Bureau rates businesses on relations with customers
The Better Business Bureau is keeping tabs on local merchants.
When consumers complain, the bureau contacts shopkeepers and gives them a chance to respond to the allegations.
Over the last three years, complaints have been filed against 56 businesses that operate in Santa Monica, according to a report this year from the Better Business Bureau of the Southland.
The complaints allege a variety of shortcomings, from poor service to shoddy products and delivery problems.
To check the history of a merchant, log onto the bureau’s regional Web site (www.bbbsouthland.org).
Many businesses offer to make up for lapses with discounts or other freebies, said Lona Luckett, senior trade practices consultant for the bureau.
“We try to provide a forum for mediation,” Luckett said. “We’re a neutral party, not pro-business or pro-consumer.”
Over 60 percent of the complaints are ultimately resolved to the customer’s satisfaction, she added.
But 30 percent of the complaints aren’t answered by the businesses at all. Those businesses automatically receive “unsatisfactory” ratings from the bureau, Luckett said.
The other 10 percent of complaints go unresolved.
“As you know, there are two sides to every story,” Luckett said.
Though an occasional unresolved complaint does not spell the end for merchants wishing to keep a favorable rating, a pattern of complaints without resolution does, she said.
“That’s the leverage we have,” said Luckett. “We can’t go shut anybody down.”
When a merchant appears to be acting illegally, Luckett said the bureau refers complaints to law officers. (See related story.) As well as resolving disputes, Luckett said the Better Business Bureau is used by shoppers who want to check out items and companies before they buy. Consumers can call the bureau or view the history of the bureau’s 20,000 members online.
Before a company is admitted to the bureau, Luckett said her organization checks the background of the principals of the business and verifies that all the proper licenses are in place.
The bureau is a privately owned nonprofit organization that was created more than 75 years ago.
“We were formed as a vigil committee to protest false advertising by the snake oils salesmen that went around and sold their tonics,” Luckett said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 22, 2003. Read the original PDF.