Recommendations to check Better Business Bureau ratings to avoid scam companies and suggestions (or threats) to file BBB reports when addressing fraudulent business practices are frequently mentioned on message boards and complaint threads as the best option available to consumers.
Immediate BBB database availability does allow consumers to research complaints, business contact information, etc. Finding a specific business within the database, however, is not always easy (or possible), and there can be dilution of complaint histories, as well, with multiple BBB chapters creating different reviews for the same company or treating different P.O. Box addresses as separate businesses. (This is a handy reality in wiping the slate clean for scam companies.)
Additionally, a business’ rating may be questionable since only accredited businesses qualify for “A+” ratings, and “accreditation” is a purchased privilege subject primarily to resolving customer complaints rather than imposing ethical expectations in the first place. All of this requires us to consider every option for researching a company, and then look at the entire picture to make our assessment.
As for filing complaints, we might assume a “clean record” with the BBB is important to every business, but that may not be the case at all. Since most telemarketing purchases are impulse buys with little prospect of victims being aware of negative ratings before the fact, it is possible for a scam company to be completely unconcerned about their rating.
Filing a BBB complaint does at times provide assistance with resolving disputes, however, it will never result in any business actually being held accountable or in punitive consequences being imposed. If that is our intention, filing complaints with the Attorneys General (both your state and theirs) and the Federal Trade Commission remains the best option.
Thanks for visiting theNRSscam blog. Hope something here is helpful.
Good luck to all of us!! D/
About me & theNRSscam blog
- D/
- I'm no one special, my kid is just one of "the scammed", and I'm keeping the promise I made to National Readers Service. By the way, while I can attest to the truth of my own personal experience with National Readers Service as presented here, I cannot make the same guarantee for the other complaints and comments posted here or linked on this site. Also the suggestions offered here worked for me, the opinions I post are my own, but neither constitute legal advice. You'd have to consult a lawyer for that, of course. I hope you find something helpful here if you need it.