Monday, September 22, 2008

Better Business Bureau Rating Scale

The Better Business Bureau has for years been the only reliable source for checking on the credibility of a company. They have also been the only outlet to warn other consumers about these companies. Over the years they have designed a system to filter all this information and summarize it in a composite score to let you know efficiently if a company is treating their clients or customers in a proper manner, and their willingness to correct mistakes. Here below is their system and how they score a company. Use this as a tool whenever you are looking for a tax resolution company or any other company.

Summary
The rating the Better Business Bureau assigns a business is determined by our composite score of such factors as its type of business, length of time in business, compliance with competency licensing requirements, complaint volume, complaint history, seriousness of complaints, how the company responds to complaints, and our experience with the company’s industry in general. The scoring system takes into account the importance we feel each factor is to the company’s reliability.The highest rating assigned to a company is AAA; the lowest is F. Between those two ratings are nine others in order from higher to lower. The ratings are defined as follows:Our rating of a company and our reliability report on a company reflect our conclusions and opinion about the company based upon information in our files and our experience with the company. Neither the rating nor the report is a guarantee of reliability. Readers should not rely solely upon a company’s rating, but should read and consider the entire report, including complaint and response details, before deciding whether or not to do business with the company.

AAA
An exemplary rating. This means that nothing in our files causes us to have any doubt about the company’s reliability.
AA
An extremely high rating. The condition that lowers this grade from AAA is not what we believe to be a significant one.
A
An excellent rating. A company with this rating may not rate higher because of a greater number of rate-lowering factors, but we do not consider them to be factors that would likely adversely affect consumer transactions.
BBB
A very high rating. A company with this rating would not have a significant number of complaints or other considerations that could pose a problem to consumers.
BB
A high rating. The company would generally have demonstrated good business-consumer relations, and we would expect any consumer complaints not to be of a serious nature and to be satisfactorily handled by the company.
B
A good rating that still implies reputability. The rating may relate to length of time in business, a past problem that’s been corrected, or something else that does not cause problems for consumers. We believe a company with this rating would generally conduct business and respond to any complaints satisfactorily.
CCC
A good rating. We would expect nothing less than a satisfactory business transaction, but read our full report to determine if you have any questions or concerns.
CC
Average rating. We would expect consumer transactions to be satisfactory. Since each transaction is individual, read our full report to determine if you have questions or concerns.
C
Acceptable rating. We know of no reason not to do business with this company. If the level of this rating relates to anything specific that we know might be of concern to consumers, it is stated in this report. Read our full report to determine if you have questions or concerns.
D
We have enough concerns about this company (for example, their offer, customer complaints, advertising, etc.) that we recommend caution in doing business with it.
F
We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.
NR
"NR" is displayed when another Better Business Bureau issues the report on the subject company, or when the Bureau is conducting system maintenance.


© Copyright 2008 The Better Business Bureau of the Southland, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was checking out a business and my local BBS online rated the business SATISFACTORY and not with letters or groups of letters. I'm not sure where SATISFACTORY lies within the ratings system.

Mandilon said...

This are PAID shills of businesses. They didn't help me with some 'outright thieves' (1and1.com) and I don't believe they'll do better with a second complaint with singlsnet.com ($89.95) 30 day money back guarantee NOT honored.

I think BBB sucks! (though I'm giving it another try)