honest living.
Reviews are a joke as well as dishonest companies can have their own people post reviews showing how great they AREN'T
They have to go on the side of the company that pays or they would go out of business. So they always turn their back eventually on the complaintant to support the vendor.
The saying goes. You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time.
BBB is a waste of time as well as others such as:
yelp
trusted pros
google
or any others on the internet providing reviews like the despots they are!!!
There is three sides in every dispute. The bbb is in the niddle bu their not nutral. They are looking only for money. The results have no consequence unless you believe their purpose is to help people. If so, provide a victim fund.
They have created a large platform of bs for the rest of us to read.
Albeit there are companies that rip off people for sure.
Wouldn't they have to pull out real proof and real events verified by themselves and not just someone beaking off their version of what they say is true?
I cant believe a review about any company in which the reviewer does not identify themselves to the public whilst the company has its a*s on the line open before the whole world.
BBB your a joke you despotic organizartion!!! I hate your bs for good reason and any one reading this shgould to.
Useless despots!
check out people properly, and have them identify themselves properly if they feel they have been wronged!!!!!!!
You hide with them. When push comes to shove you then youy Chameleon you change you skin and go with the company that pays you like the
I filed a complaint with the Denver Better Business Bureau against The CE SHOP and it's lying, scamming CEO Kenneth J . Horner, Jr. The CE SHOP and Kenneth J. Horner scammed me, lied to me, refused to refund money. I thought the BBB will help. My surprise came when the closed the complaint and blew me off. It turns out that the Better Business Bureau Denver Branch is as criminal and crooked as the Businesses they take bribes from and protect. The Better Business Bureau's motto is start with trust! Funny. The Denver Better Business Bureau are the ultimate scam artist and liars.
The CE Shop and Kenneth J. Horner whom I compalined about have 16 negative reviews on the Denver Better Business Buruea website, yet the BBB gives them an A+ rating. Reading the reviews are people who have been ripped off and scammed by the CE SHOP, yet the Denver Better Business Bureau gives them an A+ rating.
What more proof do you need to know the Denver Better Business Bureau is full od liars, scam artist who are just a part of the scam. Very clearly the Denver BBB is NOT to be trusted. They will take your money and your bribe if you are a business stealing and scamming the consumer. The BBB should close and go bankrupt! Avoid the scam artist and criminals that run the Denver Better Business Bureau.
I filed a complaint with the BBB about a swimming pool company that did a bad construction job on my pool. I gave the BBB all the details and evidence and they totaly ignored everything. There is alot of talk that companies are paying the BBB to keep there A+ rating and I am pretty sure this was another one added to the list. They seem to be just a corrupt as the companies they are protecting.
I say this because they even blocked me from writing a REVIEW about the swimming pool company. Now no other review site did this to me only the BBB. It would appear that the Better Business Bureau is just as corrupt as the companies were trying to fight against. The BBB is definatley helping companies get away with criminal activity and they should not be able to do this. Someone needs to step in and mediate them.
We purchased 2 Cleveland Indians tickets on August 7 for September 13. When we got to Cleveland on the day of the game, the city was ridiculously crowded, way more than usual for a game. The whole city was well out of parking, so we gave up and went home. We tried to get a refund for the tickets we never used, but got the runaround from the ticket website, including given incorrect contact information. We filed with the Better Business Bureau.
In their responses, the ticket website lied about their return policy, lied about what they said to me on the phone, and refused to respond within the time allowed. Still the Better Business Bureau ruled in their favor, stating that the website tried to address the issues even though they did not, but did not explain. They closed the complaint and gave some fake appreciation at the end of the email. The Better Business Bureau obviously doesn't care. The complaint ID number is 90198842 on the Better Business Bureau files. This greed and enabling needs put a stop to.
So, a few days ago I filed a complaint with the BBB of California. I have been getting relentless “we have a lead for you texts” from a widely known scam company called Smith better known as GoSmith. Despite repeatedly asking them by phone, text, and email to STOP texting me, they continue. (for years) To make matters worse, they utilize a service to continually rotate and change the number that it shows they are calling from, making blocking these texts impossible.
I believe GoSmith’s practices of robotexting, falsifying their phone number, and refusing to maintain (and abide by) a “do not call” list are all against the law.
So I filed a complaint with the BBB about them. The BBB has them listed here:
The BBB page on Gosmith has 13 complaints (which, curiously, you cannot read as the link is disabled) and 5 reviews, all negative. If you do a little googling, you will find a VAST number of complaints about GoSmith.
Yet, SOMEHOW, Gosmith maintains a pretty nice B- rating with the BBB???
Well, yesterday, I got a response from Carina Alaniz at the BBB. It reads (in full):
complaint ID#: 571997
Business Name: Smith dba GoSmith.com
Thank you for contacting BBB regarding your complaint.
We regret to inform you that BBB cannot process your complaint. The case has been reviewed and was found to contain issues that are out of BBB's Purview. Your complaint would be best handled by the Attorney General's office listed below:
CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL
California Department of Justice
Attn: Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
Phone: (916) 322-3360 or
Toll-free in California: (800) 952-5225
Fax: (916) 323-5341
Web: https://oag.ca.gov/
Although we are unable to assist at this time, please remember that your BBB provides many valuable services to you both prior to making a purchase and after. If we can be of service to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB in Washington, D.C.) allowed me (the consumer) only half an hour to respond online to a business’s response to my written complaint. BBB gave no warning beforehand of this time limit. BBB neither publicly posted nor acknowledged (in the “negative review” category) either of my submitted letters on the American Medical Expert (AME) company. BBB also subsequently removed most of the public content of another consumer’s “negative review” of the AME business yet still publicly posted AME’s response to that consumer. BBB stated “complaint details [were] unavailable” with that consumer’s complaint as well as with mine. I would be curious to know how BBB justifies its A+ business rating for the AME business.
In handling another related case, the Washington, D.C. office seemed a little rude. The BBB said they couldn't help with my complaint against the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) because no financial transaction took place. The BBB website states, however, that the BBB addresses service complaints that focus on misrepresentation or violation of business policy.
When I sent my same review to a different BBB regarding this same AAD organization in its other business location of Chicago, BBB stated it couldn’t process my AAD complaint for completely different reasons than what the Washington D.C. BBB stated. The Chicago BBB gave such reasons as 1) I'm requesting some sort of "disclosure of practices." [I don't know what BBB even meant by that.] BBB also twice wrongly told me 2) that I was filing a complaint with them against a doctor's office, which they don't handle, so I wrote back each time stating that no, this complaint was against the AAD. The Chicago BBB also said 3) they couldn’t act as my lawyer or cop. I did not expect them to. They said other nonsensical things, such as 4) how I'm writing to them with a personal complaint, which they stated they can't handle. But they also said that I was 5) writing this complaint on behalf of other people, so they couldn’t deal with that, either. They said several other things that also didn’t make sense or didn’t apply.
In response to the Washington D.C. BBB's response to me on google: I did try repeatedly to contact AAD and got no response from the organization (as I already showed BBB), and I did already try filing the complaint with BBB but to no avail. The BBB provided examples of complaint cases they wouldn’t handle, cases that were not similar to mine. I was asking the BBB to direct the AAD to act on its avowed principles to serve patients and honor social responsibility, rigorous inquiry, professionalism, and lifelong learning.
In response to the Chicago BBB message to me on google: I wasn't asking for BBB or AAD to determine if another dermatology office had been careless. I was asking BBB for help in getting the AAD to stand by its promises to consumers.
Don't wast your time with BBB, they are so corrupted taht they ignore the consumers complaint.
Can somebody tell me how can "amazon.com" have a B+ with 90% of Negative complaints in the same BBB website?
I sold an itme through Amazon.com and a client opened a case A-Z warranty, I as a seller have the right to respond to the customer in 3 days, I responded to the customer the next day and what happened? No matter that I was trying to solve the problem with the client, Amazon closed the case at the 3rd day; returned all the money to the client and the client never returned the product to me!, I went to complaint with BBB showing them my screen shots of the communication with the customer and gave them the link with Amazon policies which they were violatin and what BBB responded to me?
"BBB is a non-profit, non-governmental organization which promotes business self-regulation.
Although BBB encourages a company to respond to a complaint we bring to its attention , we can not require it to do so.
BBB contacted the above referenced company on multiple occasions regarding your complaint. To date, we have not received a reply; therefore, BBB is obligated to close your complaint as a "no response", which will be reported to the public for the next three years."
The Better Business Bureau office in DC is very dishonest and unethical. I filed a complaint against a business; the business didn't respond to BBB or me until 6 months later. The business finally responded to BBB 6 months later. I went into the hospital and contacted BBB and they close my complaint because I requested a couple of days to respond. Then the CEO, Mr. Johnson fabricated that I responded several times when I responded one time and the company responded twice. As I was going to respond for the second time to the company that is when I was refused by BBB CEO Mr. Johnson. BBB suppose to be impartial and for the little person against bad businesses but when they are taking funds from businesses you know as well as I know money is the rule of all greed and that is a business bureau. They suppose to arbitrate for customers concerns however the CEO told me that they don't, he fabricated you can find exactly what BBB suppose to do however they don't do for customers. See What is BBB? https://www.bbb.org/boston/get-to-know-us/what-is-a-bbb/
BBB is a nonprofit organization and obtains funds from business too. It's not a government entity but a non-profit which the federal government they receive grants to run their organization. America we must stop these organizations such as BBB who states they are for American people but for the businesses. So you can see why they aren't going to advocate for anyone complaint effectively because they are serving their interest and the business interest. It 's upsetting to me that BBB could be biased because I was in the hospital and don't prefer sick people when filing a complaint but the lame excuses just demonstrate how unethical and dishonest BBB really is against the regular American customer. This is a sad case with customers as organizations like BBB is defrauding citizens who only wants to be protected under consumer rights.
Recently I filed a complaint with an (A) rated company on BBB.org. My first suspicion was when the company had an ( A ) rating but it also had thousands of complaints. ... Then a week after filing a complaint, bbb. Sends and email saying I have a reply to my complaint... following 5 heir link. The "reply" is blocked and the message tells me the complaint is closed and will be filled as "Settled"... Now I understand how the company can have an ♢A♢ rating. While having thousands of complaints. . BBB seems to be collecting $$...working for the big. businesses and not the people.
1. Would it amaze you to find out that there are numerous legitimate complaints and even lawsuits against Better Business Bureau franchises? Yes, you read correctly. The BBB is a corporation comprised of several private business franchises very like to McDonald's.
2. Many people are under the perception that the BBB is a government agency. It is not. The truth is it operates as a non-profit and its funded primarily through membership fees paid by businesses.
The fact that they make money collecting payments from businesses should automatically raise an eyebrow.
How can they honestly look out for the consumers best interest when their customer base is businesses? They claim neutrality but to any rational person there is an obvious conflict of interest.
So you see a business with a BBB member sticker in the window, a plaque on the wall, or a banner on their website and you think they must be creditable. What should also be swirling in your mind is the fact that in order to become a member of the BBB the business has to pay an annual membership fee. How many renewals would the BBB get if the members were graded badly?
3. The truth is members of the Better Business Bureau have much higher grades than non-members. It seems like an A+ grade is only possible for dues-paying customers (members).
4. The fact of the matter is everything that the trusted BBB warns us about when it comes to unscrupulous business practices, they are considered by some as the biggest offenders.
5. The list of growing complaints around the country accuse local Better Business Bureaus of:
Unfair and Disingenuous Business Practices.
Underhanded or Misleading Advertising.
Discrimination Against Certain Businesses Based On Their Industry.
Use of Non-Profit For Personal Gain.
Many of us look to the Better Business Bureau to establish the legitimacy of a business or to report a business, but where do we go if we have a problem with the better business bureau? Who watches them?
The savvy consumer and self-respecting business owner does due diligence on the Better Business Bureau just as they would before dealing with any other company. It just makes sense.
It has been reported to the "badbusinessbureau.com" that, the BBB encourages and solicits money from the very businesses they monitor! How could this be beneficial to the consumer?
Consumers have reported, the BBB DOES NOT report consumer complaints which are under investigation, even when they know the business is under criminal investigation and is about to be shut down. ......(see victim's story down below)
What the BBB does, is give the business that is being reported the opportunity to respond. If the business responds many times this is enough to give the business a satisfactory rating, no matter what their response is!
Most BBB offices do not report any past history of a business, even when that business continuously victimizes different consumers. Even when the business just continuously satisfies each costumer complaint, you will never know of this information in the future. All you might know is, ...."they have satisfied their complaints." ..GIVING THEM A SATISFACTORY RATING.
Even when a business does have complaints that are unsatisfied, they still might get a satisfactory rating. The BBB Better Business Bureau will not tell you what the complaints were even when they tell you, they satisfied all complaints. The BBB must realize what a consumer must have gone through before resorting to filing a complaint! And for every consumer that did file a Complaint, there are 20 others that did not complain. And you can be next!
Many businesses boast “a” ratings by the lauded better business bureau Bbb) with pride. A high number of these businesses that have “no business” getting ratings higher than failing, states cnn money. With ongoing federal lawsuits, misleading claims, and thousands of dollars towards memberships, these a- or higher rated businesses have government regulations yet tout their bbb ratings. How can this be?
Lori Wilson of the Golden Gate Better Business Bureau is corrupt. She is anti-Christian. She refused to process my complaint simply because of my Christian viewpoint.
When I called her out for this on the Better Business Bureau's Facebook page, instead of addressing the issue, the Better Business Bureau tried to cover it up by blocking me and deleting my post. They miscalculated me. They mistakenly thought that I was just going to take this kind of abuse quietly.
The BBB is in a position of public trust. They have violated that trust by discriminating against me. They have clearly showed that they are not objective in their decision making. The BBB has become corrupt and dishonest - as you can clearly see from Lori Wilson's abhorrent behavior. Lori Wilson should step down from her position. There is no place for such hate and bigotry. If she hates Christians so much, perhaps she should move to Iran.
The Better Business Bureau is unlikely to respond to this complaint. They hid like cowards when I confronted them about it and I am sure they will continue to do so. Let's wait and see if they respond. If they respond at all, it will be a vague, generic complaint. If Lori Wilson responds, she'll likely just deny everything.
We own a remodeling company and were approaced to become a member of the BBB. Prior to membership we had a not rated rating. We paid the money and got an A+ rating. Shortly after that we were approached by the BBB to do some advertising. We said no. Our rating became a N/R. To add insult to injury we had a secretary steel several files as she starated her own company and was soliciting our customers to cancel and resell the jobs. These files were given to the BBB and they began to solicit complaints from these customers. After a couple months we again were contacted to advertise and agreed to spend over $17,000.00. Incredibly the BBB called and stated they were reinstaing our A plus ratiing. I became angry and cancelled the advertising. We are still not rated and if a customer calls for a rating on us the BBB stears them away from our company. It should also be noted that a managing parter of the BBB is the owner of Above Roofing a major competitor who we have recently taken a great deal of business from.
BBB- THE FOX GUARDING THE HEN HOUSE When most folks think Better Business Bureau; consumer protection, ethics and integrity come to mind. Right?
1. Would it amaze you to find out that there are numerous legitimate complaints and even lawsuits against Better Business Bureau franchises? Yes, you read correctly. The BBB is a corporation comprised of several private business franchises very like to McDonald's.
2. Many people are under the perception that the BBB is a government agency. It is not. The truth is it operates as a non-profit and its funded primarily through membership fees paid by businesses.
The fact that they make money collecting payments from businesses should automatically raise an eyebrow.
How can they honestly look out for the consumers best interest when their customer base is businesses? They claim neutrality but to any rational person there is an obvious conflict of interest.
So you see a business with a BBB member sticker in the window, a plaque on the wall, or a banner on their website and you think they must be creditable. What should also be swirling in your mind is the fact that in order to become a member of the BBB the business has to pay an annual membership fee. How many renewals would the BBB get if the members were graded badly?
3. The truth is members of the Better Business Bureau have much higher grades than non-members. It seems like an A+ grade is only possible for dues-paying customers (members).
4. The fact of the matter is everything that the trusted BBB warns us about when it comes to unscrupulous business practices, they are considered by some as the biggest offenders.
5. The list of growing complaints around the country accuse local Better Business Bureaus of:
Unfair and Disingenuous Business Practices.
Underhanded or Misleading Advertising.
Discrimination Against Certain Businesses Based On Their Industry.
Use of Non-Profit For Personal Gain.
Many of us look to the Better Business Bureau to establish the legitimacy of a business or to report a business, but where do we go if we have a problem with the better business bureau? Who watches them?
The savvy consumer and self-respecting business owner does due diligence on the Better Business Bureau just as they would before dealing with any other company. It just makes sense.
It has been reported to the "badbusinessbureau.com" that, the BBB encourages and solicits money from the very businesses they monitor! How could this be beneficial to the consumer?
Consumers have reported, the BBB DOES NOT report consumer complaints which are under investigation, even when they know the business is under criminal investigation and is about to be shut down. ......(see victim's story down below)
What the BBB does, is give the business that is being reported the opportunity to respond. If the business responds many times this is enough to give the business a satisfactory rating, no matter what their response is!
Bbb deletes reviews and truth as long as businesses like "fite ready" in scottsdale, az pay them to. Theyare as corrupt and cursed as yelp.com. may the bbb rot in curses until death.
As we all know, sometimes we make mistakes with lenders. I was dealing with a company out of Seattle for cash advance services, I called the Better Business Bureau for any information about this company in regards to its negative reports. The BBB gave me the "thumbs up" that this company was legit. come to find out - it wasn't. this happened back in 2008 when everyone was facing catastrophe thanks to our corrupt banking system. I was a victum needless to say of identity fraud, we contacted the FBI and supplied them with all the information and details of this company that screwed us.
The point I want to make here is this, even the BBB can make mistakes, in our case a costly mistake. just do your homework on businesses that offer to help you out financially, double check even what the BBB says, it could save you from unneccessary problems in the end. Look into any police reports about a company, contact the organizations like FBI to see if there are alerts out there involved with said company, like I said, the BBB had no idea that this company was doing crimes, they gave it a A rating for reliability. so do your homework!
BBB does not report accurate information to consumers, There reports are geared to help the business that pay for membership.
I have filed several complaints about companies that resulted "resolved disputes on the BBB website" which is the furthest from the truth. I then realized the companies I was reporting derogatory complaints pay BBB for membership. BBB doesn't protect consumers only thier paying business members.
One of the companies I reported a negitive experience had 800 complaints but all were resolved according to BBB, one was my complaint. Liars!!!
Don't waste your time reporting a bad experience to BBB use Rip Off report instead!!!!
Scammed homeowners and subcontractors filed complaints with the Dallas Better Business Bureau regarding Josh Vanardo and Greenway Renovations. Josh did not respond to the complaints and after 3 complaints within a month and no response from Josh, the Better Business Buearu removed all the complaints from the website. Since Josh pays to be an accrediated member they are covering up his scamming behavior instead of leaving the complaints to warn potential consumers about his deceptive practices. I contacted them and asked where the complaints went; mine included and I have not received a response. They are just as bad. Read about all the Dallas BBB compaints.
Looking for an organization that protects consumers? Keep looking. Apparently it is very easy to get an a+ grade from the washington dc bbb. All you have to do is pay the fee and submit an application. Then - presto! - you'll have your accreditation and a+ rating without the slightest demonstration that your dealings with customers are just or reasonable. Once you've got this a+ rating, it's very hard to lose it. In my case, the company wrongfully withheld $300 and refused to talk to me about it. Four months later, i filed a complaint with the washington dc bbb. Shockingly Kidding!), the company refuses to talk to the washington dc bbb about it too. It has been completely non-responsive and ignored four letters over the past 60+ days. Despite this, the company's a+ rating remains safe. In fact, the complaint i filed more than two months ago is not even mentioned on the company's bbb page, let alone factored into its rating. I called the washington dc bbb after each of its "deadlines" for the companies. More than once, i was told that the company would have until [x] to respond and, if it didn't, would appropriately lose its perfect rating. Those deadlines came and went. Each time, the washington dc bbb created a new one to give the business an additional opportunity to respond I.E., to protect the fees it pays the bbb). Finally, i asked to speak to a supervisor and was referred to angela obitz. She, however, has not returned either of my calls. I hate to say it, but the washington dc bbb offers no effective tools for consumers. Rather than waste time and energy on it, you'd probably be better off heading straight to yelp,
To understand why the why the BBBs are far less effective than they are purported to be, you need to understand how they operate. A popular misconceptions that Better Business Bureaus are local government agencies. They're not. They actually began life 83 years ago as citizens' vigilance committees formed to warn the public about shady companies false advertising claims. Today they are private, independently operated, nonprofit corporations designed to protect consumers from bad business practices of all kinds.
Each local bureau has its own CEO and unpaid board of directors, who determine what services will be offered and what dues members are charged--which range from $120 a year to $5,000.00 or more. The BBBs' main product is information: They keep files on all their members and create files for any company that a consumer inquires or complains about. Most BBBs assign ratings of satisfactory or unsatisfactory to most companies on file, based on their record of complaints. But though most bureaus offer formal arbitration and mediation services, BBBs are not enforcement agencies and cannot order an uncooperative company to award a refund or even acknowledge a complaint.
The CBBB makes local bureaus sign written agreements on bureau conduct that lay out guidelines for resolving internal disputes, paying dues and writing company reports. However, all the umbrella group truly controls is how the bureaus use the BBB trademark name, which it owns. The CBBB's lack of clout leaves local BBBs free to operate like fiefdoms, doing pretty much what they want with little oversight. One objective of James Bast, the 59-year old formal CEO of Presstek, a printing equipment supplier, who took over as chief executive officer CBBB in June 1994, is to address "problems within the bureau system." In particular, he wants to standardize the way bureaus collect and report date, by upgrading their computer systems.
The umbrella CBBB, which is perhaps best known as an effective watchdog of the nation's charities, is largely supported by its 350 national blue-chip members, such as AT&T and Xerox. These companies pay dues of as much as $80,000 a year to support the CBBB's promotion of ethical business practices." For instance, the CBBB monitors national advertising and alerts consumers to misleading claims. Some 240,000 companies pay their local BBB annual dues and the local chapter in turn pays dues to the CBBB.
In all, the CBBB collects substantial revenue--more than $13.6 million last year. some $3 million comes from the local BBBs and national business members. The remaining $10.6 million flows from fees for educational brochures books, sales training and mediation services. Its costliest program a free arbitration service known as BBB Autoline (annual cost: $8.4 million) for drivers stuck with lemons, is financed primarily by General Motors.
Where does all that tax-exempt money go? In 1994: 9% went to pay salaries, pensions and insurance for the top 11 officials ($1.3 million), office rent ($700,000) and travel ($660,000). CEO Bast, who officially took over in June of 1994, was actually put on the payroll in April and got $151,000 for the year. The outgoing CEO, James McIIhenny, 67, who formally retired in October after seven years, cleaned up too, earning $175,000 for six months' work as CEO and four months as a "consultant." Those salaries are substantially higher than the $114,814 that CEOs at comparable non-profit earn, according to Abbott Langer & Associates, publisher of industry compensation surveys in Crete, Ill. Bast responds that he and other officers "are reasonably compensated" for the work they do.
I have contacted the BBB numerous times about issues that I am having with BOOST MOBILE, and U.S. BANK. Despite the fact that they say they will investigate and assist, I have found them to do absolutely nothing. They appear to try and hamper the investigations rather than assist with the investigation. I sent the folloing to [email protected] today 8/12/2015. THE BBB stated on 8/11/2015 that the "BBB Serving San Diego, Orange & Imperial Counties, 4747 Viewridge Ave. #200, San Diego, CA 92123, 858-496-2131" will be asssiting with the case.
AUGUST 12, 2015
BOOST MOBILE CONSTANT HARASSMENT AND DENIAL OF SERVICE:
MESSAGE FROM BOOST MOBILE RECEIVED 8/12/2015 @ 11:29 AM. “BST FreeMsg: Your plan has expired for the month. Your service is unavailable. For more information, log in to My Account.”
MESSAGE FROM BOOST MOBILE RECEIVED 8/11/2015 @ 2:44P.M. ” 9329 FROM BOOST MOBILE ‘BST FreeMsg: You’ve added $50.00 to your account. To check you balance, login in to My Account on your phone or online.’”
NOTE: I AM LEAVING TO GO OUT OF TOWN 8/13/2015, BECAUSE BOOST MOBILE CONTINUES TO BLOCK MY SERVICE, I WILL BE ON THE ROAD WITH NO CELLULAR SERVICE!!
I filed a Complaint #57311681 on 8/10/2015, the second or third report against U.S. Bank, about harassment and refusal to return my Social Security check in 7/2015 and 8/2015 and nothing has been done about it.
THE Better Business Bureau is not addressing any of my issues.
I can not access the site "bbb.org/minnesota/complaintreply" in order to view my complaint status, I get a message that says "SITE ERROR." Your assistance in this regard is appreciated. I do want to pursue my complaint against U.S. Bank and I will appreciate an email from you telling me how to proceed. I sent the above email to:
I submitted a complaint against Apollo AC & Heating several weeks ago. It never was resolved. The business owner came by 2 weeks ago to look at the system (installed 6/2011 - with a 10 year parts & labor warranty). He said he would be back in 2 or 3 days, 2 weeks later nothing!!!!
The AC & heating system have had multiple issues since 11/14 and has not run for 2 months.
I get back on the BBB website and it now shows that Apollo has an A+ rating and has no complaints. TOTALY Untrue!!!!
It looks like if you keep your dues paid, the BBB sweeps everything under the carpet and doesn't disclose the truth about a vendor.
The BBB is a completely BOGUS organization.
FYI, I posted a 2nd follow-up complaint on BBB website about how Apollo came out, but never followed up with any actual work in 2 weeks. BBB did not publish this on their website!
I can only assume that Apollo claimed they resolved my complaint. However my follow-up complaint never even appeared on the BBB website. Again it appears that the BBB is covering up for its paying members.
Better Business Bureau Reviews
Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois Gave Me Poor Customer Service! f**k YOU!
Back on Tuesday, June 6th, 2023 at approximately 12:10 p.m. - 12:15 p.m., I contacted the Better Business Bureau Of Chicago & Northern Illinois because I had a legitimate issue that I wanted to resolve! When I called them up, a lady answered the phone and all that I said was if she was still there? When I said that, she Hung Up On Me Immediately! I then called back and I believe the same lady answered the phone who went by the name of "Larissa Smith" and she also Hung Up On Me for just Being Upset For Being Hung Up On By The First (1st) Female Representative! I Honestly Believe that Both Hang Ups Were By The Same Individual! This type of Customer Service was Beyond Poor And Disgusting and Far From What I Expect To Receive Coming From The Better Business Bureau Of Chicago & Northern Illinois! I did call them back for a Third (3rd) Time and spoke to a male representative who solved my problem, but the Experience Overall Was Very Poor! I have a 0.00 Tolerance For Abusive Behavior Coming From Anybody Whether It Be Family, Friends or Especially In The Corporate World and this "Larissa Smith" Needs To Learn How To Deal With Customers Or Else Do Not Do Your d**n Job Anymore! Thank you. Sincerely yours, Howard Paul Shore Executive, Volunteer Writer And Promoter For Google Maps And Tripadvisor Websites Angry, Upset And Pissed Off Better Business Bureau Of Chicago & Northern Illinois User And Customer And Social Media Writer /HPS
I give the Better Business Bureau of South FL (aka BBB of South Florida) and especially the lousy, rotten weasel named Andre Amaro who works there, an F-RATING for extorting small business owners such as myself with a bad alphabetical rating due to UNVERIFIED NON-CUSTOMER complaints that they base the rating on. Andre Amaro is in charge of approving reviews and complaints and he is a scum of the earth punk.
ANY anonymous individual can log-on to the BBB's website and file a complaint or post a negative review about ANY company. ANY individual can do this, even a competitor in the same industry as the business receiving the complaint, for the sole purpose of bashing the competition. For this reason (and many others), the BBB is a SHAMEFUL ORGANIZATION that should be sued by more small business owners until hopefully they go bankrupt defending all of the lawsuits.
Just Google "ABC 20/20 BBB investigation". There is a video where the acclaimed ABC Network TV show '20/20" exposed the BBB for engaging in the practice of "ratings for dollars".
The BBB has to be on the list of one of the most corrupt, business paid off organizations. Much like our government themselves. No matter how many complaints you submit to the BBB they pretty much do nothing besides collect their money and allow businesses to engage in illegal practices.
The BBB needs to be completely put out of existence they serve 0 purpose besides protecting businesses.
After being treated unfairly by them I went searching for what others thought of them.
It appears that they might be helping corporations if the corporations pay them.
Here bbb got an 86% bad review:
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/bbb.org
You are getting used to this by now aren't you, some company not ending up being what they appear to be?
I filed a complaint about Extendicare who owns ParaMed regarding one of thier PSW's I hired who stole from me while in my home, taking over my accounts info, and having me make them my POA as well as Estate Trustee and Beneficiary.
I was so ill, with no family to rely on, needed care and food and she used her postion to ingratiate herself to me and I was helpless and she gained my trust.
I filed said complaint after a ten month recuperation and paying the agency who would do nothing about what happened and was spinning my wheels all the while so I wrote a complaint to BBB who sent a generic refusal to file complaint to me via email months after my complaint, and left a no. to call if I disagreed with them.
No answer back so I pushed the issue since a few years back I had filed a complaint about a company who tried to steal thousands of dollars and they refused that complaint as well. I took the matter into my own hands and recouped my funds after making the issue very clear to their lawyer.
In this complaint about Extendicare which owns ParaMed, again BBB Kitchener is refusing to post my complaint. I not only smell a payoff of somekind, I am now sure of it and am less than impressed with someone who is employed by BBB, is unable to respond in any sort of professional manner and is covering for a large corporation this time round.
If is walks like a duck, it's a duck.
I am a Law Clerk, do not ever say anything I can't back up with paper trails and proof if Ms. Jen Bowman would have taken the care to ask for it.
I had already tried dealing with pertinent employees of ParaMed and all they wished to do was spin it to my frustration. This employee is going to seriously endanger some at risk patient and at the very least steall all their estate and this company and BBB could care less!
As far as I am concerned BBB is not only a complete joke, they are bordering on illegal activities and pay offs.
In 2008, i won the houston better business bureau's most coveted first-place pinnacle award for my former employer, owner of a well-known window and door company, and subsequently reported him to the houston bureau for awards fraud, but the houston bureau refused my complaint, protected the employer and vilified and persecuted me. I later learned And wrote about) the history of awards and that the council of better business bureaus Cbbb) launched the awards program in 2000 because the organization was essentially broke and needed a dependable cash cow to expand and compete against encroaching consumer advocates in the 21st century; the bbb previously depended upon inconsistent donations and memberships.
The awards program was a meritless advertising gimmick whereby whimsical judges picked recipients from winner-centric applications, not on-site evaluations. Yet the bbb speciously advertised, expressed or implied, that its "awards for excellence" was evaluated. Furthermore, even though i complained, the bbb never divulged to the public the truth about its awards, which evidenced fraud. The online awards program attracted millions of dollars in business to members every year, and members turnstiled awards-garnered revenue to the houston bureau through advertising and membership fees, and the houston bureau trickled income to the cbbb as "bureau dues."
I alleged the awards program was an awards racket and money laundering scheme. As a result, consumers favor products and services from bbb-endorsed award recipients. In fact, only bbb members can participate in the awards program, and the bbb's online business-reporting service promotes members over nonmembers; both initiatives infringe upon free trade and nuance a monopoly of the marketplace.
When completing answers for the awards application in 2008, i warned my former employer that he had to fulfill all procedures that i wrote; that procedures would increase sales and improve customer service by correcting outstanding service and sales issues. The employer promised, and i submitted the application. But the employer lied, refused to enact procedures, and threatened me into silence. He hired a felon as my assistant in the accounting department with access to customer files and finances; he warned me "it's easy to set up someone." we won, and the employer accepted the houston bureau's ultimate truth award, the pinnacle. Thereafter, sales and services deteriorated to the detriment of customers while he bragged about his pinnacle.
The houston bureau distributed award entry forms to its members about january of every year, which included several "ethics" questions. Judges selected award recipients from best-written responses and announced winners every may at a banquet ceremony. There were no interim on-site visits to substantiate finalists.
I left the employer in september 2008 and reported his awards fraud to the houston bureau and cbbb. An abundance of evidence proved the employer's magnitude of awards fraud, and that i authored the awards application. Dan parsons, president of the houston bbb, stepped in and dismissed the investigation after meeting with the employer and without allowing my rebuttal. And the cbbb sided with the houston bureau. Thereafter, i reported the houston bureau and cbbb to the texas attorney general and federal trade commission with no results. During this time, in january 2009, the cbbb launched its alpha-numeric rating score to replace its "satisfactory/unsatisfactory" predecessor. My complaint did result in the introduction of a compliance statement on the awards application.
In 2008, i also filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the employer, not the bbb. The employer floundered for several years until the houston bureau allegedly hijacked my lawsuit to prosecute me through employer counterclaims, including slander, breach of fiduciary duties, and conversion/theft, in keeping with my former duties as a chief financial officer whereby i was in charge of company finances, accounts receivable, and customer files. Slander was charged because i reported the employer to state and federal regulatory agencies. Breach of fiduciary duties was charged because the employer staged my office after a hurricane in a manner to create liability; another company officer admitted on the witness stand that he staged my office. Conversion was a given because i admitted keeping paperwork as evidence against the employer for self-defense, but conversion had a two-year statute of limitations, which the judge did not honor. And theft was a maliciously fabricated throw down meant to ruin and imprison me to protect the bbb's pristine image and lucrative awards program; the employer was also carrying out his previous threat to set me up like the felon. I escaped pinstripes by representing myself because i believed my attorney was compromised by the bbb and its attorney litigating for the employer. From the witness stand, i accused the employer of being a "liar and thief" for stealing the pinnacle. I wasn't allowed to elaborate on the bbb's scandalous history and proclivities. Additionally, the houston bureau presented its executive director, candace twyman, as a witness for the employer; she accused me of false statements, yet she said nothing about my good-faith attempt to report the employer for consumer fraud and demand for revocation of his pinnacle award. After i accused the employer of defrauding the houston bureau, twyman never testified.
I later learned that our trial had been delayed in order for the houston bureau to complete another trial involving defamation respective to a bad rating score. The houston bbb won the case, greenlit my trial, and segued the verdict into my court proceedings to enable defamation against me; verdict determined that rating scores could essentially defame anyone under the right of opinion. My trial's verdict denied employment discrimination claims against the employer, charged me with conversion, and opened irs charges against the employer. The jury denied theft charges. The employer sought dismissal of the case and he walked free of liability. I sought justice through writer's requital and wrote the apo$tate, which includes extensive research and emails and evidence omitted in court that also substantiate my claims and allegations against the bbb, including violation of its irs nonprofit exemption classification as a profiteering-based organization. One has to ask how and why a humble nonprofit attacked a civilian? My book explains. @caryncain https://amazon.com/dp/0578216906
Additionally, my book includes a subject also covered by the scamion involving abc 20/20's documentary about a "terror group..." written in 2010. The article included a link to a letter written by the former attorney general of connecticut, richard blumenthal, whereby he criticized cbbb's new rating score. Cbbb introduced the school-style rating score in 2009 to reinforce the awards program and fuel new memberships by trading high rating scores for membership fees. Blumenthal's letter was later removed, but i present a copy of his letter herein.
The apo$tate contains copies of all other stated evidence with the exception of the 2008 list of pinnacle award winners, which i present herein because the houston bbb apparently deleted from the internet.
Furthermore, all information provided herein is presented under the protection of the first amendment and right of opinion, same as the bbb allegedly abuses to disparage and manipulate its adversaries.
I am renting and have had to deal with roaches, mold, damage to property, landlord allowing people to come into home without notice, no hot water, etc. The list goes on and on.
I sent a letter to the BBB requesting assistance. This is the response I received:
BBB Complaint Case 34066052
We regret to inform you that BBB cannot process your complaint. The case has been reviewed and was found to contain issues that are out of BBB's Purview. Your complaint would be best handled by the Attorney General's office listed below:
SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Physical Address: 293 Greystone Blvd STE 400, Columbia SC 29210
Mailing Address: PO Box 5757, Columbia SC 29250
(803) 734-4200
(800) 922-1594
www.consumer.sc.gov
Although we are unable to assist at this time, please remember that your BBB provides many valuable services to you both prior to making a purchase and after. If we can be of service to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Daniel Carlberg - Operations Support Specialist
[email protected]
I asked why they wouldn't help and have not heard back. This tells me that the BBB will help who they want and not help the people who need assistance. I will NEVER ask for assistance again. What a worthless agency. Again, just a bunch of people behind a desk who want money and don't want to help.
In April 2020 I submitted a complaint through the BBB website (https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/get-started). In lieu of Small Claims Court I was seeking mediation regarding a contract dispute I'm (as of November 2020) having with an obstinate, unprofessional drywall company in Portland, OR.
I was clearly complaining about a specific drywall company (subcontractor for a General Contractor in my town) but a BBB representative recorded my complaint against a fake company with similar spelling (similar as the General Contractor) in a different city. I informed 4 different people at the local BBB and international BBB of the deception, but the BBB failed to acknowledge the deceipt or correct the record.
On 18 June, 2020 the BBB informed me that it was "unable to pursue the matter further, we have closed your case as unresolved. Your complaint will remain on the business's record for three years and will be reflected in their Business Review." There is no such business CURRENTLY (and never with business license of my General Contractor).
Therefore there is no record of a legitimate complaint against drywall company of Portland, OR.
I can't believe how incompetent this office is at their jobs.
I filed a complaint against a contractor for failing to install 7 fence posts per the terms of the written agreement. I had contacted this company numerous times before the complaint over the phone and in writing, and they failed to respond. I gave them a deadline and stated if I didn't hear back from them by "x" date that I would be filing a BBB report and one with the AG's office. So, I filed.
Immediately following filing, the contractor arrived at my home, banging on the door without an appointment and sent me written correspondence. Over the course of two weeks, the CEO and the contractor's son sent written correspondence to me by e-mail. All of this correspondence was forwarded to the BBB for their records. I planned on filing suit in small claims court per the AG of Kansas's recommendation, but I discussed the problem with my credit card provider and they agreed to open a dispute to reduce my stress and to expedite the problem.
Mackenzi, the BBB rep, closed out the file without a proper written response from me, citing she had my response from the correspondence and that the CEO was obviously trying to work out an arrangement with me, although I knew better from their track history with me and others. And, following their supposed resolution, they sent a contradictory one in the mail that failed to match the original written terms, trying to wriggle out of properly applying Creo Coat to the posts by extending the warranty. That wasn't the agreement, and I have no faith the company will stay in business that long considering their shoddy workmanship. No other BBB handles complaints this way.
They formally send the customer a response by e-mail asking if the resolution from the business is acceptable. Then, the complaint is closed. Moreover, I had to hear the complaint was closed from the CEO who openly bragged in writing about getting it closed. When I requested that it be reopened, Mackenzi flat out refused. I asked to speak to her supervisor, and she initially didn't provide her information although she claimed she would call me. Another 3 weeks later, still no callback. Over the course of over 45 days, I e-mailed the contractor 3x regarding setting a date for utilities and reinstallation. No replies.
I e-mailed Mackenzi and stated the contractor didn't live up to the resolution. She agreed to reopen the complaint, and I said I'd give them another 2 weeks to respond. At that point she finally provided her supervisor's phone number. When they failed to respond and American Express honored the dispute in my favor, I sent Mackenzi an e-mail with an update and told her I was tired of haranguing the contractor. I said she could reopen it or not, but I was providing them with the new information all the same for public records. I further said I would happily repay the contractor when they install as contracted. I received this message back from Mackenzi: "The BBB has audited your complaint history through our system and found that we can no longer handle your complaints against a business in good faith. Any current and future complaints will be closed as invalid."
What? I will freely admit I file my share of BBB complaints and am prone to whinging if something goes awry because that is what the forum is about, but all of my complaints are factual. Period. And, this e-mail isn't going to prevent me from continuing to file complaints. In the future, I am copying and pasting all complaints into a Word document. And, I will be compiling them and submitting complaints about this office and other offices that fail to properly record my complaints for record or fail to forward my complaints to the business.
I'll further say that I have filed BBB complaints recently, and the only office failing to process them is the Kansas City location. I recently pulled up the complaint history with the contractor, and they removed my complaint. I also pulled up the Google review I left for their office through Kansas City. Under my Google login, it shows the complaint is posted for the public to see. If I pull it up without the login, the complaint isn’t shown. Therefore, I believe the BBB of Kansas City contacted Google and suppressed my complaint.
More importantly, they sided with the business when I supplied ample documentation to show they were at fault, they had not resolved the matter and even sent them a record of the CEO’s criminal history published on the Missouri Secretary of State’s website. I have recently filed a complaint against the BBB with the attorney general of Virginia, where their International Association of Better Business Bureau’s is located. The behavior out of this office is absolutely atrocious.
I tried to keep an open mind with the BBB over the years, but all the bad press is valid. They don't care about the customer; they care more about collecting fees from business owners.
I discovered that BBB has been serving consumers since 1912, but the rating system has been called 'seriously flawed.' the BBB is merely facilitating communication between themselves and a company or that to learn that the BBB was unable to force a company to take action. This stems from an erroneous perception that the BBB is a government agency. It is not. It is, in fact, a business membership organization with chapters spread across the country.
What surprise is that BBB is primarily a business membership organization, not a government agency. A company has an "A" rating with the BBB, that doesn't mean the company is trustworthy. It simply means that the company has upheld its obligation to the BBB and followed their membership rules.
BBB may offer consumers a way to communicate with a business and voice their concerns but unable to force a business to do anything. And just because a business is responding to you through the BBB does not necessarily mean that you'll get anywhere. Businesses wanting to display that blue torch on their BBB websites and marketing materials must pay an annual fee. Small businesses with up to 100 employees generally have to pay anywhere from $500 to $1,500 per year; larger companies could pay upwards of $10,000 annually.
I filed a complaint to BBB of Los Angeles and Silicon Valley against a company name Your Mechanic. Your mechanic provides mechanic mobile services. I scheduled an installation of brake pads for my back breaks for $158.77. Your mechanic sent out a mechanic name Hugo and he suppose to have 21 years of experience. He installs brake pads on top of wrapped rotor which cause my car to make noise and a burning smell.
I called Your mechanic to report Hugo and the installation brakes issue. I inform them about the issues about my car such as loud noises and smell of smoke. I had a warranty and Your mechanic refuse to honor their own warranty. I filed a complaint through BBB March 2020, and it is still unresolved, they closed my case after I had my car inspected by another mechanic. BBB wanted to protect the poor reputation that Your mechanic has with customers. It was a waste of time to go through BBB process, they favor their members such as Your mechanic who pays them a fee.
Beware of Better Business Bureau, customers should be cautioned that the Better Business Bureau can in no way obligate a business to do anything. While a consumer sits around hoping for a response from a company, a response that might never come, that consumer could have already contacted your States Attorney General's Office or bega n legal proceedings.
Report Attachments:
PEP BOYS inspection report against Your mechanic
The BBB has given Chegg, Inc, an A+ rating, in spite of the fact that Chegg is not rated A+ anywhere else on the internet's biggest rating sites. They censored complaints that I made against Chegg for their dishonest and deceptive billing practices, and unfair banning of accounts. This was an issue with several different users, as evidenced by social media comments and TrustPilot, SiteJabber, and ConsumerAffairs reviews, as well as complaints on BBB's own website that were censored.
Chegg bans paying customers for using multiple devices (even though it's not against their ToS), falsely accuses them of account sharing, revoking the account just a few days after deducting money from your bank. They're a clearly dishonest business, yet the BBB gives them an A+ rating.
Similarly, BBB gives other dishonest businesses, like AT&T, an A+ rating as well. the BBB is clearly corrupt and unreliable, and not credible.
When a Consumer who paid money for services, or for anything takes the time to write a letter to the BBB in Connecticut, they get nowhere in their complaint, AND the business in question has an "open microphone" to sling mud, falsely assasinate the Character of the Consumer, lie, deceive, etc., AND THE BBB DOES NOTHING TO ADDRESS THIS ABUSE!
In fact, they will ignore the lies of the hateful responses that are far below professional and often downright unlawful character and consumer abuse.
What the BBB in Connecticut WILL do is take the money of the BUSINESS and call the complaint "settled" or not allow such a legitimate complaint even appear at all.
Why? They are totally funded by the BUSINESSES that pay annual dues and NOT by the Consumer, so the more "members" of this privately held company the better for them...
After some investigation, it turns out that the BBB [also shown on 20/20 and other news shows] is entirely funded by these crooked businesses that violate ethical, moral and legal standards everyday of their existence and often times deserve to find themselves in jail, but the BBB covers for these abusive, mud-slinging companies and "close" the complaint!
Whatever happened to Mediation services?
Not offered. When you contact the BBB headquarters to complain about the Connecticut Branch, you are told that the BBB branches are much like a McDonald's chain store as they are FRANCHISE!
The "Owner" of such a Franchise can ignore their duty to fairly mediate disputes entirely because, after all, they bought the Franchise and will take as many Dues-paying companies as possible.
And get this- IF you are complaining about a company that is NOT already a dues-paying member [big mistake], they will ENCOURAGE THE NEW BUSINESS WITH AN A+ RATING IF THEY JOIN THE BBB!
I have seen this done several times.
A woman who worked in the Connecticut office named "Kristin" was the worst of this.
Would not listen to reasonable complaints at all if the business was to be a new member for them to get money paying dues from.
This is FRAUD.
All Consumers should see the BBB as a Franchise business that does nothing to protect Consumers.
The site promises Business To Business Or Customer To Business: But it doesn't do anything.
If you complain about a company and then the company responds, the result is the company automatically wins, there is no negative outcome for the buisiness complained about and not matter what was said or done by the business including:; horrible customer service, denial of service, failure to complete a service, low quality goods, low quality service, failure to provide those goods, as long as the business responds there is no negative outcome for the accused business.
The problem is they never do anything. If you complain to them then they contact the business and if the business replies then the business wins. But even if the accused business does not respond at all nothing happens and nothing is ever done. So they do not do anything, ever.
As far as I am concerned, the BBB is a scam because how is it you can get away with doing nothing and offering a service you never do. The Better Business Bureau is a scam which is funny because people report scams and file complaints to them but they don't do anything with the information and they get paid to do nothing.
Imagine offerring the ability to report or complain about a business and then do absolutely nothing and whether or not the business responds at all is abitary because they do not do anything but contact the business, ask for a reply and that is it and if the business replies then the business wins if it doesn't reply nothing will happen to it.
After all businesses pay the BBB, so why would they take away their A+ rating because they are paid for the rating?
And if I complain then they don't do anything but contact the business, if there is a response then they win and I get "Business responded but customer not satisfied." And the rating is still A+ and nothing happened.
If the business does not respond then I receive "Business did not response. We take these things very seriously here." And then nothing happens and no punishment is issued.
There is no punishment and therefore no service or arbitration which is what they are offering.
Bottom line: They do not do anything.
Consumers - Watch out for this BBB location. They do not do the work to help consumers and cover for their paying corporate clients. Most consumers are not aware that how the BBB gets funded is through corporate/company money and by paying the BBB will take off the bad ratings and cover for unethical companies.
This organization knows that one of their top companies has a lot of issues and looks othe other way routinely. You cannot expect results from the BBB as they are more interested in making sure their high paying corproate clients are protected. And, they blame the consumers and make them wrong.
https://sanjose.app.bbb.org/complaint/view/689126/c/23mz7k
Here is what appears to be the form email from the BBB in closing my complaint:
Thank you for following up with BBB regarding your position in the above-mentioned dispute.
We understand you are NOT satisfied with the business's response, and have noted your disatisfaction in our files. While we regret we were unable to reach your desired resolution, the business has provided BBB with its position. This matter is now closed in BBB files, and will appear in the company's BBB Business Review as: "Answered - the business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer remains dissatisfied.""
The business never addressed ANY issues!!
We have been on business for over 20 yrs.. NEVER been to court, hold a masters plumbing , electrical and havac along with a class A license i received this email stating we are no longer an "accredited recognized business!" ... we have more experience and have done everything the RIGHT WAY! however we did not pay there fee and therefore are no longer Accredited. this is extortion and misleading to the general public.. Folks use your neighbors and friends for referrals not these pyramid extortionists bbb company. See images from Kelsey Coleman of the washinton DC BBB.
On numerous occasions, I've contacted the BBB to resolve disputes with businesses. It's rarely ever helped.
One time, a company sent me a new laptop that was faulty. When I spoke to customer service, they said they'd pay return shipping because it was their fault. They then refused to. Contacting the BBB did nothing because I was informed that there was some clause in the company's customer agreement that put mediation to another external company or system. I was told I'd hear from them. I never did. I just ended up paying a ridiculous amount of shipping to return a new laptop that didn't work, after being told I wouldn't have to. What's more is that the BBB gave the business an 'A' for resolving things so well. Apparently haivng an external company or system deal with mediation automatically got them an 'A.'
On another occasion, I had a company commit fraud on my credit card. This company toyed around with me for months, dodging me, claiming to be willing to resolve things but not actually doing the work to. They attempted to resolve the issue through the BBB by offering me a gift card. I had them commit fraud on my credit card. I didn't want to be forced to use that money which I never intended to spend at their business on things at their store. The BBB thought this was a great resolution and closed the case, giving them a good rating.
All of this was sickening to me. The BBB revealed itself as corrupt and ultimately more about giving the appearance of a resolution than the actuality of it. Don't trust them with a resolution process. You may end up being stiffed time and again, like I was. I've had better results with the Attorney General (though it's taken longer). Next time, I think I'd just file a police report instead. I put my faith in the BBB and they really didn't deserve it. Allowing businesses game the system like this is sickening. But, you'd never know that from the pretty 'A' ratings they're given. Take them with a grain of salt. They don't mean a thing. Trust me.
As is apparently common knowledge, this is a corrupt untrustworthy organization motivated by one thing and one thing only: greed. The business ratings have no weight whatsoever. I opened a complaint for poshmark, and stated that they had allowed for a fraudulent return on the part of the buyer, losing me the money i was owed for the sale. They responded with a couple selected details from the case that i had already stated in my complaint. I marked this as not satisfactory and said that i would not accept anything less than them admitting their wrongdoing. The bbb stepped in after this and considered the case closed. I couldn’t believe it. It’s as if they didn’t even bother examining the business’s response. I was shut down with no questions asked, and certainly was given no real shot at my complaint being resolved. In no way was the business held accountable, and the bbb seemed to exhibit a very strong bias in taking sides with them. But then i put two and two together - over 700+ complaints filed, overwhelmingly negative reviews written, and this business has a b rating? Plus, on top of this, the business gets to respond with a couple of sentences not even addressing the problem, and the bbb swoops in to close the case in their favor?? Then it made sense. Accreditation. Poshmark is accredited. Meaning they can pay bbb in order to maintain a stellar, unrealistically high rating. And all they need to do is 'respond’ to complaints, avoiding any real accountability and ensuring the bbb will always side with them no matter what the complaints say. It’s sad, i thought the bbb would advocate for me - i was proven wrong.
This is corruption at its finest. Bureaucracy winning out over the little people. It’s disgusting. Bbb apparently has been confronted politically and legally about this and they of course deny it. Poor Yscam has an f rating over there - only because the cronies hate to be consistently called out as the con artists they are. I’m going to write an a+ review of Yscam on the bbb site, stating that the f rating is only due to rr not paying them their dirty money- and that it really deserves an a+ for bringing the bbb’s rampant corruption to light. I laugh about the fact that i once thought threatening to file a complaint with the better business bureau was serious...Will never ever resort to this bullying abuse of authority ever again.
BBB Houston is a forum for any unsubstantiated accusations by mentally unstable customers or even "shake-down-artists"
No business can adequately defend itselt against BBB's open solicitation of ANY accusations by ANYONE. They do not bother to inspect jobsites, merchandise, etc. TRUTH has no place whatsoever in their "organization's" desire TO SELL MEMBERSHIPS
TO BUSINESSES ACCUSED OF ANYTHING - ESPECIALLY UNPROVEN CLAIMS or even bizarre claims by persons on
psychotropic medications.
After my Houston, Texas company was BLACKMAILED into paying many thousands of dollars to a narcotics addict AND
twice convicted felon in lieu of negative posts to BBB, we received an "F -' rating. Oddly, BBB CONTACTED ME REPEATEDLY
TO SELL ME MEMBERSHIPS...
BBB did NOTHING WHATSOEVER to help us even though this man's convictions and incarcerations were fully known.
I had an "F-" rating for 4 years!
Incidently, this BBB "complainant" was arrested recently by DEA for money laundering and narcotics traffiking again
and is incarcerated.
When will BBB be sued in a national and regional "class-action"? Or perhaps even be investigated as a possible
"ongoing criminal enterprise..."??
Better business bureau in calgary and kooteneys defames small companys with little or no information to go by. Anybody who even hates the way you look can apply!
Just looked at our company profile forced on us by this crooked company. We never gave these crooks permission to put our company name on the web!
Why is our name advertised by them without consent? Crooked system with despots running it!
We never signed up with hese despots! At least with yelp you do sign up. This is a trap also because in their fine print the review records are their property for life!
Don't sign up with any of these reviewer type despots either!
This is why i'm leaving this report. same way they defame people all over the world and slow down the progress of companies all over.
So,
I Found out that there was a review by someone who says they have no paper work to prove their a customer at any given time. With their own words no less!
They claimed to be overbilled and don t like where equipment is placed or where the trucks we use are parked.
I Phoned Better business bureau in calgary and kooteneys(bbb) to tell them they were lost. Worst business bureau despots!
I said why do you post someones review when they themselves admit their not a customer or at least they have no proof of using our company?
Then proceed to say they were ripped off?
This shows that bbb in calgary , despots!, will use any means to dig their teeth into any company small or large.
You have to give them an email address to send back in rebuttle in this case to a non existant and possibly a competitor so called customer.
We have been solicited many times in the past to join this despotic company for $500 per year. The fact is that this is a terrible waste of money that can go to real needs like advertising or a host of other small business expenses.
When they call you they act as an authority like workmans compensation for example. Their tone is cross with you like your in violation of the law because your not paying them.
Also,
Large companies have been known to address issues with customers of theirs. They go back and forth with the customer until it is said to be resolved. The thing is that typically nothing is done and then the company goes on their merry way anyway?!
This proves that this bbb despot system doesnt work and hurts legitimate companies trying to make an honest living.
Reviews are a joke as well as dishonest companies can have their own people post reviews showing how great they AREN'T
They have to go on the side of the company that pays or they would go out of business. So they always turn their back eventually on the complaintant to support the vendor.
The saying goes. You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time.
BBB is a waste of time as well as others such as:
yelp
trusted pros
google
or any others on the internet providing reviews like the despots they are!!!
There is three sides in every dispute. The bbb is in the niddle bu their not nutral. They are looking only for money. The results have no consequence unless you believe their purpose is to help people. If so, provide a victim fund.
They have created a large platform of bs for the rest of us to read.
Albeit there are companies that rip off people for sure.
Wouldn't they have to pull out real proof and real events verified by themselves and not just someone beaking off their version of what they say is true?
I cant believe a review about any company in which the reviewer does not identify themselves to the public whilst the company has its a*s on the line open before the whole world.
BBB your a joke you despotic organizartion!!! I hate your bs for good reason and any one reading this shgould to.
Useless despots!
check out people properly, and have them identify themselves properly if they feel they have been wronged!!!!!!!
You hide with them. When push comes to shove you then youy Chameleon you change you skin and go with the company that pays you like the
snakes(http://img07.deviantart.net/de17/i/2015/152/4/6/evil_snake_demon__by_sayba-d8vnncj.png)
you are!
This means your biased and not nuetral like you say you are. You ill never be of any true value to anyone as it stands.
Don't waste your time and money on these fake organizations!
thanks for reading somthing true.
I filed a complaint with the Denver Better Business Bureau against The CE SHOP and it's lying, scamming CEO Kenneth J . Horner, Jr. The CE SHOP and Kenneth J. Horner scammed me, lied to me, refused to refund money. I thought the BBB will help. My surprise came when the closed the complaint and blew me off. It turns out that the Better Business Bureau Denver Branch is as criminal and crooked as the Businesses they take bribes from and protect. The Better Business Bureau's motto is start with trust! Funny. The Denver Better Business Bureau are the ultimate scam artist and liars.
The CE Shop and Kenneth J. Horner whom I compalined about have 16 negative reviews on the Denver Better Business Buruea website, yet the BBB gives them an A+ rating. Reading the reviews are people who have been ripped off and scammed by the CE SHOP, yet the Denver Better Business Bureau gives them an A+ rating.
What more proof do you need to know the Denver Better Business Bureau is full od liars, scam artist who are just a part of the scam. Very clearly the Denver BBB is NOT to be trusted. They will take your money and your bribe if you are a business stealing and scamming the consumer. The BBB should close and go bankrupt! Avoid the scam artist and criminals that run the Denver Better Business Bureau.
I filed a complaint with the BBB about a swimming pool company that did a bad construction job on my pool. I gave the BBB all the details and evidence and they totaly ignored everything. There is alot of talk that companies are paying the BBB to keep there A+ rating and I am pretty sure this was another one added to the list. They seem to be just a corrupt as the companies they are protecting.
I say this because they even blocked me from writing a REVIEW about the swimming pool company. Now no other review site did this to me only the BBB. It would appear that the Better Business Bureau is just as corrupt as the companies were trying to fight against. The BBB is definatley helping companies get away with criminal activity and they should not be able to do this. Someone needs to step in and mediate them.
We purchased 2 Cleveland Indians tickets on August 7 for September 13. When we got to Cleveland on the day of the game, the city was ridiculously crowded, way more than usual for a game. The whole city was well out of parking, so we gave up and went home. We tried to get a refund for the tickets we never used, but got the runaround from the ticket website, including given incorrect contact information. We filed with the Better Business Bureau.
In their responses, the ticket website lied about their return policy, lied about what they said to me on the phone, and refused to respond within the time allowed. Still the Better Business Bureau ruled in their favor, stating that the website tried to address the issues even though they did not, but did not explain. They closed the complaint and gave some fake appreciation at the end of the email. The Better Business Bureau obviously doesn't care. The complaint ID number is 90198842 on the Better Business Bureau files. This greed and enabling needs put a stop to.
So, a few days ago I filed a complaint with the BBB of California. I have been getting relentless “we have a lead for you texts” from a widely known scam company called Smith better known as GoSmith. Despite repeatedly asking them by phone, text, and email to STOP texting me, they continue. (for years) To make matters worse, they utilize a service to continually rotate and change the number that it shows they are calling from, making blocking these texts impossible.
I believe GoSmith’s practices of robotexting, falsifying their phone number, and refusing to maintain (and abide by) a “do not call” list are all against the law.
So I filed a complaint with the BBB about them. The BBB has them listed here:
bbb.org/losangelessiliconvalley/business-reviews/referral-contractor/smith-dba-gosmithcom-in-sunnyvale-ca-411822/reviews-and-complaints
The BBB page on Gosmith has 13 complaints (which, curiously, you cannot read as the link is disabled) and 5 reviews, all negative. If you do a little googling, you will find a VAST number of complaints about GoSmith.
Yet, SOMEHOW, Gosmith maintains a pretty nice B- rating with the BBB???
Well, yesterday, I got a response from Carina Alaniz at the BBB. It reads (in full):
complaint ID#: 571997
Business Name: Smith dba GoSmith.com
Thank you for contacting BBB regarding your complaint.
We regret to inform you that BBB cannot process your complaint. The case has been reviewed and was found to contain issues that are out of BBB's Purview. Your complaint would be best handled by the Attorney General's office listed below:
CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL
California Department of Justice
Attn: Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
Phone: (916) 322-3360 or
Toll-free in California: (800) 952-5225
Fax: (916) 323-5341
Web: https://oag.ca.gov/
Although we are unable to assist at this time, please remember that your BBB provides many valuable services to you both prior to making a purchase and after. If we can be of service to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB in Washington, D.C.) allowed me (the consumer) only half an hour to respond online to a business’s response to my written complaint. BBB gave no warning beforehand of this time limit. BBB neither publicly posted nor acknowledged (in the “negative review” category) either of my submitted letters on the American Medical Expert (AME) company. BBB also subsequently removed most of the public content of another consumer’s “negative review” of the AME business yet still publicly posted AME’s response to that consumer. BBB stated “complaint details [were] unavailable” with that consumer’s complaint as well as with mine. I would be curious to know how BBB justifies its A+ business rating for the AME business.
In handling another related case, the Washington, D.C. office seemed a little rude. The BBB said they couldn't help with my complaint against the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) because no financial transaction took place. The BBB website states, however, that the BBB addresses service complaints that focus on misrepresentation or violation of business policy.
When I sent my same review to a different BBB regarding this same AAD organization in its other business location of Chicago, BBB stated it couldn’t process my AAD complaint for completely different reasons than what the Washington D.C. BBB stated. The Chicago BBB gave such reasons as 1) I'm requesting some sort of "disclosure of practices." [I don't know what BBB even meant by that.] BBB also twice wrongly told me 2) that I was filing a complaint with them against a doctor's office, which they don't handle, so I wrote back each time stating that no, this complaint was against the AAD. The Chicago BBB also said 3) they couldn’t act as my lawyer or cop. I did not expect them to. They said other nonsensical things, such as 4) how I'm writing to them with a personal complaint, which they stated they can't handle. But they also said that I was 5) writing this complaint on behalf of other people, so they couldn’t deal with that, either. They said several other things that also didn’t make sense or didn’t apply.
In response to the Washington D.C. BBB's response to me on google: I did try repeatedly to contact AAD and got no response from the organization (as I already showed BBB), and I did already try filing the complaint with BBB but to no avail. The BBB provided examples of complaint cases they wouldn’t handle, cases that were not similar to mine. I was asking the BBB to direct the AAD to act on its avowed principles to serve patients and honor social responsibility, rigorous inquiry, professionalism, and lifelong learning.
In response to the Chicago BBB message to me on google: I wasn't asking for BBB or AAD to determine if another dermatology office had been careless. I was asking BBB for help in getting the AAD to stand by its promises to consumers.
Don't wast your time with BBB, they are so corrupted taht they ignore the consumers complaint.
Can somebody tell me how can "amazon.com" have a B+ with 90% of Negative complaints in the same BBB website?
I sold an itme through Amazon.com and a client opened a case A-Z warranty, I as a seller have the right to respond to the customer in 3 days, I responded to the customer the next day and what happened? No matter that I was trying to solve the problem with the client, Amazon closed the case at the 3rd day; returned all the money to the client and the client never returned the product to me!, I went to complaint with BBB showing them my screen shots of the communication with the customer and gave them the link with Amazon policies which they were violatin and what BBB responded to me?
"BBB is a non-profit, non-governmental organization which promotes business self-regulation.
Although BBB encourages a company to respond to a complaint we bring to its attention , we can not require it to do so.
BBB contacted the above referenced company on multiple occasions regarding your complaint. To date, we have not received a reply; therefore, BBB is obligated to close your complaint as a "no response", which will be reported to the public for the next three years."
The Better Business Bureau office in DC is very dishonest and unethical. I filed a complaint against a business; the business didn't respond to BBB or me until 6 months later. The business finally responded to BBB 6 months later. I went into the hospital and contacted BBB and they close my complaint because I requested a couple of days to respond. Then the CEO, Mr. Johnson fabricated that I responded several times when I responded one time and the company responded twice. As I was going to respond for the second time to the company that is when I was refused by BBB CEO Mr. Johnson. BBB suppose to be impartial and for the little person against bad businesses but when they are taking funds from businesses you know as well as I know money is the rule of all greed and that is a business bureau. They suppose to arbitrate for customers concerns however the CEO told me that they don't, he fabricated you can find exactly what BBB suppose to do however they don't do for customers. See What is BBB? https://www.bbb.org/boston/get-to-know-us/what-is-a-bbb/
BBB is a nonprofit organization and obtains funds from business too. It's not a government entity but a non-profit which the federal government they receive grants to run their organization. America we must stop these organizations such as BBB who states they are for American people but for the businesses. So you can see why they aren't going to advocate for anyone complaint effectively because they are serving their interest and the business interest. It 's upsetting to me that BBB could be biased because I was in the hospital and don't prefer sick people when filing a complaint but the lame excuses just demonstrate how unethical and dishonest BBB really is against the regular American customer. This is a sad case with customers as organizations like BBB is defrauding citizens who only wants to be protected under consumer rights.
Recently I filed a complaint with an (A) rated company on BBB.org. My first suspicion was when the company had an ( A ) rating but it also had thousands of complaints. ... Then a week after filing a complaint, bbb. Sends and email saying I have a reply to my complaint... following 5 heir link. The "reply" is blocked and the message tells me the complaint is closed and will be filled as "Settled"... Now I understand how the company can have an ♢A♢ rating. While having thousands of complaints. . BBB seems to be collecting $$...working for the big. businesses and not the people.
1. Would it amaze you to find out that there are numerous legitimate complaints and even lawsuits against Better Business Bureau franchises? Yes, you read correctly. The BBB is a corporation comprised of several private business franchises very like to McDonald's.
2. Many people are under the perception that the BBB is a government agency. It is not. The truth is it operates as a non-profit and its funded primarily through membership fees paid by businesses.
The fact that they make money collecting payments from businesses should automatically raise an eyebrow.
How can they honestly look out for the consumers best interest when their customer base is businesses? They claim neutrality but to any rational person there is an obvious conflict of interest.
So you see a business with a BBB member sticker in the window, a plaque on the wall, or a banner on their website and you think they must be creditable. What should also be swirling in your mind is the fact that in order to become a member of the BBB the business has to pay an annual membership fee. How many renewals would the BBB get if the members were graded badly?
3. The truth is members of the Better Business Bureau have much higher grades than non-members. It seems like an A+ grade is only possible for dues-paying customers (members).
4. The fact of the matter is everything that the trusted BBB warns us about when it comes to unscrupulous business practices, they are considered by some as the biggest offenders.
5. The list of growing complaints around the country accuse local Better Business Bureaus of:
Unfair and Disingenuous Business Practices.
Underhanded or Misleading Advertising.
Discrimination Against Certain Businesses Based On Their Industry.
Use of Non-Profit For Personal Gain.
Many of us look to the Better Business Bureau to establish the legitimacy of a business or to report a business, but where do we go if we have a problem with the better business bureau? Who watches them?
The savvy consumer and self-respecting business owner does due diligence on the Better Business Bureau just as they would before dealing with any other company. It just makes sense.
It has been reported to the "badbusinessbureau.com" that, the BBB encourages and solicits money from the very businesses they monitor! How could this be beneficial to the consumer?
Consumers have reported, the BBB DOES NOT report consumer complaints which are under investigation, even when they know the business is under criminal investigation and is about to be shut down. ......(see victim's story down below)
What the BBB does, is give the business that is being reported the opportunity to respond. If the business responds many times this is enough to give the business a satisfactory rating, no matter what their response is!
Most BBB offices do not report any past history of a business, even when that business continuously victimizes different consumers. Even when the business just continuously satisfies each costumer complaint, you will never know of this information in the future. All you might know is, ...."they have satisfied their complaints." ..GIVING THEM A SATISFACTORY RATING.
Even when a business does have complaints that are unsatisfied, they still might get a satisfactory rating. The BBB Better Business Bureau will not tell you what the complaints were even when they tell you, they satisfied all complaints. The BBB must realize what a consumer must have gone through before resorting to filing a complaint! And for every consumer that did file a Complaint, there are 20 others that did not complain. And you can be next!
Bogus Business Bureau
The BBB is ridiculous. It's nothing more than a pay-to-play sham. Check out my post to see what I mean.
http://www.scamsites.com/better-business-bureau-summary-complaints-history-transgressions/
Many businesses boast “a” ratings by the lauded better business bureau Bbb) with pride. A high number of these businesses that have “no business” getting ratings higher than failing, states cnn money. With ongoing federal lawsuits, misleading claims, and thousands of dollars towards memberships, these a- or higher rated businesses have government regulations yet tout their bbb ratings. How can this be?
Lori Wilson of the Golden Gate Better Business Bureau is corrupt. She is anti-Christian. She refused to process my complaint simply because of my Christian viewpoint.
When I called her out for this on the Better Business Bureau's Facebook page, instead of addressing the issue, the Better Business Bureau tried to cover it up by blocking me and deleting my post. They miscalculated me. They mistakenly thought that I was just going to take this kind of abuse quietly.
The BBB is in a position of public trust. They have violated that trust by discriminating against me. They have clearly showed that they are not objective in their decision making. The BBB has become corrupt and dishonest - as you can clearly see from Lori Wilson's abhorrent behavior. Lori Wilson should step down from her position. There is no place for such hate and bigotry. If she hates Christians so much, perhaps she should move to Iran.
The Better Business Bureau is unlikely to respond to this complaint. They hid like cowards when I confronted them about it and I am sure they will continue to do so. Let's wait and see if they respond. If they respond at all, it will be a vague, generic complaint. If Lori Wilson responds, she'll likely just deny everything.
We own a remodeling company and were approaced to become a member of the BBB. Prior to membership we had a not rated rating. We paid the money and got an A+ rating. Shortly after that we were approached by the BBB to do some advertising. We said no. Our rating became a N/R. To add insult to injury we had a secretary steel several files as she starated her own company and was soliciting our customers to cancel and resell the jobs. These files were given to the BBB and they began to solicit complaints from these customers. After a couple months we again were contacted to advertise and agreed to spend over $17,000.00. Incredibly the BBB called and stated they were reinstaing our A plus ratiing. I became angry and cancelled the advertising. We are still not rated and if a customer calls for a rating on us the BBB stears them away from our company. It should also be noted that a managing parter of the BBB is the owner of Above Roofing a major competitor who we have recently taken a great deal of business from.
BBB- THE FOX GUARDING THE HEN HOUSE When most folks think Better Business Bureau; consumer protection, ethics and integrity come to mind. Right?
1. Would it amaze you to find out that there are numerous legitimate complaints and even lawsuits against Better Business Bureau franchises? Yes, you read correctly. The BBB is a corporation comprised of several private business franchises very like to McDonald's.
2. Many people are under the perception that the BBB is a government agency. It is not. The truth is it operates as a non-profit and its funded primarily through membership fees paid by businesses.
The fact that they make money collecting payments from businesses should automatically raise an eyebrow.
How can they honestly look out for the consumers best interest when their customer base is businesses? They claim neutrality but to any rational person there is an obvious conflict of interest.
So you see a business with a BBB member sticker in the window, a plaque on the wall, or a banner on their website and you think they must be creditable. What should also be swirling in your mind is the fact that in order to become a member of the BBB the business has to pay an annual membership fee. How many renewals would the BBB get if the members were graded badly?
3. The truth is members of the Better Business Bureau have much higher grades than non-members. It seems like an A+ grade is only possible for dues-paying customers (members).
4. The fact of the matter is everything that the trusted BBB warns us about when it comes to unscrupulous business practices, they are considered by some as the biggest offenders.
5. The list of growing complaints around the country accuse local Better Business Bureaus of:
Unfair and Disingenuous Business Practices.
Underhanded or Misleading Advertising.
Discrimination Against Certain Businesses Based On Their Industry.
Use of Non-Profit For Personal Gain.
Many of us look to the Better Business Bureau to establish the legitimacy of a business or to report a business, but where do we go if we have a problem with the better business bureau? Who watches them?
The savvy consumer and self-respecting business owner does due diligence on the Better Business Bureau just as they would before dealing with any other company. It just makes sense.
It has been reported to the "badbusinessbureau.com" that, the BBB encourages and solicits money from the very businesses they monitor! How could this be beneficial to the consumer?
Consumers have reported, the BBB DOES NOT report consumer complaints which are under investigation, even when they know the business is under criminal investigation and is about to be shut down. ......(see victim's story down below)
What the BBB does, is give the business that is being reported the opportunity to respond. If the business responds many times this is enough to give the business a satisfactory rating, no matter what their response is!
Bbb deletes reviews and truth as long as businesses like "fite ready" in scottsdale, az pay them to. Theyare as corrupt and cursed as yelp.com. may the bbb rot in curses until death.
As we all know, sometimes we make mistakes with lenders. I was dealing with a company out of Seattle for cash advance services, I called the Better Business Bureau for any information about this company in regards to its negative reports. The BBB gave me the "thumbs up" that this company was legit. come to find out - it wasn't. this happened back in 2008 when everyone was facing catastrophe thanks to our corrupt banking system. I was a victum needless to say of identity fraud, we contacted the FBI and supplied them with all the information and details of this company that screwed us.
The point I want to make here is this, even the BBB can make mistakes, in our case a costly mistake. just do your homework on businesses that offer to help you out financially, double check even what the BBB says, it could save you from unneccessary problems in the end. Look into any police reports about a company, contact the organizations like FBI to see if there are alerts out there involved with said company, like I said, the BBB had no idea that this company was doing crimes, they gave it a A rating for reliability. so do your homework!
BBB does not report accurate information to consumers, There reports are geared to help the business that pay for membership.
I have filed several complaints about companies that resulted "resolved disputes on the BBB website" which is the furthest from the truth. I then realized the companies I was reporting derogatory complaints pay BBB for membership. BBB doesn't protect consumers only thier paying business members.
One of the companies I reported a negitive experience had 800 complaints but all were resolved according to BBB, one was my complaint. Liars!!!
Don't waste your time reporting a bad experience to BBB use Rip Off report instead!!!!
Scammed homeowners and subcontractors filed complaints with the Dallas Better Business Bureau regarding Josh Vanardo and Greenway Renovations. Josh did not respond to the complaints and after 3 complaints within a month and no response from Josh, the Better Business Buearu removed all the complaints from the website. Since Josh pays to be an accrediated member they are covering up his scamming behavior instead of leaving the complaints to warn potential consumers about his deceptive practices. I contacted them and asked where the complaints went; mine included and I have not received a response. They are just as bad. Read about all the Dallas BBB compaints.
Looking for an organization that protects consumers? Keep looking. Apparently it is very easy to get an a+ grade from the washington dc bbb. All you have to do is pay the fee and submit an application. Then - presto! - you'll have your accreditation and a+ rating without the slightest demonstration that your dealings with customers are just or reasonable. Once you've got this a+ rating, it's very hard to lose it. In my case, the company wrongfully withheld $300 and refused to talk to me about it. Four months later, i filed a complaint with the washington dc bbb. Shockingly Kidding!), the company refuses to talk to the washington dc bbb about it too. It has been completely non-responsive and ignored four letters over the past 60+ days. Despite this, the company's a+ rating remains safe. In fact, the complaint i filed more than two months ago is not even mentioned on the company's bbb page, let alone factored into its rating. I called the washington dc bbb after each of its "deadlines" for the companies. More than once, i was told that the company would have until [x] to respond and, if it didn't, would appropriately lose its perfect rating. Those deadlines came and went. Each time, the washington dc bbb created a new one to give the business an additional opportunity to respond I.E., to protect the fees it pays the bbb). Finally, i asked to speak to a supervisor and was referred to angela obitz. She, however, has not returned either of my calls. I hate to say it, but the washington dc bbb offers no effective tools for consumers. Rather than waste time and energy on it, you'd probably be better off heading straight to yelp,
To understand why the why the BBBs are far less effective than they are purported to be, you need to understand how they operate. A popular misconceptions that Better Business Bureaus are local government agencies. They're not. They actually began life 83 years ago as citizens' vigilance committees formed to warn the public about shady companies false advertising claims. Today they are private, independently operated, nonprofit corporations designed to protect consumers from bad business practices of all kinds.
Each local bureau has its own CEO and unpaid board of directors, who determine what services will be offered and what dues members are charged--which range from $120 a year to $5,000.00 or more. The BBBs' main product is information: They keep files on all their members and create files for any company that a consumer inquires or complains about. Most BBBs assign ratings of satisfactory or unsatisfactory to most companies on file, based on their record of complaints. But though most bureaus offer formal arbitration and mediation services, BBBs are not enforcement agencies and cannot order an uncooperative company to award a refund or even acknowledge a complaint.
The CBBB makes local bureaus sign written agreements on bureau conduct that lay out guidelines for resolving internal disputes, paying dues and writing company reports. However, all the umbrella group truly controls is how the bureaus use the BBB trademark name, which it owns. The CBBB's lack of clout leaves local BBBs free to operate like fiefdoms, doing pretty much what they want with little oversight. One objective of James Bast, the 59-year old formal CEO of Presstek, a printing equipment supplier, who took over as chief executive officer CBBB in June 1994, is to address "problems within the bureau system." In particular, he wants to standardize the way bureaus collect and report date, by upgrading their computer systems.
The umbrella CBBB, which is perhaps best known as an effective watchdog of the nation's charities, is largely supported by its 350 national blue-chip members, such as AT&T and Xerox. These companies pay dues of as much as $80,000 a year to support the CBBB's promotion of ethical business practices." For instance, the CBBB monitors national advertising and alerts consumers to misleading claims. Some 240,000 companies pay their local BBB annual dues and the local chapter in turn pays dues to the CBBB.
In all, the CBBB collects substantial revenue--more than $13.6 million last year. some $3 million comes from the local BBBs and national business members. The remaining $10.6 million flows from fees for educational brochures books, sales training and mediation services. Its costliest program a free arbitration service known as BBB Autoline (annual cost: $8.4 million) for drivers stuck with lemons, is financed primarily by General Motors.
Where does all that tax-exempt money go? In 1994: 9% went to pay salaries, pensions and insurance for the top 11 officials ($1.3 million), office rent ($700,000) and travel ($660,000). CEO Bast, who officially took over in June of 1994, was actually put on the payroll in April and got $151,000 for the year. The outgoing CEO, James McIIhenny, 67, who formally retired in October after seven years, cleaned up too, earning $175,000 for six months' work as CEO and four months as a "consultant." Those salaries are substantially higher than the $114,814 that CEOs at comparable non-profit earn, according to Abbott Langer & Associates, publisher of industry compensation surveys in Crete, Ill. Bast responds that he and other officers "are reasonably compensated" for the work they do.
I have contacted the BBB numerous times about issues that I am having with BOOST MOBILE, and U.S. BANK. Despite the fact that they say they will investigate and assist, I have found them to do absolutely nothing. They appear to try and hamper the investigations rather than assist with the investigation. I sent the folloing to [email protected] today 8/12/2015. THE BBB stated on 8/11/2015 that the "BBB Serving San Diego, Orange & Imperial Counties, 4747 Viewridge Ave. #200, San Diego, CA 92123, 858-496-2131" will be asssiting with the case.
AUGUST 12, 2015
BOOST MOBILE CONSTANT HARASSMENT AND DENIAL OF SERVICE:
MESSAGE FROM BOOST MOBILE RECEIVED 8/12/2015 @ 11:29 AM. “BST FreeMsg: Your plan has expired for the month. Your service is unavailable. For more information, log in to My Account.”
MESSAGE FROM BOOST MOBILE RECEIVED 8/11/2015 @ 2:44P.M. ” 9329 FROM BOOST MOBILE ‘BST FreeMsg: You’ve added $50.00 to your account. To check you balance, login in to My Account on your phone or online.’”
NOTE: I AM LEAVING TO GO OUT OF TOWN 8/13/2015, BECAUSE BOOST MOBILE CONTINUES TO BLOCK MY SERVICE, I WILL BE ON THE ROAD WITH NO CELLULAR SERVICE!!
I filed a Complaint #57311681 on 8/10/2015, the second or third report against U.S. Bank, about harassment and refusal to return my Social Security check in 7/2015 and 8/2015 and nothing has been done about it.
THE Better Business Bureau is not addressing any of my issues.
I can not access the site "bbb.org/minnesota/complaintreply" in order to view my complaint status, I get a message that says "SITE ERROR." Your assistance in this regard is appreciated. I do want to pursue my complaint against U.S. Bank and I will appreciate an email from you telling me how to proceed. I sent the above email to:
Taylor Keate, Mediation Coordinator
651 695-2489
[email protected]
The BBB appears to be completely BOGUS!
I submitted a complaint against Apollo AC & Heating several weeks ago. It never was resolved. The business owner came by 2 weeks ago to look at the system (installed 6/2011 - with a 10 year parts & labor warranty). He said he would be back in 2 or 3 days, 2 weeks later nothing!!!!
The AC & heating system have had multiple issues since 11/14 and has not run for 2 months.
I get back on the BBB website and it now shows that Apollo has an A+ rating and has no complaints. TOTALY Untrue!!!!
It looks like if you keep your dues paid, the BBB sweeps everything under the carpet and doesn't disclose the truth about a vendor.
The BBB is a completely BOGUS organization.
FYI, I posted a 2nd follow-up complaint on BBB website about how Apollo came out, but never followed up with any actual work in 2 weeks. BBB did not publish this on their website!
I can only assume that Apollo claimed they resolved my complaint. However my follow-up complaint never even appeared on the BBB website. Again it appears that the BBB is covering up for its paying members.