Better Business Bureau Complaint - No Follow Through - Grading System

Posted by Weedwhacked on 2011-03-10:

That's because you haven't paid them. Companies actually pay them to get their ratings. Google it, you'll see its true.

Posted by saj80 on 2011-03-10:

What they didn't tell you is that your company may continue receiving an "F" until you start paying dues to the BBB. 60 Minutes did a story a few months ago regarding this, and had many examples where businesses received failing grades until they joined the BBB and started paying dues. As with the AARP, the BBB is now an organization mainly concerned with collecting fees and not representing what their original charter entailed.

Posted by trmn8r on 2011-03-10:

The website tells you what the rating is based on, when you look up a company name. Click on Ratings Explanation.

Then it tells you what raised the rating and what lowered the rating. Examples of the latter are Length of Time the Business has been Operating and Number of Complaints. I have never seen "automatically receives this rating" as an explanation, because that isn't an explanation.

It is NOT true that is means you haven't paid them. I am currently following a company that has very poor business practices. They started with an "F" (which they deserve), and they have risen to a "C" by the grace of time they have been operating and reponding to a few more complaints (they started with no responses to complaints). They are not members of the BBB, and have never been.

Posted by Slimjim on 2011-03-10:

You can't pay them to remove an "F". Paying them means becoming a member/accredited, and you can only do that if you have a "B" grade or better. I've heard of instances where certain industries are graded poorly, but never an F automatically. Maybe you started low by default and those complaints made it worse.

Posted by leet60 on 2011-03-10:

I am curious about what "type of business" the OP is referring to?