Paul Burri: You, Me and the BBB
http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/072009_paul_burri_you_me_and_the_bbb/
By Paul Burri
The Better Business Bureau could be better about serving its clientele
I recently went to the Better Business Bureau Web site. I found it not too user-friendly.
I went to the Contact Us page and filled out the form. One box asked me to specify the nature of my inquiry with a drop-down menu. I selected the category “home-based business.” In the inquiry box I wrote a note saying, “I am interested in obtaining a BBB franchise that I can run as a home-based business. Please send me information about what I need to do.”
I received a prompt e-mail answer that read, “The Better Business Bureau does not know of any legitimate home-based business offers and does not recommend any. If you have been cheated by one of these companies, report it immediately to your local BBB office.”
A strange answer, don’t you think? (Or should I say, strange nonanswer?) First of all, I asked for information specifically about getting into business as a BBB franchisee. (Yes, I know there is some confusion as to whether the BBB is a franchise.) Regardless, couldn’t they have referred me to the BBB national office? After all, they had to take some steps to open their office, didn’t they?
Second, are there no legitimate home-based business opportunities available? Not one of them is legitimate? I know there are a lot of companies offering to sell the template for a home-based business that would bring in thousands of dollars a month — some as soon as the first month. Most of the promises aren’t worth too much, but I can’t believe there aren’t a few offers that are legitimate.
Now I have to tell you about a strange confrontation I had with the Better Business Bureau shortly after I started my business in Goleta in 1995. I can’t remember the exact details, but it involved my calling them about a negative report caused by a customer complaint. I explained in great detail how we had tried to satisfy the customer and how the customer was one of those you can never satisfy, no matter what you do. Regardless of how much detail I gave to the BBB, they seemed unwilling to listen. At the end of a rather long, very difficult telephone conversation, I hung up feeling very angry and frustrated.
Then I had an interesting thought: Who do you call if you have a problem with the Better Business Bureau?
— Paul Burri is an entrepreneur, inventor, columnist, engineer and iconoclast. He is not in the advertising business, but he is a small-business counselor with the Santa Barbara chapter of Counselors to America’s Small Business-SCORE. He can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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