Does BBB Membership & Logo Work Against You

We used to be a member of the BBB because we believed that it would help add credibility to our already well established business. We paid extra and got the online seal of approval as well. It seems that as soon as we did so it made it all the easier to get complaints.

What we found was a considerable increase in customer complaints that ranged from,

1) they won’t write off our past due bill and have sent us to collections,
2) they won’t help me build my web site,
3) my domain name expired and they didn’t tell me (even though I bought it from GoDaddy…),
4) they were rude to me when they called to tell me that I was 90 days past due and they were going to shut my site off,

or even better,

5) I hadn’t paid my past due bill and they didn’t even call to tell me. They just turned off my web site and I’ve lost a lot of business. Or my favorite,
6) they automatically charged my credit card and I didn’t authorize them to even though it’s in their TOS, on their order form, and I got an invoice before they did it. My debit card was then over-drawn and I want bounced check fees.

Oh wait! The best one!

7) My account automatically renewed without my knowledge or permission and I continued using it for 6 months before noticing because I was processing orders from my web site. My credit card company wouldn’t give my money back, so I want you to make them.

OOH, OOH! There’s an

I didn’t submit a cancellation and my account automatically renewed and charged my credit card. They paid to renew my domain name. I just wanted to cancel by saying absolutely nothing and expected that they would figure it out. Now I want my money back AND the domain name that I own.

ROTFLMAO. In fairness to us, we only get about one every month or two. These are more of just giggles. Our position is that being a member of the BBB has no tangible benefit. They as an organization or unable to act as anything more than a sounding board that is a waste of time responding to. They also have failed to provide "arbitration services" that they claim membership gives one access to.

How many of you have tried the BBB and what were your experiences?

Let’s laugh a little and maybe as potential customers also read our replies they’ll get a feel for what it’s like on our side of the phone.

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