The Better Business Bureau, founded in 1912, is an organization based in the United States and Canada devoted to honest business. On their website, they list their core services as:
- Business Reliability Reports
- Dispute Resolution
- Truth-in-Advertising
- Consumer and Business Education
- Charity Review
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Criticisms
- 3 Charity Review
- 4 External link
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History
The inception of the Better Business Bureau is credited to the court case initiated by the government against a number of firms, whose number included the Coca-Cola Company, in 1906, after the Pure Food and Drug Act had been written into law. As a result of the trial (the legal charges had been determined to be unfounded) Samuel C. Dobbs, sales manager of Coca-Cola Company and later its president, became committed to the cause of truth in advertising. During the trial, Coca-Cola’s own attorney had uttered a famous remark that confirmed Dobbs' desire to see honesty in business practices: "Why, all advertising is exaggerated," the lawyer had remarked. "Nobody really believes it." In 1909, Dobbs became president of the Associated Advertising Clubs of America (now AAF) and began to make speeches on the subject; in 1911, he was involved in the adoption of the “Ten Commandments of Advertising." 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. (1933) merged to become in 1946 the Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. This association functioned until 1970 when it was merged into the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
Criticisms
The Better Business Bureau, or BBB has been said to be less effective in complaint resolution than governmental consumer protection agencies. As it is not a governmental agency, its capabilities are confined to reporting bad, or allegedly bad, business practices to the public and the proper authorities. Most businesses, however, are willing to work with the BBB to resolve disputes.
Companies that seek to protect their industry, geographic service area and their consumers, pay a membership fee and must meet and maintain standards of membership of the BBB. Members who agree to the BBB dispute resolution proceedures may identify themselves as BBB Members. The BBB name and torch logo are Federally Registered trademarks.
Other criticisms leveled against the BBB include the fact that their revenue comes from Members, raising the question about its partiality on handling disputes and complaints.
Dispute resolution procedures are strictly regulated by the Council of the Better Business Bureaus. All BBB's are required to be members of this council; there is no such thing as an 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.
The BBB works with the Federal Trade Commission in identifying and reporting the newest scams and rip-offs against business and the public.
Charity Review
Through local BBBs and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, the BBB reviews local and national charities to help donors make good decisions about charitable giving and to foster the public's trust in philanthropy. In 2001, the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus Foundation merged to form the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a nonprofit charity watchdog. The WGA released the Standards for Charitable Accountability in 2003.
External link
Search Term: "Better_Business_Bureau"
Categories: Business organizations
