Better Business Bureau

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Better Business Bureau
BBB logo
Founded 1912
Area served United States, Canada
Focus Consumer Protection
Website www.bbb.org

The Better Business Bureau (BBB), founded in 1912, is an organization based in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The BBB states its purpose is to act as a mutually trusted intermediary between consumers and businesses to resolve disputes, to facilitate communication, and to provide information on ethical business practices. Its website lists BBB's core services as:

  • Business Reliability Reports
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Truth-in-Advertising
  • Consumer and Business Education
  • Charity Review

Contents

BBB's inception has been credited to the court case initiated by the government against a number of firms, including the Coca-Cola Company, in 1906, after the Pure Food and Drug Act had been become law. The trial found the legal charges to be unfounded, and as a result Samuel Candler Dobbs, sales manager of Coca-Cola and later its president, took up the cause of truth in advertising.

In 1909, Dobbs became president of the Associated Advertising Clubs of America, now the American Advertising Federation (AAF), and began to make speeches on the subject. In 1911, he was involved in the adoption of the “Ten Commandments of Advertising", one of the first codes of advertising developed by groups of advertising firms and individual businesses. 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 the Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc in 1946 . In 1970 it was merged into the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The Better Business Bureau name and torch logo are federally registered trademarks. Use of the logo is limited to the Accredited Business Identification (ABIP) logo for printed materials and is not for online use. Online use accredited businesses must join the BBBOnline Security Seal program.

Companies that are invited to join the BBB as accredited busineses are required to pay annual dues and to meet and maintain requirements of accreditation. Businesses who agree to the BBB dispute resolution procedures may identify themselves as accredited. If accredited busineses fail to meet these standards, their accreditation will be revoked.

Dispute resolution procedures are regulated by the Council of the Better Business Bureaus. All BBBs are required to be members of this council; there is no independent Better Business Bureau. At a local level, the bureaus are governed by a board of directors. Though all bureaus are regulated by the Council, the Council is controlled by local BBB representation.

Complaints about the practice of professions like medicine, law and accounting are not handled by the BBB and are referred to agencies regulating those professions.

The video arm of the BBB develops video content, online resources, and educational tools for consumers. It was established in 1995 by Platypus Productions, Inc. The BBB Video Series (BBBVS) produces video programs based on the list of inquiries and complaints compiled by the BBB each year. BBBVS consults with national organizations and interviews industry experts during the production of each program to verify that the information is current and accurate.

The BBB reviews local and national charities, through local BBBs and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. Their goal is to help donors make good decisions about charitable giving and to foster the public's trust in philanthropy. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) ia a nonprofit charity watchdog which formed in 2001 through the merging of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus Foundation. The WGA released the Standards for Charitable Accountability in 2003. The New York BBB has a listing of over 800 local New York charities that can be accessed through the Online Giving Guide.

The BBB has been said to be less effective in complaint resolution than governmental consumer protection agencies. As it is not a government agency, its capabilities are confined to reporting bad, or allegedly bad, business practices to the public and the proper authorities.

Other criticisms against the BBB include the fact that its revenue comes from accredited businesses, raising the question about its partiality on handling disputes and complaints when the BBB may jeopardize its own funding.[1][2]

Allegedly, certain BBBs have been accused of not checking the validity of some consumers' complaints, which is commonly known as a breach of duty and in these particular cases, a duty assumed by the BBB. Consumers who may feel slighted by a business can file a report with the BBB. If a business resolves the problem with a consumer but doesn't go through the BBB, the BBB lists the complaint as "unanswered" on the company's report possibly affecting consumer confidence in that company.

Another point worth noting is that when a party making a complaint to the Better Business Bureau does not find satisfaction through BBB efforts, such as a "stalled" process, and proceeds with an action in small claims court, the Better Business Bureau removes the complaint from the business's complaint history. Thus, such an incident does not show on the business's record with the BBB going forward.

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