Opinions on Better Business Bureau Ratings?

[rootman187]

Okay, so this does not pertain to any dealers in particular, but after reading others' advice, I decided to be a good consumer and look at the BBB's online ratings of some drop ship scooter sites, and a few parts shops, including some members' shops, and based solely on my interpretation of the BBB's ratings (and in all cases I read all available information provided online, including complaints against sellers and their responses and resolutions, and in one case even saw a drop shipper file a cease and desist order against a customer for slander and libel), this is the conclusion I have come to:

The abundance of dealers are bad businesses and only about 1 in 10 dealers (maybe less if I had persisted) are favorably rated, and a much larger percentage of part shops, I'd say the vast majority, are favorably rated.

So I wanted to ask those of you that have done their research, and any members who run an online shop:

What is your personal opinion of the BBB ratings? Do you find them to be as harsh as I do? Inversely, do you think they aren't critical enough? Do their ratings of businesses you've dealt with line up with your experience?

I think this is worth discussing. Of all things in this world, I think we should be most critical of the institutions we trust, especially in regards to our beloved vehicles.

[budster441]

I am having a very bad experience at this time with a local dealer. I wish now before I had made my purchase I used every means at my disposal to check on the dealership reputation. Only after I had made my purchase did I find out the many negative reviews regarding the dealership and the F rating the dealer has with the BBB. Forums like this and the word of mouth seem like the best way to purchase an expensive vehicle like a scooter. Another way is to take your time in your purchase, investigate and investigate again. There is more than scooter dealership out there.

[gtbike]

Just speaking to the BBB ratings many of those are misleading. Paying members usually have higher ratings. Listed businesses are just that, listed. Complaints to the BBB about them ususally don't reach them and the business has not agreed to be bound by the BBB code regarding disputes.

In short a complaint against a business who is not a PAYING BBB member will often have a lower rating. Often the BBB will tell you this is because they have not responded to requests for info, updates etc... IMHO this is code for they didn't buy into our scheme so therefore we are going to punish them with a lower grade until they see things our way.

Yelp and many others are them same thing, you can be a paying member and suddenly poor reviews are buried. I made a very unfavorable review on a muffler company who used a wrong key in my ignition and then blamed it on me, and refused to pay for the new ignition. There's much more to the story but to be short after my poor review hit Yelp 5 others did as well then 2 weeks later all the poor reviews were behind a must log in to view partition and an equal number of blatantly obvious fake generic reviews were at the front of the reviews. I then called Yelp and found out there are services which you can pay for to have your positive reviews stand out. They wouldn't tell me much more without looking at my business profile.

Hmmm create a rating system that allows the general public to lambast a company...then have a sister company that you can pay to bury those bad reviews. I only wish I had thought of it first!

[macktheknife]

This says it all about the BBB: