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It makes sense to believe the Better Business Bureau has always been in existence. As the consumer advocacy and commerce watchdog organization marks its centennial celebration in 2012, the name is one almost every American has encountered at one time or another.
The BBB was established with the original mission to expose and correct false advertising. In time, consumer advocates behind the name began monitoring business performance and providing the public with information on merchants and manufacturers. Advocates told the public who could be trusted, while exposing questionable characters.
That basic mission continues for the BBB, but with changes in time and technology, consumers have access to business performance databases, charity reports and advertising reviews. The BBB also provides for its more than 300,000 members and all consumers, dispute resolution services, business ethics promotions and media alerts.
“When I started here eight years ago I really didn’t know anything about [the BBB],” Houma Branch Manager Heather Peters said. Her office is part of the New Orleans Division and services approximately 400 members in addition to consumers in Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes.
“The BBB branches out to promote trust in the marketplace and ethical behavior among consumers and businesses alike,” Peters said.
As a non-profit agency, paid membership and accreditation keeps the BBB in business. Annual membership fees begin at $400 a year and, depending on various factors, can increase from there. Long-standing members tend to pay prices at rates with which their receiving a display sticker or sign originated.
Peters said that members get benefits in terms of company reports and an online database, but when it comes to consumer satisfaction, they are expected to be accountable.
Businesses do not automatically receive a membership sign to display once an initial fee is paid. They must meet certain standards including being in business for at least one year. That and other criterion is intended to head-off fly-by-night operations that often turn into scams.
“We need to know about companies before we accept them as members,” Peters said. “Our sales department checks to see if they have had complaints with us. There are some companies that will not ever become members unless they clean things up.”
Peters said the BBB does not accept work-at-home, payday loan companies or businesses with a questionable nature as members as a regular rule.
Membership can be stripped from a business if complaints go unresolved and reputations post a threat to the BBB image. Strikes can be placed against a company if a complaint goes unanswered.
“The purpose of the [consumer] complaint process is to realize there are two sides to every story,” Peters said. “A lot of times consumers feel they are entitled to something that they really are not. The process gives the consumer an opportunity to say, ‘This is what happened to me.’”
Peters said BBB representatives take a consumer’s written report and send it to the company in question to respond, but never takes sides.
While non-members might think the BBB is targeting them when complaints are filed, members have the benefit of attorney directed arbitration services, by which they might resolve issues with a given consumer.
Peters said the complaints process can be challenging because often it is not the business that is in the wrong, but the consumer wanting something for nothing, or misunderstanding details involved with purchases or service agreements.
“There are a lot of times the company did not do anything wrong,” the BBB manager said. “I think a lot of times consumers feel they are entitled to something they are not. We see that a lot with used car sales. Dealers know that when the consumer signs an ‘as is’ paper they are in the clear, but some consumers do not understand what ‘as is’ means.”
The larger BBB organization offers consumer seminars and occasionally conducts classes to educate the public regarding purchases, contracts and conducting business with businesses.
For consumers, the BBB offers a menu of opportunities from receiving lists of business providers with good reputations, to reports on business reputations and scam warnings.
“That is probably the bulk of our calls in this office,” Peters said regarding consumer scams by phone, in person and on the Internet.
“One of the most frustrating parts of this job is the scams,” Peters said. “We have a lot of poverty here and people will call in convinced they won $1 million, but they were told they have to mail in $20, which they don’t have in the first place. You can tell they want it. We have to tell them it is not real. We get these calls every day and each one is convinced their case is different.”
Peters said before taking on her present job she did not know what the BBB did. “Now that I’ve worked here I know what to check, and what options are available,” she said. “Even if I order something on the Internet, the first thing I do is check to see if a company is a [BBB] member and if it has had any complaints. I’ve avoided doing business with some companies that way.”
The BBB organization works closely with district attorney offices, sheriff offices and the state attorneys general to share information and keep both business and consumer activity above reproach.
“What still surprises me on a daily basis is how naive people can be about certain things,” Peters said. “A while back people were receiving calls in a scam that claimed President Obama was paying all their bills. It was call-after-call. People were telling me their ministers were handing out information at church. It was so widespread. Just that fact that they could believe it and it would spread so far from one person starting it. That just gets to me.”
Peters said the Internet facilitates scams and makes consumer awareness, even with honest business, more of a challenge. She also said companies have increasingly made more efforts to secure consumer confidence and repeat business.
One hundred years removed from when an advertisement raised public concern, the BBB offers a variety of services including online programs, auto warranty and lemon law protection, programs to promote healthy lifestyles, and free services to military personnel and retirees.
The BBB has been around for a long time. Peters said with a mission of being the leader in marketplace trust, this consumer awareness and business advocacy group intends to be in existence for many years to come, because it only makes sense.
Houma Better Business Bureau Branch Manager Heather Peters keeps close watch on the records of member businesses as well as consumer concerns. The BBB marks its centennial year in 2012 with the office that serves Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes having been active since 1979.
