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Full Name:
Ted Hust
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Job Title:
Aarc Media Group LLC
Type of Work:
Design / Development
Vestal, NY
Favorite Thing About SEO:
Getting Money - C.R.E.A.M.
Blog Post: The Best Link Your Clients May Be Missing

I think part of the reason they get a bad rep is because just because you're not a member, doesn't mean you won't get turned in.  For instance, we had a hosting client that turned us in because we HAD to raise her hosting rates and she didn't feel she should have to pay (not very bright person was she).  So she complained to the BBB, despite the fact we're not a member.  We got a letter, we let them know how we resolved the issue, and they considered the matter CLOSED, and said we did everything we could do satisfy her.

So my guess with many of the companies that have had the "pay for play" complaint, isn't that they were necessarily being strong-armed into paying to join, but that before they joined, they weren't resolving complaints because they probably didn't fully realize they had to.

I agree the BBB walks the gray line, but lets not forget that 20/20 and other news outlets love to latch on to stories like that about big company or org messing with the little guy, and they are probably worse from a "bad standpoint" (20/20 and news outlets that is) than the BBB could ever dream of being.

The media are whore's that will air anything they can.  The BBB, while not awesome, does provide a valuable service to both businesses and consumers.  What's the news media really do other than stir the pot for ratings?