Hartford Business.com
May 17, 2008
Browse News by Topic
- Manufacturing & Technology RSS
- Entrepreneurs & Economy RSS
- Professional Services & Media RSS
- Finance & Real Estate RSS
- Executive Suite RSS
- Opinion & Commentary RSS
- Accolades & More RSS
Data Products
To Do List
- Signup for HBJ Today
- Add a Calendar Item
- Submit News Release
- Advertise in the HBJ
- Subscribe to the HBJ
- 40 Under Forty Nomination
- Business Champions Nomination
- Women in Business Nomination
- Register for the CT Business Expo
- Greater Hartford Guest Guide
- Update your account information
The Better Business Bureau has seen a recent surge in membership and consumer complaints, a testament to its stature as a standard-bearer for ethical business practices. But the organization also faces new challenges in an increasingly wired world.
The big hurdle local and national leaders say the organization faces is getting consumers to think of the BBB as not just the place to vent to when business transactions go south, but as a resource to use before doing business with a company.
Making that happen is difficult because people's views and expectations of what the BBB does vary greatly. With the proliferation of Web sites and consumer-oriented blogs, people have a growing number of options for researching and airing complaints about a business or product.
"It's my job to get consumers to know that before they sign a contract and work with a company they should check with the BBB," said JoEllen Wollangk, manager of the Northeast Wisconsin regional Better Business Bureau office in Grand Chute.
Matthew Fehling, president and chief executive officer of the Better Business Bureau of Central, Northern and Western Arizona, joked that he'd like the organization's name to become a verb like search-engine giant Google.
"We want people to say I 'BBB-ed' them," said Fehling, who oversees the third-largest Better Business Bureau in the United States based on its number of accredited companies and annual revenue.
While the BBB has new competition, it also has valuable tools at its disposal. It has reliability reports on nearly 4 million companies nationwide. BBB.org has hundreds of consumer and small business advice columns with guidance on topics ranging from how to hire a contractor to how to avoid identity theft.
Kiki Freer-Parsons of Scottsdale, Ariz., said she often uses the BBB's Web site to look up contractors before hiring one to do work in her home.
"I would be more inclined to patronize the business that's got the BBB recognition symbol," she said. "There's more cache behind it."
The number of complaints reported to the BBB nationwide jumped 20 percent, to 1.2 million, between 2005 and 2007.
The most common rip-offs being reported these days are the international lottery scam and the secret shopper scam, Wollangk said. A person gets a fraudulent check in the mail and is told to transfer a smaller amount of their personal money away, usually to Canada, either through Western Union or Wal-Mart's Money Gram. They're told it's because they won the lottery or they're going to secret shop and they're supposed to test Wal-Mart's Money Gram.
The BBB's goal is to hold companies to fair business practices and to help consumers find businesses that have a reputation for ethical conduct, spokeswoman Alison Preszler said.
Any business that wants to be accredited by the BBB must submit to a review of its managers, licensing, advertising practices and track record with customers. Businesses must renew their accreditation fee every year.
The Council of Better Business Bureaus in Arlington, Va., had 374,845 accredited businesses in 2006, up about 12 percent from 2005, Preszler said.
Jill Hoogendyk, president of HomePoint Mortgage Co. in Phoenix, said she thinks participating with the BBB is important because it gives consumers added ease that they have recourse action in case something goes wrong.
"I wanted people to know that there were good, ethical mortgage companies out there," Hoogendyk said.
There are some types of businesses the BBB does not accredit or is more stringent with, such as those selling business opportunities where a consumer pays an advance fee to sell a product, Preszler said.
If a consumer complains about a business, the BBB attempts to present the information to the company, even if it's not accredited. In some cases, BBB officials bring in mediators to work with business owners and customers that are unable to agree.
Read more Entrepreneurs & The Economy stories