Better Business Bureau

A lot of people are surprised when they see that I wrote a negative review about the Better Business Bureau. They assume the review is about how you can use the Better Business Bureau as a resource for going after scam artists.

No, I think the Better Business Bureau is as bad as many of the scammers they go after. I will give you my story and why I feel that the Better Business Bureau is a resource that you should not only avoid joining but also avoid using. You be the judge.

Let me give you a bit of background information first.

1. The Better Business Bureau is not a governmental agency. Each office is run by a board of directors but are not governmentally owned and have no real power. They can't do anything. All they can do is say that you are bad on their phone line (or site) and then report to the real authorities.
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2. They charge to be a member. I have no problem with them charging but the way they have it set up is a total scam. There is an offline BBB and an online BBB. You have to pay $350 a year to belong to either. If you are an online business you must first joint the offline for $350 and then the online for another $350.
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3. The Better Business Bureau will not list information about you unless you are a member or have complaints. That means that if you don't join and have zero complaints, this is what customers hear if they try to check up on you, "The Better Business Bureau has no info on this company". That makes it sound like you are shady or something.

The BBB might disagree but I would think most people would back me up. Here is what happened to me. I hope you can benefit from it:

I had been badgered for a year by the Better Business Bureau to join but they don't like people who sell books on how to make money. People with stock systems or money making books sometimes don't get in. I had rep after rep call and try to get me into the Better Business Bureau all telling me the same thing. "If you aren't a member and have no complaints (like I did) then people aren't going to get any info about you. It was almost like they wanted my $350 to say something about me. That's exactly what it was.

I paid the $350 to join and was very clear about what my company did, my URL and what we were about. I even told them I wanted to put the logo up on my site. The gal had to go check with a supervisor but they said that was OK.

About four months passed when I got a call from some other supervisor at the Better Business Bureau telling me I had to take the BBB logo off my site. I was surprised asking them if I did something wrong. They said "Yes, you can't put the logo on your site." "OK why?", I asked. They told me, "The Better Business Bureau logo is copyrighted. You just can't use it anywhere."

I said I understood this but I was a member. I have seen people use the logo on stationary etc. What is the problem with it being on my site? The answer I finally got bothered me a lot. "Mr. Gagnon, you can't use the logo on your site because you aren't a member of the Online Better Business Bureau." Did I hear her right? The Online Better Business Bureau?

She told me I was going to have to call another phone number to get details. I ended up talking to a guy who worked for the Online Better Business Bureau and found out that they wanted another $350 to join that. I explained that there was some mistake and that I should have joined the online version in the first place. Could they just transfer my membership? He said "No". "You have to join the regular Better Business Bureau first, then if you are an online business, you can join the Online Better Business Bureau." I yelled, "SCAM!!!" into the phone. I don't think he appreciated it. I ended up paying the $350 to join the Online Better Business Bureau.

They said the approval process was much harder and they were going to be examining me with a microscope. I said that was fine. I had no complaints. It didn't end up being fine. I was approved for the online version until the person that had found the logo on my site started looking at my sales letter and decided they didn't like some of the things that I said in it. They issued me a letter saying they wanted a list of my customers that had made over $6,000 every month using my methods. I told them my customer list was private but I would give them a few phone numbers of happy customers that they could talk to.

A few nasty phone calls later, I was kicked out of the Better Business Bureau. They told me the reasons were my advertising standards and the logo incident. "Incident", I asked. "What incident?" They said I knew what they were talking about. I tried to bargain my way back in but it was to no avail. I asked them if they were upset with what was on my site, why didn't they say something when I signed up for The Better Business Bureau? I had given them my URL. I told them I marketed books on "how to make money on the net".

My site and letter were exactly the same from the time that I signed up. Nothing had changed. The gal said that it didn't matter. They didn't like what they saw now and I would have to change some pretty major things. I asked what? She goes on to explain that I would have to take all mentions of money out of my letter and even change the name of book I sold at the time, "Millions from home."

She said that if somebody was of low intelligence, the name was misleading. I said "Look, the book is called Millions from home, not "I Guarantee you are going to make one million dollars." She was silent. "The name means a bunch of things. That is why I used it. If somebody is mislead by the name Millions from home they shouldn't have a credit card or have the ability to buy anything. They should be in a group home." The conversation ended there.

Now when you call the phone line it says "Mazu Publishing was a member of the Better Business Bureau but that membership was revoked due to breaking membership rules 1 and 6. 1 being background information and 6 being advertising standards". The entire thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

At the time of this writing, I am boycotting the Better Business Bureau. I will still use businesses that are members but only if I have to. Maybe the name is a credibility builder for some people but not to me nor to the people who have heard my story.

I figure that some of the businesses that are members were pressured into joining like I was. I considered a law suit but the truth hurts more. They probably cost me about $400 to $600 a month in lost sales. I hope to cost them ten times that amount in lost business sign ups.

I appreciate any e-mails or stories that people can send me about their experiences with the Better Business Bureau (good or bad). You can forward them to me at the e-mail address below.

A better alternative to the BBB.

If you want to see online consumer protection the way it should be done....you know, to actually protect the consumer, The Online Business Bureau is a legitimate and we feel we're doing our Membership a service in sending them there.

http://www.onlinebusinessbureau.com

The Online Business Bureau is a better alternative for consumers to investigate whether a business is "the real deal". Their membership dues are much less than the BBB charges. As a result, many more businesses are willing to join, offering greater consumer protection.

The OBB maintains an extensive global database of companies doing business and their service allows you to research a company before giving that company your money. They also, and this is BIG, give you their assessment of a company whether they are a member of their organization or not. Most companies won't do that.

We invite you to use their service to look up a company. If you've been unfortunate enough to have a bad experience, you can use it to file a complaint about a company. OBB will then contact the company on your behalf and ask them to solve your problem. The companies who do not respond to complaints through will receive a negative rating, regardless of whether or not they are a member.

OBB is always adding features and resources to their site. Be sure to check them out. As they say.... "Do your homework before giving away your money!"

Matt Gagnon