Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Complaints; eBay at Better Business Bureau


You hear it all the time.

"There has to be something I can do, I will complain to the Better Business Bureau!"


The Better Business Bureau is useless. There is a direct conflict between their mission statement,
to promote and foster the highest ethical relationship between business and the public
and their source of income; funded by annual dues from its business members.

These dues are based on the overall size of the company; specifically, the number of branch offices and the number of total employees in one city or town, fees are adjusted on a sliding scale. The more branches and the more employees a company actually has, the more expensive their monthly dues will be. How large a proportion of the San Jose BBB income comes from eBay?

As a small business with two 'employees' (actually working partners,) my dues are $350 a year, and no I will not be renewing next year. The organization which on April 8th 2008 gave eBay
The Better Business Bureau President's Award for sustained superior performance. . . to recognize businesses and executives exhibiting integrity in the marketplace and exemplary dedication to fostering trust between businesses and consumers.
does not inspire a desire to have my business associated with it in any way.

The San Jose Better Business Bureau says eBay Inc has a 'satisfactory' record and
the BBB processed a total of 3274 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period.Of the total of 3274 complaints closed in 36 months, 1099 were closed in the last year.


If you want to waste your time filing a complaint with the BBB go right ahead. I do not believe it will result in any appreciable ROI. (Return On Investment)

The only thing it will do, if you cross every 't' and dot every 'i', is to push the numbers up. Don't expect any more and you will not be disappointed.

Y'all come back

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The BBB is not much more than an advertising gimmick. It is a logo for your yellow page ad and that is all. They have absolutely no enforcement power whatsoever.

It is a big waste of time to even dream that they are goiing to do a single thing for you with regards to ebay/paypal. ebay /paypal pay a yearly fee to be a member. My fee was $1500 per year for the 'privelege' of having the logo on my ad and a plaque on my wall.
I wonder what ebay pays?

I should add that after 2 years of that I decided to stop my membership, they started harassing me for many months by phone and in person until the issue nearly came to blows.

Anonymous said...

I agree...the BBB is nothing more than an advertising logo. Save your money folks...having it does no more for your business than NOT having it.

Anony Mouse

ECBeauty said...

have actually found the BBB very helpful in situations not concerning eBay.

eBay sits on the BBB advisory board. So, no when it comes to issues with eBay the BBB will not do you any good

Anonymous said...

I found your blog rather interesting and useful. If you have some experience in writing complaints, this does not mean you can write a Business Complaint. In this case it is important to be quite short, firm and clear. No emotions and rude expression of dissatisfaction. All these and other tips on writing a business complaint I find on the Internet. Recently, I have got to www.pissedconsumer.com. A very great source of information on this topic.

Anonymous said...
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Henrietta said...

Dear Jenny,
Spam comments will be deleted. Every time.