Jim Winsett, president of the Chattanooga area Better Business Bureau, says the organization is ready to move on after an national TV news program accused the national BBB of running a “pay for play” system.
The BBB came under fire in November for allegedly giving higher grades to businesses that had paid for accreditation, while non-members were unable to earn the coveted A+ rating.
Winsett said the accusations consisted mostly of “innuendo,” and said he’s ready to set the record straight.
The spat began when a group of disgruntled Los Angeles, Calif.- area business owners “paid $425 apiece to buy BBB memberships for a number of fictitious firms,” including one for a business called Hamas, “named after the Middle East Terror group,” claimed ABC News, which broke the story.
“Hamas” listed its president as Las Angeles BBB CEO Bill Mitchell, yet the BBB still awarded “Hamas” an A- rating, and gave several other obviously fake businesses top marks, according to allegations.
As a result of the controversy, Winsett said that the four bonus points for organizations that pay for BBB accreditation have been scrapped, and any organization can earn an A+ now, regardless of whether it is a member of the group.
ORIGINS OF SYSTEM
Prior to the relatively new ranking system, all businesses were either rated as “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory,” Winsett said, but repeated surveys indicated that consumers wanted more info.
“More information was available elsewhere on the Internet, but we were not giving enough info,” he said.
The practice of giving an additional four points to accredited businesses arose, he said, because those businesses had signed a contract signaling their willingness to work with dissatisfied customers to resolve complaints, while unaccredited businesses had signed no such pledge.
“We’re a standards-based company,” he said. “We do the due diligence to ensure our membership qualifies for consumers’ trust.”
In hard times, customers are even more careful than usual where they spend money, he added, and demand for the BBB’s services has increased drastically.
The Chattanooga BBB issued 130,000 reports to consumers in 2009, but has already received requests for 197,000 reports this year, Winsett said.
Most of that activity takes place on the Internet, though the organization has a telephone hot line as well.
“Without the web-based tools, it’d be impossible for us to service that type of demand,” he said.
THE FUTURE
BBB website users will see a change in 2011, Winsett said, and consumers are going to be given more information on each business reviewed. The interface will be revamped and easier to navigate, he said.
But through the changes, the BBB has no plans to change what works, which is forging a bond of trust between consumers and businesses.
Robert Rayburn, founder of Chattanooga Heating & Air Conditioning, has been a member of the BBB since the 1980s and plans to remain so, he said.
“When people are calling around to put in a heating system, they’ll check with the BBB to see what kind of record people have,” he said. “We’re complaint-free, and that means a lot.”
At Holder Roofing, based in Ooltewah, co-founder Donnie Holder said joining the BBB in 2007 was simply “good business.
“We got so many crooks out here now where people will pay people for work, and the folks won’t finish it,” he said. “With the economy the way it is, more people are calling the BBB now.”
Editor’s Note: Jim Winsett writes a weekly column on consumer issues for the Chattanooga Times Free Press that appears on Friday’s on the front of the Business section.
Contact staff writer Ellis Smith at esmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6315. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ellisthered.