Better Business Bureau/BBB/William (Bill) Mitchell BBB is a Private Company that Both Extorts Money and Does Not Use Much if Any Due Diligence Befote Issuing Their Rating on a Particular Company Colton, California
This Southland BBB that was caught up in a sting operation giving particular companies very high ratings predicated on how much money they were able to extort. (See article from Sharon Bernstein's, Los Angeles Times, November19, 2010 - ABC News reported that a group of Los Angeles business owners that had been critical of the BBB pulled a sting operation by paying dues for fake companies, including one named after the Palestinian organization Hamas, which the U.S. government considers a terrorist group.
The fake businesses were accepted by the BBB and given ratings, according to the report. Hamas got an A-minus.
It was not the first time the BBB had been under fire for its rating system. Additionally, William (Bill) Mitchell who ran the BBB for years in this part of the country took it upon himself to unilaterally determine which companies deserved a certain rating predicated by a supposed Algorithm that determined whether or not companies were 1. Legitimate 2. Doing a good job.
There, however, are a couple of difficulties with Mr .Mitchell's rating system. An anachronistic algorithm is NOT going to provide an accurate determination of the success of a company in a completely new industry without any history of business operations. The algorithm simply cannot apply. Moreover, Bill Mitchell had taken upon himself the sacred task of being a "watchdog" for the CA Bar.
Bill Mitchell is an attorney, but received his law degree from an un-accredited school with a VERY poor reputation coupled with the fact that Mitchell does not even have an undergraduate degree. He has NO knowledge of Finance, or the Banking industry. Begging the question - how is he able to make determinations regarding legitimate complaints, and frivolous complaints from people with unrealistic expectations.
Additionally, Bill Mitchell would use his supposed VAST knowledge of ALL industries and companies and determine which companies were benefitting consumers as opposed to ones that were not - he would then notify the FTC, and CA Bar of these suspect or fraudulent business practices. What a JOKE!Moreover, Mitchells findings would be used by the FTC and California Bar to often close these companies that had NOT succumbed to their extortive policies.
Most people mistakenly believe that the Better business Bureau is a Government organization protecting consumers - nothing could be further from the truth. Their algorithms that are supposed to determine the legitimacy and effectiveness of a company in a particular industry are antiquated, and anachronistic. Additionally, check the education, and experience of the individuals making these AA, A+, B, D or F ratings and you will be horribly shocked by their LACK of sophistication.
So the next time you see a company on TV, or any other type of media extolling their BBB grade...ignore it; it does not represent the true competency of that firm - GOOD or BAD!!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Andee
Loma Linda,California,
USA
William (Bill) Mitchell
#2Consumer Comment
Sun, July 03, 2016
This is now 2016 and I can clearly remember when I first read this report on Bill Mitchell a few years ago. I was renting a house in Colton, CA that was being managed by a company called “My Smart Lease” in Redlands, CA. The experience was a nightmare from the day we moved in to that beautiful historic home. The only reason my husband and I did not pack up and move was because of the house, itself. Had it not been such an amazing home (historically) we never would have even unpacked our boxes!
After about a year and a half the house was put up for sale. Because of the nightmare we were already living with having to fight CONSTANTLY with the management company, we were very skeptical and worried about what to expect from the new owner once the property sold. And for that reason alone, when the house went into escrow and the potential new owner was a man named Bill Mitchell I decided to google him to get any info I could in order to decide if we should just cut our losses and get the heck out of there before things got worse!
So I googled Mr Mitchell’s name and I was flabbergasted at all the reports I read about him. (Specifically yours). We immediately began searching for a new home to move to before the chaos began. To this day, I thank GOD that we weren’t able to find another home we liked, nor did we have the funds and time we needed in order to pick up and move on such short notice.
I no longer live in that home. I had to move in December 2014 (of absolutely no reason that had to do with our landlord, Bill Mitchell).
Mr. Mitchell turned out to be far beyond the VERY BEST landlord we could have ever imagined! Not only did he make all the repairs we had begged the old management company for over a year to make….he was polite, timely, considerate, thoughtful, gracious, meticulous and repaired everything we asked, every time we asked, in such a way (quality work) and in such a timely manner (usually within a day or so) and without ever making us feel as if we were being unreasonable….. he was amazing! And the most amazing part was that 9 times out of 10 it was Mr. Mitchell HIMSELF out there doing the work! If, on occasion he had hired someone else to do a repair, Mr Mitchell would always be right there supervising, lending a hand, making sure his tenants were satisfied and that our inconveniences were kept to a bare minimum.
I’m not sure how to explain the amount of professionalism, honesty, empathy and work ethics this man displayed! I have NEVER had a landlord or property manager that was as amazing as Bill Mitchell. And, in all honesty, I have had many landlords to compare him with over the years.
I can remember how all the neighbors were so impressed with the repairs he began making IMMEDIATELY after purchasing the home. We were blown away.
We, as tenants, had just suffered thru the winter in that house with absolutely NO HEAT (which was/is illegal) when My Smart Lease was managing the property. When the house sold to Mr Mitchell, not only did he repair the heat……he put in Central Air Conditioning, had all the ducts replaced and bought a brand new state of the art system installed! And he never even raised the rent.
For example, when we complained about not having enough electrical outlets, he had the entire house rewired and brought up to code! When we asked that the front screen door be repaired and told him the front door lock could only be locked from the inside….he built a custom wood screen door HIMSELF! And had a key for the original front door lock made for us. This house was built in 1905! It was funny, because we had a brand new, shiny set of “skeleton house keys” on our keychains. <— how cool is that? who does that? Answer: Mr. Mitchell does that! When we told him the back porch rail was loose…he rebuilt the entire porch! I can go on and on……
It is impossible for me to believe that this same man with the character, work ethics, professionalism, honesty and integrity Mr. Mitchell displayed from the day he took over to the day I moved out….(and even to this very day 2 years later) could possibly this same man that your report portrays him to be. In fact, the description is so far off the radar that it makes me question you!
True, I am not certain about all of the nitty gritty details revolving around this BBB “scandal” you claim that he orchestrated….but I do know first hand from my own experience…..Bill Mitchell is one of the absolute most well respected men (by me, my family, the neighbors on our old block) that I have EVER encountered in my life.
So you can label him what you want, portray him as you wish, but I myself, when describing my own personal experience with this same man could not have an opinion that is so completely opposite from yours. It was such a pleasure to know him and I was very fortunate to have him in charge of restoring our nightmare back into a home.
He was VERY knowledgebale about what a consumer could and should expect from a busines. He made certain that his tennants recieved that kind of service from any 3rd party company he hired, and most impressively in my opinion was the fact that he himself lived up to those same expectations in everything he ever did in regard to that property and us as tennants.
I haven’t lived there in 2 years now, so I can assure you that I have no other motive for writing this review on the man. He never did me wrong…in fact he never did anything that didn’t surpass a request or expectation by ten fold. It was my pleasure to know him. I was fortunate that he and I crossed paths in life and I doubt whole heartedly that I will ever experience renting a home from a landlord that is half the landlord he was for me. If I DO ever find one, I can assure you that that home is where I will spend the rest of my days!
I will always highly value and trust any input, advice or opinion that Bill Mitchell has when it comes to running a business! I absolutely trust and respect him.