Better Business Bureau serving Vancouver Island

I just came across a 20/20 program where they exposed the BBB of being fraudulent with plenty of evidence to support it. The BBB is an American based company with offices throughout North America. Consumers can view this segment on youtube entitled “Better Business 20/20 Investigation” and make up your own mind afterward.What was reported was that companies who choose to be accredited with the BBB can pay a fee, which keeps the BBB in business.The ones that don’t pay an accreditation fee, either don't get accredited or which has been proven through this program, get a bad rating.They were exposed in their fraudulent ways of doing business pretending to “vet” companies as though they cared about quality of service a business offers to you. Think about it: you go to the BBB to check and see what a certain business’s rating is, and you see an A+ rating, so you think this is great! In this program, you’ll see that companies are not always vetted in the way the BBB will claim (if at all). It’s about the money.Doing a little research revealed quite a lot of disturbing information on the BBB. As far as being a non profit – that’s quite funny. The executives make 6 figures per year, not saying the worker bees do, but that’s hardly non profit. That’s a profit, and this profit is coming from somewhere, do the math. It's like pay for play.You can find Google or Yelp reviews of companies that have bad ratings, though on the BBB, they have great ratings. This doesn’t fit. I smell a rat.I think the lesson here is, don’t assume the BBB is a wholly objective judge of a company’s business practice. The BBB makes their money from companies paying an “accreditation” fee. The businesses that pay the BBB keep them in business and that’s where their money comes from.The service is free to the consumer for a reason. The Better Business Bureau cares less about the non-paying consumer. It’s obviously in the BBB’s best interest to keep their “paying” customers happy by giving them a great rating. It’s a company’s choice to sign up with the BBB, not the other way around. So if a company were to get a bad rating, they'd simply withdraw their BBB membership and no one would be the wiser.I expect a reply from one of them here claiming the contrary.This certainly would explain why so many terrible companies with terrible reviews have BBB good ratings.

I recently went to a casting call with my daughter for a business named Undiscovered Talent Group. She auditioned along with hundreds of people, and got the call back for the next day. I felt we were pressured into buying a package worth a lot of money, with very little in return. I feel taken advantage of, and tried to cancel payment or get out of it the moment I had returned home. When speaking with one of the talent Scouts, I was told, don't believe everything you read on the Internet. Sadly, I cannot get my money back from Visa as this group is holding some sort of workshop and then the location for a showcase will be sent in email for Vancouver BC. I feel this is all misleading and very much feel a victim of bad business practice.

Excellent staff and service to members and the community at large. Many clients have mentioned how respect for the BBB brings confidence in choosing a service. That trust is huge and well earned.

Barr Electric gains so much credibility from being a member of BBB. The Vancouver Island branch has a great team of people who work very hard to help businesses like ours succeed.

Our company was a paying member of the Better Business bureau for over 35 years. We were proud to be members and to support the bureau. Our rating was consistently good and is still an A plus. However, two years ago we chose to discontinue our membership because we felt that the BBB here was really not serving the local community. We had a disagreement about a policy, and the decision was made by someone based in the Eastern United States who had no real idea of our business or the community here for that matter. I was amazed at the complete lack of interest from the local director here. So we chose not to renew. It was a hard decision as I believe strongly in the principles of a better business bureau. However I also strongly believe that the Bureau must be in tune with its members who support it. Treating them in a cavalier and offhand fashion is not right. I write this now only because of two unpleasant and threatening e-mails I have received from the Bureau regarding the use of their logo. After the first warning I removed it from one page of our website but accidentally did not remove it from another. It had been left there completely by mistake. It would seem to me that if the BBB spent as much time on customer service as they do trolling websites they would be farther ahead. And hey, pick up the phone, no need to write the owner of a long established Victoria business a threatening e-mail. From David Screech, the owner of Gregg's Furniture & Upholstery LTD.

The BBB is an organization which exists for the benefit of businesses, not consumers. I tried to write a customer complaint about a business; my complaint was rejected. When I asked why (and responded with reference to specific BBB complaint guidelines), my question was ignored, despite a 2nd followup email. Eventually after a 3rd email in which I asked if there was someone else who could assist me, I was simply told that my complaint would be forwarded to the business (completely unhelpful, as I had already made the business aware of the issues).The BBB does not stand for consumer protection. When researching a business, keep in mind a positive BBB rating means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. it's basically a pay-to-play club where they dole out positive ratings.

Legendary Tree and StumpFantastic company to deal with!!Economical company with outstanding standards of performance.Cleaned up beautifully after job was done.On time and very professional and courteous.I would highly recommend this company for any of their services.

Great service that the BBB does connecting discerning consumers with great companies they can trust.

We used Done Right Moving to pack everything in our Oak Bay condo, put them in storage and then retrieve them for delivery to two locations 3 months later. This took much attention to detail which was time consuming, but Tyler Jackson and his team did a superb job. Our real estate agent recommended Done Right, and now I am a fan too! Glad the BBB has this company as a member!Angela Bassage & Terry Scandrett

We had our kitchen cupboards refinished by Rhino Refinishing in July 2020.We've been delighted with the result and with the overall improvement to the light and sense of space the work has created in our small apartment. Douglas English and his colleague were professional, thorough and extremely pleasant to deal with. They provided very good advice on choices of finishes.. We recommend them without reservation.