Citizendia

Better Business Bureau
This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It may be deleted after Monday, 10 March 2008.
Founded 1912
Area served United States, Canada
Focus Consumer Protection
Website www.bbb.org

The Better Business Bureau (BBB), founded in 1912, is an organization based in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} The BBB states its purpose is to act as a mutually trusted intermediary between consumers and businesses to resolve disputes, to facilitate communication, and to provide information on ethical business practices. Its website lists BBB's core services as:

Contents

History

"Medical quackery and the promotions of nostrums and worthless drugs were among the most prominent abuses which led to the establishment of formal self-regulation in business and, in turn, to the creation of the NBBB. "[1]

BBB's inception has been credited to the court case initiated by the government against a number of firms, including the Coca-Cola Company, in 1906, after the Pure Food and Drug Act had been become law. The Coca-Cola Company ( is the world's largest beverage company largest manufacturer distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and Syrups in the world Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906 is a United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture The trial found the legal charges to be unfounded, and as a result Samuel Candler Dobbs, sales manager of Coca-Cola and later its president, took up the cause of truth in advertising. Samuel C Dobbs ( Samuel Candler Dobbs) president and chairman of The Coca-Cola Company, from 1919 to 1922 False advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in Advertising.

In 1909, Dobbs became president of the Associated Advertising Clubs of America, now the American Advertising Federation (AAF), and began to make speeches on the subject. Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The American Advertising Federation (AAF headquartered in Washington D In 1911, he was involved in the adoption of the “Ten Commandments of Advertising", one of the first codes of advertising developed by groups of advertising firms and individual businesses. Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Similar organizations in succeeding decades, such as the National Better Business Commission, Inc. of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World (1921), and the National Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar (1933) merged to become the Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc in 1946. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 1970 it was merged into the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The Better Business Bureau name and torch logo are federally registered trademarks. Originally a torch was a portable source of Fire used as a source of light usually a rod-shaped piece of wood with a rag soaked in pitch and/or some other A logo ( Greek el λογότυπος = el-Latn logotypos is a graphical element ( Ideogram, Symbol, Emblem, Icon, Sign) A trademark or trade mark, represented by the symbols ™ and ®, or mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual Use of the logo is limited to the Accredited Business Identification (ABIP) logo for printed materials and is not for online use. Online use accredited businesses must join the BBBOnline Security Seal program.

Dispute Resolution

Companies that are invited to join the BBB as accredited businesses are required to pay annual fees and to meet and maintain requirements of accreditation. Businesses who agree to the BBB dispute resolution procedures may identify themselves as accredited. If accredited businesses fail to meet these standards, their accreditation will be revoked.

Dispute resolution procedures are regulated by the Council of the Better Business Bureaus. All BBBs are required to be members of this council; there is no independent Better Business Bureau. At a local level, the bureaus are governed by a board of directors. Though all bureaus are regulated by the Council, the Council is controlled by local BBB representation.

Complaints about the practice of professions like medicine, law and accounting are not handled by the BBB and are referred to agencies regulating those professions.

Consumer and business education

Video Series

The video arm of the BBB develops video content, online resources, and educational tools for consumers. It was established in 1995 by Platypus Productions, Inc. The BBB Video Series (BBBVS) produces video programs based on the list of inquiries and complaints compiled by the BBB each year. BBBVS consults with national organizations and interviews industry experts during the production of each program to verify that the information is current and accurate.

Charity review

The BBB reviews local and national charities, through local BBBs and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. Their goal is to help donors make good decisions about charitable giving and to foster the public's trust in philanthropy. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) is a nonprofit charity watchdog which formed in 2001 through the merging of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus Foundation. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. The WGA released the Standards for Charitable Accountability in 2003. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The New York BBB has a listing of over 800 local New York charities that can be accessed through the Online Giving Guide.

Criticisms

The BBB has been said to be less effective in complaint resolution than governmental consumer protection agencies. As it is not a government agency, its capabilities are confined to reporting bad, or allegedly bad, business practices to the public and the proper authorities.

Another criticism against the BBB is the fact that its revenue comes from accredited businesses, raising the question about its partiality on handling disputes and complaints when the BBB may jeopardize its own funding. This criticism is refuted by the system as most BBB's routinely reject applications for accreditation and kick out businesses that are paying for accreditation when they violate the Standards of Trust as determined by the national Council. Many BBB's have lists on their local websites of rejected and revoked businesses.

At minimum, BBB is supposed to notate complaints on the "Reliability Report" section of its web site[2]. If a branch does not act reasonably on behalf of a consumer, a complaint may be filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Federal Trade Commission ( FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act BBB tries to associate with government entities and law enforcement; however, it is privately run by persons who seek to foster the health of companies. It can inequitably protect its members, despite their clearly offensive behaviors[3][4].

Although recognized as a national body, each BBB entity is run separately, much like a franchise. Corporations that find themselves moving from one location to another (that falls in the jurisdiction of another BBB) cannot transfer their membership because one BBB franchise does not recognize another BBB franchise. A corporation must completely eradicate their membership from one BBB and then reapply in the new area. Any company record can be found, regardless of geographic location, by using their national database at www. bbb. org which minimizes this concern.

Both the National Council of Better Business Bureaus and most of the 120 locally operated chapters are aware of these criticisms and have been working to overcome them.

Former Logos

Original BBB logo

References

  1. ^ Ladimer, Irving "The Health Advertising Program of the National Better Business Bureau" A. J. P. H. Vol. 55, No. 8. Aug. 1965
  2. ^ http://www.us.bbb.org/WWWRoot/storage/0/Shared%20Documents/2005AnnualReport_web.pdf
  3. ^ http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/001/ripoff0001343.htm
  4. ^ http://www.consumerdiary.com/index.php?page_id=feature2

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org