"Dave Drum -> Ross Sauer"  wrote in
news:30513$POL_INC{at}JamNNTPd:

 RS>> Well, as it turns out, it doesn't take much more than a big fat
 DD>   check RS> to the BBB to get the erstwhile consumer agency to grant a
 DD>   company its RS> highest ranking. According to the Los Angeles Times,
 DD>   most of the RS> bureau's funding comes from selling
"accreditations"
 DD>   to businesses. In RS> a story last year, the Times found:

 DD> "Better Business Bureau" sure sound like some sort of official
 DD> organisation, doesn't it?

 DD> Well, guess what? BBB is business in and of itself. A triumph of
 DD> marketing. They are in the business of selling memberships and gulling
 DD> the public into believing that their endorsements or membership in the
 DD> BBB actually mean something beyond a commission for the salesman who
 DD> signed up the business displaying the BBB logo.

 DD> Hell, it's not as good a deal as the National Federation of
 DD> Independent Business (NFIB) which also sells memberships - but, which
 DD> will survey its membership on directions the association will take and
 DD> projects that the members support that they will lobby for on the
 DD> members' behalf.

This Los Angeles BBB sounds corrupt as hell.

Giving out great ratings to those who pay them, while ignoring literally
dozens of complaints.

--- Xnews/5.04.25