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Better Business Bureau Complaint - Utterly impotent.
Complaint
I lodged a complaint with the BBB about Dell recently and I recieve snail mail telling me that the issue is resolved. I scratch my head as my steaming pile of computer that never worked out of the box lays before me. I decide to do a bit of digging to see what exactly goes on at the BBB.
Check out the BBB page for Dell:
http://www.centraltx.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=41453
Of 14137 complaints (!!) to the BBB, exactly 14137 of the complaints were resolved to their satisfaction. 100% of complaints handled perfectly? A little too good to be true? Well good readers, it is too good to be true. Let's break down the numbers a bit.
Adding up numbers on the page, it seems that 2,068 times Dell made a 'reasonable offer' to the customer that was not accepted. But what is a reasonable offer anyway? There's no case by case breakdown. Many more times than that the customer didn't report back to the BBB whether or not the problem was resolved due to the onerous paperwork involved. The amount of times that both Dell AND the customer agreed that the problem was resolved is a very small fraction indeed.
Yet this company still has a 100% resolution rate for customer problems.
Weak. Impotent. Useless. Three words you should remember when dealing with the BBB.
Check out the BBB page for Dell:
http://www.centraltx.bbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=41453
Of 14137 complaints (!!) to the BBB, exactly 14137 of the complaints were resolved to their satisfaction. 100% of complaints handled perfectly? A little too good to be true? Well good readers, it is too good to be true. Let's break down the numbers a bit.
Adding up numbers on the page, it seems that 2,068 times Dell made a 'reasonable offer' to the customer that was not accepted. But what is a reasonable offer anyway? There's no case by case breakdown. Many more times than that the customer didn't report back to the BBB whether or not the problem was resolved due to the onerous paperwork involved. The amount of times that both Dell AND the customer agreed that the problem was resolved is a very small fraction indeed.
Yet this company still has a 100% resolution rate for customer problems.
Weak. Impotent. Useless. Three words you should remember when dealing with the BBB.
Comments:
Posted by Stew.old on 2006-10-10:
Nicely said abobo.
Posted by Slimjim on 2006-10-10:
The BBB is a powerless organization. They are not arbitrators and unless a company fails to respond to complaints, they will be considered satisfactory since the BBB will dare not make a judgment call. They simply are there to report how many complaints, type of complaints, and if any were unanswered. I know they make it sound like they are so much more, but here's more proof they really aren't.
Posted by amaniR on 2006-10-10:
I have to agree with you all, the BBB is a paper tiger and has been for years. More disturbing to me is over the past couple of years the BBB has started calling my work and trying to get us to become a member. The guy who calls tries to sound like there is a complaint against us but when I was dumb enough to call back (once only once) he gave me a big sales pitch to join. To me a site like my3cents is more useful and more true, BBB was a pretty good organization in the past but lately not so much. I find the state attorney general helpful in some cases. The fact is there is no magic pill to get what is owed us as consumers, it takes persistence, follow through and sometimes some real stress and aggrivation.
Posted by Doe3001 on 2006-10-10:
SOme people believe that the BBB is one of the biggest scam. They seem to be there just to collect money from companies and make people believe they are "legitimate, honest, reliable" companies. Read this report about the BBB: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff1343.htm
Posted by Sparticus on 2006-10-10:
I don't believe they are a scam. I think they are just overwhelmed and under-staffed. That is why sites like this are useful. They may not personally follow-up with the companies like the BBB, but they get the word out on the web. The companies in turn notice when they start to hear feedback about reviews read on this site or that site, etc.
Posted by Slimjim on 2006-10-10:
I don't believe they are a scam either, just not as "helpful" as some people think they can be. The rip off report however, is one of the biggest scams out there. I just posted this link yesterday for someone. I believe everything on it. http://bad-business-rip-off.com/
Posted by Doe3001 on 2006-10-10:
At this point I can only trust my grandmother. The lesson: customers are on their own. The BBB is useless, other sites are scam, other "customer" sites are afraid of being sued by big companies or to stop making with ads.
This is one of the few sites that allow people to put really bad review about corporations (althougbh some "editing" exist).
So far, a search in Google or Yahoo seems to be the best source of "reviews".
This is one of the few sites that allow people to put really bad review about corporations (althougbh some "editing" exist).
So far, a search in Google or Yahoo seems to be the best source of "reviews".
Posted by abobo on 2006-10-16:
Sparctius, please do not rationalize poor performance... it merely encourages organizations to continue to suck. If I was useless at work, I'd expect to get fired - so fire this website.
Posted by Loza on 2008-03-27:
In support of abobo, please review the new My3Cents-posting, "Complaints Against the Better Business Bureau".
So glad to see that there are others out there who see the BBB for what it really is "Bad Business Bureau" and only interested in obtaining new member funds to keep the sinking ship afloat, under the false vail of protecting the consumers--Huuuh! What a laugh!
Its' only interest lyes in making an empire for itself with the "BlackMail" membership funds.
The BBB: Fair, unbias, impartial! Hummbug!
So glad to see that there are others out there who see the BBB for what it really is "Bad Business Bureau" and only interested in obtaining new member funds to keep the sinking ship afloat, under the false vail of protecting the consumers--Huuuh! What a laugh!
Its' only interest lyes in making an empire for itself with the "BlackMail" membership funds.
The BBB: Fair, unbias, impartial! Hummbug!
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