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The Better Business Bureau, founded in 1912, is an organization based in the United States and Canada devoted to honest business. On their website, they list their core services as:
- Business Reliability Reports
- Dispute Resolution
- Truth-in-Advertising
- Consumer and Business Education
- Charity Review
History
The inception of the Better Business Bureau is credited to the court case initiated by the government against a number of firms, whose number included the Coca-Cola Company, in 1906, after the Pure Food and Drug Act had been written into law. As a result of the trial (the legal charges had been determined to be unfounded) Samuel C. Dobbs, sales manager of Coca-Cola Company and later its president, became committed to the cause of truth in advertising. During the trial, Coca-Cola’s own attorney had uttered a famous remark that confirmed Dobbs' desire to see honesty in business practices: "Why, all advertising is exaggerated," the lawyer had remarked. "Nobody really believes it." In 1909, Dobbs became president of the Associated Advertising Clubs of America (now AAF) and began to make speeches on the subject; in 1911, he was involved in the adoption of the “Ten Commandments of Advertising." Similar organizations in succeeding decades, such as the National Better Business Commission, Inc. of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World (1921), and the National Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (1933) merged to become in 1946 the Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. This association functioned until 1970 when it was merged into the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
Criticisms
The BBB has been said to be less effective in complaint resolution than the consumer protection agency. As it is not a governmental agency, its capabilities are confined to reporting bad, or allegedly bad, business practices to the public and the proper authorities.
Companies that seek to protect their industry, geographic service area and their consumers, pay a membership fee and must meet and maintain standards of membership of the Better Business Bureau. Members who agree to the BBB dispute resolution proceedures may identify themselves as BBB Members. The BBB name and torch logo are Federally Registered trademarks.
Other criticisms leveled against the BBB include the fact that their revenue comes from Members. Does this create a conflict in their handling of disputes/complaints?
Dispute resolution procedures are strictly regulated by the Council of the Better Business Bureaus. All BBBs are required to be members of the Council of BBBs; there is no such thing as a BBB that is not affiliated with the Council of BBBs. Additionally, Bureaus are governed at the local level by a board of directors, though all are regulated by the Council.
The BBB works with the Federal Trade Commission in identifying and reporting the newest scams and rip-offs against business and the public.
External link
The Better Business Bureau is funded by companies that strive to protect consumers and their industries from scams and rip-offs. The BBB is a voluntary, self-regulation association.
The primary criticism of the BBB revolves around the fact that it is not a Government agency and has no real 'teeth' to force a business to comply with the Bureau's decision in a particular dispute situation. This criticism is flawed.
The Bureau's primary activity is to report to the public the reliability of a particular business based on past dispute/complaint activity. So, when a business refuses to do the right thing, a negative BBB reliability report is generated and reported to the public for three years.
Although the BBB cooperates with State and Federal agencies, the core idea is to promote a more ethical relatiobnship between businesses and consumers. The BBB's Dispute resolution division is separate from the Membership division. Any Member firm that violates the Standards of Membership is expelled from the Bureau and given a negative reliability report.
The true opponents of the BBB are shady operators who do not legally register their business with governmental authorities, behave unethically and take advantage of customers. Many 'fly-by-night' contractors would like nothing more than to destroy the BBB.
The BBB is relevant because it os among the first to learn of new scams and report them to the public. Examples; id theft, phinshing, work-at-home schemes, etc. The BBB resolves more complaints every year than the Governmental agencies in their area.
A business that wants to excel in a competitive marketplace must take into account the trust factor. If a business is a BBB Member, a customer is more likely to choose it over a non-member.
www.bbb.org www.bbbonline.org www.cbbb.org
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