Better Business Bureau - To Join or not to Join

[Ravenseye]

I registered my business with them, but they're now hitting me up to join. Anyone have any thoughts on the pros or cons of joining? Is there really any point?

[Red State Rebel]

1. I never do it - just more $$$ out the door I don't want to spend..n/m

[F.Gordon]

2. We held out for a long time

But finally caved in. I got turned off several years back when someone filed a "complaint" about us who wasn't even a customer of ours. This moron emailed me about pricing but I couldn't respond because our computer was down for about 7 days. Instead of picking up the damn phone and calling us he filed a complaint with the BBB.

We weren't members then and this was recorded as a "Service Complaint" on our record.

As a member they will (the BBB) call you first before letting crackpots file bogus complaints against you.

I don't know your business but if your competitors are members it's almost a must do. Our web site has about 50 actual glowing testimonials on it, but most consumers are lazy and stupid. They think the BBB is the Holy Grail or sumtin'

Now....Tom Martino. 100% asshole. Would never join his phony "consumer protection" group. Never mind it costs a minimum of $5,000 a year....

[Ravenseye]

3. I'm Going To Hold Out

I met with the 'saleswoman' from the BBB. I have to describe her as such because it felt like she was pitching a sale the whole time. She made what seemed like some good points. I told her that I needed to speak with my business partner and for her to get back to me next week.

So the weekend goes by and I talk to a few people. Basically I can't come up with a rationale for joining. Registering yes, but joining? Just didn't seem worth it.

So she calls back and I tell her that we're not interested at the moment, our money is tight, we dont' think we'd see enough benefit etc.

She responds with a statement like "Well, I'm in a sales contest right now and if you sign up it'll put me over the top and I'll win!"

It felt like total sales bullshit to me, and even if it was true it's not really correct for her to say that in my opinion. "I'm sorry, I wish I could help you win your contest, but the decision isn't just mine to make."

To which she responds, "Well, you know I've gotten a few inquiries for work in your field which I really can only send to members. If you joined I could forward those to you." Which felt like even more high pressure tactics. Her tone was less polite now.

"Yeah that's too bad. What can I say, the decision isn't up to only me and we're not going to join right now."

"Oh well that's too bad. I can only send these referrals out to members."

I politely got off the phone. I'll never join the BBB now after that high pressure sales tactic. Who do you report the BBB to? I never realized what a fucking scam it is.

[Longhorn]

4. The quickest way to turn me off from a sale

is to push like that! I don't blame you one bit! You'd think you were buying a used car! ;)

We were members years ago and found no benefits. We never got any referrals from the BBB and since nearly all of my husband's remodeling work comes from past customers and referrals from past customers, we didn't even need them for a "good rating."

Good luck!

[F.Gordon]

5. That was the other reason we held out

The BBB has become nothing more than a "business directory". But, like I said, consumers don't realize what a scam the BBB is and they trust them. We had dropped our membership with another affiliate group that we used as a selling point, so the money was just shifted over to the BBB. But we operated years without being a BBB member and it didn't impact our business. It may have cost us a sale or two, but nothing significant.

Don't sweat the referrals. They aren't specific to your business. They refer everyone in your industry group. Our report for 2004 showed they made 12 referrals for our industry group. Wow!!! :sarcasm:

For us it's just a "label" we can attach to our literature, flyers, etc etc.

I don't blame you for not joining. I don't do business with anyone who sells like that.

[WhoseMarie]

6. I don't recommend it

It's almost like extortion, if you ask me. We don't have one here in our town for just that reason. People come here on vacation, whine, bitch, moan if it rains and then want to find the BBB....but there is none. The closest is 5 hrs away and they were always calling trying to get us to join - and we wouldn't. They'd get pretty pushy and almost threatening-as if they were going to publish a list of those who 'refuse to join' the BBB as bad businesses. That turned me off them for good.

No one here does business poorly - it's just that in this day and age, I refuse to do business with the 'general public' because they've become in my opinion, untrustworthy...at least about 50% (give or take) seem to be greedy Repug bastards who don't know how to do business fairly. I was previously in the dive business here for 7 years and I have to tell you, the 'general public's' trustworthiness went way downhill. I'll 'splain (I've been out of the business now for 3 years and I still have nightmares about the customers!!!!)

People would go on dive trips - they'd book three days, perhaps. The trip would go...the visability is variable and of course, it's nature - you never know what you'll find. We actually would have people who'd go on dive trips three days in a row, we'd spend fuel, pay salaries for crew, equipment, etc. for them. Then they'd go home and dispute their credit cards because they said the visibility was bad!!!!! We had very firm rules and every customer signed stating they understood the rules, mother nature, etc. They'd drink all night, we'd have a boat waiting for them that they insisted on booking and they'd not show up. We still had to pay crew, etc. We didn't give refunds for no-shows. They'd dispute...we always won 'cause I had them sign saying they understood. When I first started there, the first year we had maybe 15 disputes. (That was like, 1996). The next year it was 30 disputes. The next year it was 45 disputes. The year I left (After Georgie Bush had been in office and his economy was in the dumpster) we had over 250 credit card disputes. The rules didn't change. Our method of doing business didn't change. The customers did.

I talked to the bank merchant department and they told me it was out of control - that people would go home and dispute their ENTIRE VACATION - hotel, diving, restaurants, tours - everything. They were playing a game - hoping that merchants would be too busy to respond and they'd 'win' by default. It created a huge amount of work for (1) the merchant department (2) the merchant (3) the customer's bank card department - all have to handle the dispute.

So....I know this is a bit 'off the subject' but, if we'd had a BBB here, every business in town would have a heavy-duty 'negative' file because we in fact fight disputes - there are so many of them!!!!

Now, I only deal with other businesses and doing business is an absolute pleasure! We accept credit cards - and we try to do as much 'blue' business as possible. My days are pure bliss! The only problems I have is with suppliers who aren't 'blue'. My first choice is to always buy blue, but there are times I'm forced to go to Home Depot, for instance, for a part (tho they're sloppily run). Or I ended up buying Dell computers because their price was so low that it allowed us to buy the computers. I have had nothing but trouble with Dell since then. That'll teach me to do business with Republican-donating companies.