Complaint Review: Better Business Bureau

BBB loses credibility with Businesses:

The BBB is under investigation by the Attorney General in Connecticut with good reason. The BBB went to the dark side in 2009. It went to a new rating system. When our company, a long time member at the time, went down in its rating with the BBB, we asked the local franchise owner, Judy Pepper, how she determined our rating. She said they use an algorithm they designed. We asked for the algorithm to determine how we could better our rating and she refused. Why would they keep that a secret?  The Attorney General thinks maybe money is figured in.

We decided to evaluate our membership and determined that:

#1. Membership in the BBB is a COMPLAINT MAGNET. Our complaints grew 4 times over once we joined.

#2. The BBB does not care about being fair to businesses it only counts complaints.

We looked at our competitor who had almost 4000 complaints compared to our 133 complaints in the last three years, pretty good in our industry, and wonder how they keep their A+ rating. The judgments they make are arbitrary and subjective, no objectivity that we can see. As a member all of our complaints are resolved. Once you resign your complaints become serious.

Judy Peppers BBB franchise is doing well. They just bought a new building worth millions of dollars. Their business model has changed. They make a lot of money for a non-profit. I think it is because they have gone over to the dark side. I suggest if you own a business stay away from the BBB.