Bbb Ratings..what Do You Think?

[tagyerit]

A year ago when I was looking for a spa I did my research on a local spa dealer who has been in the same place for over 8 years and he had a satisfactory rating with BBB with no complaints..great. Well Im still looking for a spa (yea it takes awhile) and I rechecked with BBB and now the store has an F rating still with no complaints. The only thing that shows is he and his partner split up the shop so now he sole proprietor. I found this to be interesting and couldn't find ANY THING bad about the guy. So I looked up BBB rating systems and found there is ALOT of controversy about the new A thru F system. It almost seems like a shake down scam that the BBB is running which I find to be outrageous. Your Thoughts?

[JerimiahR]

Never heard about this at all. Do you know anyone in town who has done business with this dealer? I'd much rather like to get a feel for their local reputation than their BBB rating. Now, if their BBB rating was horrible, and they had several serious complaints, I might take that into account. But even BBB ratings can be ruined by unreasonable people.

Odd that they'd have a rating of F without any actual feedback from customers though. Not sure how that makes any sense.

Find some of his customers and ask them how well taken care of they've been over time. Not just those who bought a spa and never needed service. But those who bought spas and DID need service. His local reputation means more than the BBB rating in my opinion.

The problem with services/sites like the BBB is this: Nobody goes there to say, "OMG I love these guys!" People only think about BBB when they're ticked off about something. So the BBB only ever hears about people who are angry anyhow. So you're only getting a very small part of that company's picture.

[Dr. Spa]

Additionally, I'd like to add, the BBB has made it SO easy to now file a complaint that people will frequently file one before ever talking to the merchant. I occasionally get a complaint from someone that ordered a spa cover and it hadn't yet been delivered. Typically they file the complaint 1 week after placing the order, when our website says to allow 3 to 4 weeks from time of order till delivery.

I'd call your local BBB for clarification.

Keep in mind, the BBB is a private organization, with no government ties. And, just to keep ya'll thinking, where do you go to file a complaint against the BBB???

[bart6453]

The BBB rating does work quite well.

Just because you get a complaint does not give you an F.

You get a formal opportunity(as a business and as a customer) to address the problem and move forward from there.

We have had many (about 8 or so) unreasonable customers who demanded we take their bikes back when there was a small problem or a problem that could not be repeated regularly.

Of course we are not in the business of taking bikes back so it is clearly a NO when customers ask.

We have been able to maintain a A rating even though customers have on occasion pushed the envelope.

The rating system does give you a general idea of a businesses quality.

The lack of information on the particulars of a complaint are to protect both the business and the customers privacy concerns as at a certain point a lawsuit or settlement may require nondisclosure.

The system seems very fair and balanced.

Of course hands on experience is always better.

[salp]

I used BBB for complaints on my home builder... and lets just say, jsut like the warrany, they are there for the builder. BBB is useless, IMO.

[sbonder]

A year ago when I was looking for a spa I did my research on a local spa dealer who has been in the same place for over 8 years and he had a satisfactory rating with BBB with no complaints..great. Well Im still looking for a spa (yea it takes awhile) and I rechecked with BBB and now the store has an F rating still with no complaints. The only thing that shows is he and his partner split up the shop so now he sole proprietor. I found this to be interesting and couldn't find ANY THING bad about the guy. So I looked up BBB rating systems and found there is ALOT of controversy about the new A thru F system. It almost seems like a shake down scam that the BBB is running which I find to be outrageous. Your Thoughts?

I find the BBB rating a helpful initial guideline. In my search (and I just posted my decision in a separate thread), a bad grade caused me to investigate further. Despite good grades, i still investigated the other dealers too. turned out that the guy with an F had numerous complaint on "ripoff.com" a few people who blogged about them, and a civil complaint filed against them. so, for me, it was accurate.

[gman]

The primary goal is to get some reliable information about any given dealer.

In this case, the BBB is not very helpful, so...I concur with others who recommend getting opinions from people with spa problems who used this company as their primary resource to solve them (if possible). Then take their experiences, results and opinions with caution as both negative and positive reports can be biased for a variety of reasons.

With regards to the BBB...

I believe the BBB serves a useful function but that function is limited. Any grade from the BBB must be put in context with its function and its limitations. Some of those limitations have already been expressed in this thread.

I do not know all the criteria the BBB uses to grade a company. I do know that the BBB will downgrade a company's rating for reasons unrelated to any complaints by any customer. For example:

1. A business could lose its "good standing" status with the State. It is common for small businesses to change organizational structure even though their day-to-day business practices remain essentially the same. The new organization continues to operate in much the same way as the old. Under such circumstances, it is not uncommon for small businesses to fail to file changes with the State. Because the old organization may not have been dissolved properly and the new business registered properly and/or the respective company fails to otherwise notify the State in writing of business changes, required filings may not be properly credited to the "new" business. The company then loses its "good standing" status. This change in status generally occurs without any notice from the State (as it is the company's responsibility to maintain its "good standing" status with the State). If the BBB discovers a company is not in good standing with the State, it will downgrade the company. And until the company files the proper paperwork with the State (and pays any fees, etc.), the company's business status will remain "not in good standing". BTW, it's usually very easy to see if a business is in "good standing" with the State where it is registered. Most States make that information available through their websites. Whether or not a company is in "good standing" says something about the business practices of the company. How much weight you want to give such information is entirely upon you and your experiences with the company, if any.

2. If the "new" organization fails to update their information with the BBB, then any correspondence to that business from the BBB may be misdirected and/or returned. Any unanswered correspondence from the BBB would be viewed negatively and that could result in a grade change, even though the BBB never received any complaints against the company from a customer.

If these scenarios describe the situation for this dealer, then it's possible the BBB downgraded this company from "A" to "F" without any company complaints.

gman

[d1dennis2009]

Additionally, I'd like to add, the BBB has made it SO easy to now file a complaint that people will frequently file one before ever talking to the merchant. I occasionally get a complaint from someone that ordered a spa cover and it hadn't yet been delivered. Typically they file the complaint 1 week after placing the order, when our website says to allow 3 to 4 weeks from time of order till delivery.

I'd call your local BBB for clarification.

Keep in mind, the BBB is a private organization, with no government ties. And, just to keep ya'll thinking, where do you go to file a complaint against the BBB???

I would use the BBB information as only a portion of of the total search criteria, anybody who doesn't get the exactly what they want, when they want it can complain. The basics factors are how long have they been in business, how many complaints filed and do they have a good rep in the local community. I would say if you don't get a good feel about it, then you may want to look further. Bottom line is this, my wife doesn't no about the BBB or I would be rated F--- and I know I'm at least a D+.LOL..!

[BigDfromTN]

I used BBB for complaints on my home builder... and lets just say, jsut like the warrany, they are there for the builder. BBB is useless, IMO.

I agree!

The only complaint I ever filed, they found in favor of THEIR customer.

If you think about it....... Why would they ever rule against the "hand that feeds them"?

As for the F rating. IMO they are just trying to do a shake down on the one partner that is likely not paying for a membership as of the split.