Nonprofit Quasi-Regulatory Groups Considered
Is the Better Business Bureau even a valid concern to today's service business? Well, certainly not like it once was in our grandparent's day.
Today, most folks do things by word-of-mouth, which travels like wild-fire through those silly social networks and tweets which seem to be the current rage.
Just like the Yellow Pages was once a must for a small service business, today, well the yellow pages is barely relevant and has only continued to exist because now they tie-in Internet web pages along with your advertising inside.
Many years back I learned something about the BBB that really concerned me.
It seems they had been using scripts to sign up business members for about $300 which included an ad in their local list of businesses, as well as plaque for your business location.
The reality is that the script they read went something like this; "We have had several inquiries about your company, but since you are not a member yet, we didn't know what to tell them.
" Incidentally, as a franchisor we used to join all the Chambers of Commerce for each new franchise about 1-month prior to opening up the location, and we'd get a phone call solicitation from the BBB, but we hadn't advertised yet in the area, so there is no way anyone could have called the BBB to ask about us in the area, we didn't yet exist there.
Thus, I recognized right away, that the little sales routine was a fraudulent marketing ploy.
The worst part about it is that it used to happen in every city we went into, about a week or two after either (A) Getting a business license in the area, or (B) Joining the local chamber of commerce.
So, eventually we refused to join, and I actually put a notation in our franchise agreements that our local franchisees could not join the Better Business Bureau, as I didn't want to be associated with them in anyway.
Indeed, I guess I was disheartened by all this, as I'd grown up trust this non-profit organization, today, I know better, and I thought you should too.
The worst part about it, is that I have filed complaints, and sent emails about this to the Federal Trade Commission and several state agencies and no one would do anything about it.
Why? Simple, all these agencies work with this nonprofit group, so they are above the law now.
See how that works, convenient isn't it? I thought you should know, because when I found out, and then found no one would do anything about it, I lost all trust in regulatory agencies and those who associate with them.
Please consider all this.
Today, most folks do things by word-of-mouth, which travels like wild-fire through those silly social networks and tweets which seem to be the current rage.
Just like the Yellow Pages was once a must for a small service business, today, well the yellow pages is barely relevant and has only continued to exist because now they tie-in Internet web pages along with your advertising inside.
Many years back I learned something about the BBB that really concerned me.
It seems they had been using scripts to sign up business members for about $300 which included an ad in their local list of businesses, as well as plaque for your business location.
The reality is that the script they read went something like this; "We have had several inquiries about your company, but since you are not a member yet, we didn't know what to tell them.
" Incidentally, as a franchisor we used to join all the Chambers of Commerce for each new franchise about 1-month prior to opening up the location, and we'd get a phone call solicitation from the BBB, but we hadn't advertised yet in the area, so there is no way anyone could have called the BBB to ask about us in the area, we didn't yet exist there.
Thus, I recognized right away, that the little sales routine was a fraudulent marketing ploy.
The worst part about it is that it used to happen in every city we went into, about a week or two after either (A) Getting a business license in the area, or (B) Joining the local chamber of commerce.
So, eventually we refused to join, and I actually put a notation in our franchise agreements that our local franchisees could not join the Better Business Bureau, as I didn't want to be associated with them in anyway.
Indeed, I guess I was disheartened by all this, as I'd grown up trust this non-profit organization, today, I know better, and I thought you should too.
The worst part about it, is that I have filed complaints, and sent emails about this to the Federal Trade Commission and several state agencies and no one would do anything about it.
Why? Simple, all these agencies work with this nonprofit group, so they are above the law now.
See how that works, convenient isn't it? I thought you should know, because when I found out, and then found no one would do anything about it, I lost all trust in regulatory agencies and those who associate with them.
Please consider all this.