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Internet rating sites move in on Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau logo
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TEXT OF STORY
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: Shoppers of course don't want to be ripped off. And they've relied on the Better Business Bureau to rate everything from gas stations to bars and restaurants. But the organization's reputation has taken a few hits lately.
Marketplace's David Gura reports.
David Gura: Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says the Better Business Bureau's ratings are a problem.
Richard Blumenthal: They may well be deceptive, even misleading, but definitely unhelpful to consumers and at the same time unfair to businesses.
He accuses the association of pay-for-play, giving higher ratings to dues-paying members.
Alison Southwick is a bureau spokeswoman.
Alison Southwick: Accredited businesses received four extra points when we figured out their grade.
Four points on a 90-point scale. That's enough to move a business up a tick, from say, an A minus to an A. Now, Southwick says the bureau is scrapping those extra points.
Southwick: We don't want any sort of hint or even suggestion that the Better Business Bureau is offering a pay-for-play system.
The non-profit is also trying to address other problems. Los Angeles business owners are outraged that their branch president makes more money than the head of the national association.
Kit Yarrow teaches consumer psychology at Golden Gate University. She says shoppers have new tools, like Yelp and Angie's List.
Kit Yarrow: You can really find out anything about a business's reputation with a quick Google search or a Twitter search today.
So how would she rate Better Business Bureau?
Yarrow: It's their job to police businesses, and they need to score themselves an "F."
In Washington, I'm David Gura for Marketplace.
Here's another interesting story about the BBB from the 05/2010 online newsletter of the FOA, the professional society of fiber optics, of which I am affiliated.
"What is a "Fiber Optic Network"? And who has the right to decide that?
We were recently disturbed to read that the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has told Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications that they should not use the term "Fiber Optic Network" in their advertising. Responding to a complaint about their advertising from Verizon who is the largest FTTH service provider in the USA, NAD says:
As a preliminary matter, NAD noted that the references submitted by the advertiser did not
support the contention that all networks with fiber are considered “fiber optic networks.â€
The FOA, sensing that something was wrong here since the BBB/NAD conclusion was nonsensical, responded to the BBB/NAD release noting that thousands of companies (like AT&T who installed the first fiber optic networks in the USA in the 1970s) also build and operated "fiber optic networks" long before Verizon decided to fight their CATV competitors on the naming rights and the US government routinely disallows trademarks using the term.
We received a polite brushoff from the BBB for our comments.
You can read the complete article at thefoa.org/foanl-05-10.html
