Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad
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Ok I'm wondering about the BBB,
I have always be told and felt that they were a trust worthy source for info on a company.
I would hope that that would take a neutral stance and provide mediation when needed. I have seen good and bad things about companies on there
I have seen a post from about a year ago, and how they aren't really to be trusted.
Now I have always tried to operate with fairness to myself and my customers, and I I tend to bias my customers more.
I know this will bring out some discussion.
I ask because how many people "Companies" look at a BBB status about another organization before they do business with them?
I have been working in my area, and one of the areas largest companies was knocking on my "Door" they are valued at somewhere around 100mil. They have had some IT issues and needed some help.
I have recently received a call again from them this past month (I missed it, and they didn't leave me a message) I only have one contact there and he said it wasn't him. Which means it is likely the CIO or other C level. (He was going to set up a meet)
I started this thread because the BBB called, and said there had been inquiries into my business by several larger companies in my area. Coincidence... Maybe, But not sure it is possible.
It is also possible that is just the hook phrase, and its not true.
My thought is, if there are companies out there that still rely and trust them for "Assistance" in a decision on whether or not to do business. Maybe it could be helpful. I have zero desire to squash negatives, they happen. It is through the resolution of those issues and how you handle it, that others will determine if they will conduct business with you.
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They're known to be a pay to play place. So nobody is going to stay with the service if the reviews are bad. I know some people haven't worked through the same logic chains or don't know that the BBB is a pay to play service.
The BBB may have had actual inquires, but that's just a sales line even if it's true.
FYI - I've had bad experiences with companies that check out well with the BBB quite often.
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BBB is pay to play but I've heard they will negotiate disputes a bit.
Essentially, it's a little bit of extortion - "oh I see your BBB ratings / reviews are poor, would you like to pay us to fix that?"
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@MattSpeller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
BBB is pay to play but I've heard they will negotiate disputes a bit.
Essentially, it's a little bit of extortion - "oh I see your BBB ratings / reviews are poor, would you like to pay us to fix that?"
It's not a little bit extortion. It is the definition of extortion.
That's a nice business you have there... be a shame if people complained about it and you had no recourse but to give us money to fix it.
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All the above may be true (because it is), but if you need leverage against a company, you can use BBB to get your money back, etc. I've had disputes with small retailers online over a botched order that only got fixed after I crucified them on BBB.org. So there's that.
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@coliver said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
It's not a little bit extortion. It is the definition of extortion.
It's a little bit of extortion...
"regular" would be physical assault
"a lot" would be mob style where you just never get found
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@MattSpeller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
@coliver said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
It's not a little bit extortion. It is the definition of extortion.
It's a little bit of extortion...
"regular" would be physical assault
"a lot" would be mob style where you just never get found
Ah I was working on the binary extortion scale. I think this may be around the car insurance level of extortion if we use the tiered scale.
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@MattSpeller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
BBB is pay to play but I've heard they will negotiate disputes a bit.
Essentially, it's a little bit of extortion - "oh I see your BBB ratings / reviews are poor, would you like to pay us to fix that?"
Lol I love where this has gone. I'm chuckling here.
Anyways. When I spoke with them They had sad when it comes to disputes they will work to be the mediator of the parties involved. They look to resolve the issue as best as possible.
Also they said they provide assistance on Bad debt collection (Invoices greater than 45days late, and in excess of $200.) At no charge, and all received funds from the collection are the business owners.
I under stand pay to play. I wouldn't mind if I had positive, and negative feedback posted about me.
As I said it is how you handle the issue afterwards.
I had a vendor that I purchased a 4bay 4tb synology rack NAS from(AND paid more because it had disks) When I got it they had sent me a diskless system. They refused to resolve the issue saying that the unit doesnt had HDDs installed, and they would sell me more of them. I told them if I had made that mistake I would have sent the drives and ate it. In the end I shoved it back in their face and put the big FU in their future (As the song goes!)
I can understand mistakes, They happen. But they were wrong in their description. And wrong for not honoring what they marketed!
I will never buy from them again!
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@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
Ok I'm wondering about the BBB,
I have always be told and felt that they were a trust worthy source for info on a company.
My opinion is that BBB is a total scam and absolutely unethical and I don't trust businesses that list with them because using the BBB is a way to pay off someone to lie about your credibility. Putting BBB on your website makes me avoid you because I can't trust you.
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@MattSpeller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
BBB is pay to play but I've heard they will negotiate disputes a bit.
Essentially, it's a little bit of extortion - "oh I see your BBB ratings / reviews are poor, would you like to pay us to fix that?"
If by negotiate you mean "deny them to people not paying", then yes. I've tried to report companies before and found out that since they were paying, I couldn't file a complaint. Total extortion.
I've even tried reporting the BBB themselves and they hide themselves as a Bait and Tackle Shop in Texas.
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@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
I started this thread because the BBB called, and said there had been inquiries into my business by several larger companies in my area. Coincidence... Maybe, But not sure it is possible.
That's the exact same scam that Dunn and Bradstreet runs. They are both the exact same thing, social engineering scams.
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@RojoLoco said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
All the above may be true (because it is), but if you need leverage against a company, you can use BBB to get your money back, etc. I've had disputes with small retailers online over a botched order that only got fixed after I crucified them on BBB.org. So there's that.
I've also had the BBB ensure that you can't get your money back. Since there is no way to file a complaint on BBB if the vendor pays BBB to block that, you are powerless as the non-paying party.
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@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
Anyways. When I spoke with them They had sad when it comes to disputes they will work to be the mediator of the parties involved. They look to resolve the issue as best as possible.
You are violating my #1 rule of business.... never get advice from a reseller or vendor. In this case, you are calling a salesman (one that has already tried to scam you, why did you even accept their call?) and asking him to take advantage of you, which he is happy to do. Not just any salesman, one from a well known scam "business." As someone that has attempting to report the BBB to the BBB to test the system, this is a binary for me... they aren't legit, they are con artists and are a serious extortion racket. They have no valid business model, anyone working for them is a crook. So to me, you called a con artist and asked for info. Of course they sold you exactly the line they thought that you wanted to hear.
What's the value in asking someone to lie to you? You know that they are going to lie, you can just lie to yourself quicker.
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@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
I had a vendor that I purchased a 4bay 4tb synology rack NAS from(AND paid more because it had disks) When I got it they had sent me a diskless system. They refused to resolve the issue saying that the unit doesnt had HDDs installed, and they would sell me more of them. I told them if I had made that mistake I would have sent the drives and ate it. In the end I shoved it back in their face and put the big FU in their future (As the song goes!)
That's a legal issue. If you introduced the BBB to that process, it would just protect the vendor and possibly keep you from being able to have a resolution.
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@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
I can understand mistakes, They happen. But they were wrong in their description. And wrong for not honoring what they marketed!
I will never buy from them again!
Sounds like you are describing the BBB themselves.
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@scottalanmiller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
@MattSpeller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
BBB is pay to play but I've heard they will negotiate disputes a bit.
Essentially, it's a little bit of extortion - "oh I see your BBB ratings / reviews are poor, would you like to pay us to fix that?"
If by negotiate you mean "deny them to people not paying", then yes. I've tried to report companies before and found out that since they were paying, I couldn't file a complaint. Total extortion.
I've even tried reporting the BBB themselves and they hide themselves as a Bait and Tackle Shop in Texas.
That's not cool, I've always thought they were a good org. I know my mother and others always looked to them with favor.
I find that type of behavior to be unacceptable, if you wanted to lodge a complaint you should be able to!
I seen things before on companies with the BBB and it list good and bad. It seemed to be fair.
Grr why do companies have to act shady!
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@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
@scottalanmiller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
@MattSpeller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
BBB is pay to play but I've heard they will negotiate disputes a bit.
Essentially, it's a little bit of extortion - "oh I see your BBB ratings / reviews are poor, would you like to pay us to fix that?"
If by negotiate you mean "deny them to people not paying", then yes. I've tried to report companies before and found out that since they were paying, I couldn't file a complaint. Total extortion.
I've even tried reporting the BBB themselves and they hide themselves as a Bait and Tackle Shop in Texas.
That's not cool, I've always thought they were a good org. I know my mother and others always looked to them with favor.
I find that type of behavior to be unacceptable, if you wanted to lodge a complaint you shold be!
I seen things before on companies with the BBB and it list good and bad. It seemed to be fair.
Grr why do companies have to act shady!
Because all of the money is in acting shady! To be fair, they are a non-profit and it's VERY hard to be a non-shady non-profit. I have had long diatribes on the ecosystem that makes non-profits have almost no means of being ethical.
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@scottalanmiller said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
I started this thread because the BBB called, and said there had been inquiries into my business by several larger companies in my area. Coincidence... Maybe, But not sure it is possible.
That's the exact same scam that Dunn and Bradstreet runs. They are both the exact same thing, social engineering scams.
I figured the possibility existed of that. Of course "me being me!" My mind says that could be the BBB, maybe they are calling because of a complaint. The guy that wants to do good by everyone says (take that call if there is an issue you need to fix\address)
The sceptic in me, says maybe it's for something else all together (a scammer.)But with my "understanding, and what mom always told me was they worked to validate businesses, and help the customers keep them accountable. While also providing a platform for people to weed out the "bad ones from their decisions."
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@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
I figured the possibility existed of that. Of course "me being me!" My mind says that could be the BBB, maybe they are calling because of a complaint. The guy that wants to do good by everyone says (take that call if there is an issue you need to fix\address)
If there is a complaint, then they are extorting you. You are not a member so they have no business calling you. Who are they? Just some random person looking to take advantage of you. They are not an innocent third party in any way. If there is something to fix, whoever had that complaint needed to tell you, not them. If they accepted a complaint from a random person you don't know, they are scammers. If they try to make money off of you because someone might do that, they are scammers.
No legit reason that they could call you.
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@prcssupport said in Thoughts on the BBB! Good ~ Bad:
The sceptic in me, says maybe it's for something else all together (a scammer.)But with my "understanding, and what mom always told me was they worked to validate businesses, and help the customers keep them accountable. While also providing a platform for people to weed out the "bad ones from their decisions."
One thing I've noticed in my travels.... good businesses never use the BBB. Ones that you'd likely want to complain about do, often.
