I am a small business owner in the Dallas, Tx. Area and a non-member of the BBB. I have operated my business honestly and ethically for over 17 yrs. Without the aid of the BBB simply because I do not feel the BBB has that much to offer my business or customers that I cannot offer myself.
After all of these yrs. Of no unresolved complaints and then about 2 yrs. Ago we had 2 customer complaints within a few months of each other in which the customers submitted complaints filled with false information to the BBB. Upon being notified of the complaints, I filed a rebuttal correcting the complaint (s) inaccuracies and outlined everything I did and offered (in writing) to try to resolve the issue with the customer. However, there are always some customers that can never be satisied no matter what you (the business) do or offer.
Since neither customer appeared to respond to my rebuttal in the time allowed by the BBB, the BBB (website) showed the cases as closed. I closed my files at that time as well.
However, shortly thereafter, one customer did send a rebuttal to my last rebuttal saying that they still were not happy with the outcome. However, because of poor record keeping, the BBB never notified me of the rebuttal and I was never given a chance to respond.
In the other case, the customer (after the BBB list the case as closed) contacted the BBB (via website) weeks after the rebuttal period ended and asked that the case be reopened but without any reason or rebuttal. The BBB complied but again never notified me.
So nearly 2 yrs. Passed and a prospective customer called one day to inform me that I had 2 complaints with the BBB. A quick check of their website verified this. I contacted the complaint dept. And was told that the BBB had made there decision on both cases and the cases were "Administratively Closed—2 - The parties could not provide sufficient information to support their positions nor were they agreeable to make reasonable efforts toward resolving the issues of the dispute." This statement leads the customer to the conclusion that maybe the business could not support their claims and/or was not willing to make reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute and therefore is really at fault.
After contacting the head of the complaint dept. With the BBB, I was informed that because I was not a member they did not have the time to devote to fully investigate all non-member cases (wink-wink). They offered no reason as to why I was not notified of the reopened cases in the first place or as to why they did not read all the documention I supplied (at their request). Their explanation was since the customer said they were still "not satisfied" that there was no more they could do.
I asked them to remove my company name from their records entirely since I never gave them permission to collect information, reports or make judgement in my behalf in the first place. They claim that is their business and they had a "right" to do that. I then asked that they at least post all of mine and the customer rebuttal letters and documentation in this dispute for all to see and let the public judge for themself who is right in this matter or remove the cases from my file completely. They refused to do either.
Then just last week I received an email from the District Mgr. Soliciting my business for membership. I emailed him back letting him know the problems I was having and to see if he might be of any help. He was reluctant to get involved but did give me a contact number for the CBBB in Virginia claiming that there is a proceedure by which I could (even now) challenge the validity of these complaints.
I immediately contacted their office and spoke with a woman that handles these types of issues. She had me email her an abbreviated version of both cases. Then 2 days later I got 2 form-type emails (one for each case) from the Dallas BBB stating "our councilitory attempts at having the two parites arrive at a mutually acceptable agreement to the dispute was not successful. Because your company is not an Accredited Business of the BBB, there are no other options to bring about a resolution between the parties. Because the issue remains disputed we are closing the case under the heading of Administratively Closed." Now if a customer were to look up this info on the BBB website they would see "Administatively Closed 2 -The parties could not provide sufficient information to support their positions nor were they agreeable to make reasonable efforts toward resolving the issues of the dispute." Nothing could be further from the truth and they know it. This statement leads the customer to the conclusion that maybe the business could not support their claims and/or was not willing to make reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute and therefore is really at fault.
It is my opinion that since they do not want to take time to investigate a case fully for non-members, then they should not say anything at all. Or, how about concluding that the business "went over and beyond all reasonable attempts to satisfy the customer and the customer was unwilling to work with the business or to factually support their complaint."
It seems that if you are a member you probably get a little more "support" in these regards. If you're not a member, well you probably are at the mercy of the customer. Since I have nothing to hide, I am considering exposing this entire matter (the BBB & the customer name) in full detail on a link off of my business website.
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