What good is the Tulsa Better Business Bureau? Has anyone ever filed a complaint that the BBB helped actually resolve? I recently filed a complaint and, for me, it was a total joke. Just wondering if anyone has experience good or bad.
quote:
Originally posted by Tulsan247
What good is the Tulsa Better Business Bureau? Has anyone ever filed a complaint that the BBB helped actually resolve? I recently filed a complaint and, for me, it was a total joke. Just wondering if anyone has experience good or bad.
I filed a complaint against a large furniture store once, and it worked out in my favor. ANd once, a client filed a complaint against the business I work for, so we gave them a full refund...we had no idea they were even upset. So it works out for people. The problem is, they can't force a business to do anything, the most they can do is give them a negative rating, and I'm sure some people simply don't care.
I threatened a business that I would call them and it worked.
Even if your complaint didnt help you, perhaps someone considering future business with them will hear a bad review or call and check, or not see the BBB sign... and refuse to do business.
Likely not the case with a food joint or mom and pop shop... but for appliances or expensive services the BBB approval is important as many people check. (note to self: check the BBB before buying new carpet).
My situation was that I called a company name Green Country Appliance in Glenpool to look at my refrigerator. They came out and didn't have the part to do the repair. They gave us and estimate to do the repair which included parts and labor. The repair guy "Steve" who I believe is also the owner. Told us where we could get the part. He said they would be glad to come back and do the repair and the $65 service call would be applied to the repair. We called the part place and they said they had two parts and we needed to find out which one. We called Green Country and asked for part number. They said they didn't have the part number. We said well you have to know the part number to order the part. They acted upset that we wanted the part number. After several phone calls, they did confirm we had right part number. Then we asked them if we bought the part would they come and do the labor. Green Country (the female) got mad again. By Steve telling us we could get the part...we thought maybe we could buy it and either repair it ourselves or Green Country would do it. We didn't really think it was that big of a deal. The woman who answered the phone at Green Country said she didn't want to talk to us anymore. We called Steve's cell phone and ask him to call us. We were going to have Steve come out and repair the refrigerator and he could buy the part if that was the only way they would do the repair. We got a message from Steve that said he would not repair our refrigerator and for us never call them again. The BBB sided with Green Country. I felt we should get the $65.00 back because it was supposed to be applied to the repair. Even after I explained to the BBB that Green Country refused to come back to the house. I had no choice in the matter. BBB said that I was making Green Country come out and do repair without the part. I never said that...I just asked if they would and questioned why they wouldn't. I told them if I had told Green Country that they couldn't do the repair unles I supplied the part, then they would be correct in their decision. However, I never got the opportunity to say one way or the other. Green Country Appliance refused to come back to our home under any circumstances. The female at the business was so rude. They don't have to worry. I won't call them back. But I am not using BBB anymore to file a complaint. They don't really listen to your complaint. They just tell you to seek Legal Aid...over $65.00...get real. I contacted them due to the "principal of the point" not the money.
It seems that their form of mediation is to speed read each complaint and send a standard response and that's it. I have used it before however, and has worked great for me twice. I don't like to complain but sometimes you cant let a business screw you over. I also had a problem with one dentist who was charging me for dental work and still refused to finish the occlusal bite properly on the crowns for my wife. I checked up on him and found 2-3 other complaints filed with an Unsatisfactory rating on his dental office.
I wrote him a letter and told him that I was aware of his Unsatisfactory rating and would also file a complaint if either he didn't resolve this issue or drop the remaining bill so that I could use that money to get this fixed elsewhere. I never heard from him but also didn't receive any more bills for either my wife or the rest of my family. I would have been glad to pay him what was owed if he just took care of finishing the work. The BBB can work but it is obvious that if a business does not care, then it won't. It also can be a good tool for those looking for bad business.
Call the Better Business Bureau and complain about a business, then wait a week and call and complain about a different business who is a member of the BBB and see how different the response is.
"Pay dues and we will protect you" should be their motto.
Some small company that likely comprises of like one or two repair guys likely isn't going to care about a complaint to the BBB. They'll just keep screwing over different people who have never heard of them. If worse comes to worst they can just start up a "new" business like "Green Country Repair" instead.
You might also want to consider your own demeanor on the issue as to why GC repair didn't want to come out again and as to why the BBB wasn't in your favor either.
quote:
Originally posted by recyclemichael
Call the Better Business Bureau and complain about a business, then wait a week and call and complain about a different business who is a member of the BBB and see how different the response is.
"Pay dues and we will protect you" should be their motto.
Well this should come as no surprise Mikee...!
The BBB is comprised almost entirely of the Metro Chamber Members...
Someone should make them an offer they can't refuse..
[}:)]
Thank you for your replies/comments. In response to one person, I will say, we weren't happy with Green Country Appliance when they were so hateful about giving us the part number. It was very frustrating to pay someone for a service and feel that you get nothing for it. We paid the $65.00 for them to come out diagnosis the problem and I feel that it was not unreasonable to ask them for the part number. We weren't happy about their attitude but we didn't use fowl language or anything. I believe the repair guy was mislead by the female who answers his phone. It is possibly his wife. She was the one that was hateful. We really didn't get to talk much to repair guy...mostly with her. The BBB said that we refused to have Green Country Appliance come out and do the work unless we bought the part. This is not true. Actually we just questioned whether they would or not. Green Country just got all upset because, I guess, they felt we were questioning their labor and part costs. Well, in a way we were. I figured they were making money off the part...I just wondered how much money. I don't mind them making some money. However, they are already getting their labor costs. When I checked on the cost of the part, the part place told me they thought the part was about $35.00. Green Country wanted $216.00 (labor/parts) to replace part. Based on that info. It seemed a little step for a water inlet valve. We just wanted initially to confirm part number. Decide whether or not we could buy the part and would they install. The next thing we know we are getting call from Steve, "repair" guy, saying never contact them again. Well, this is fine but we already paid $65.00 for their initial service call. This $65.00 was to be applied to the $216.00 if we had them do the repair. Consequently we lost the $65.00 because they refused to do the repair. However, BBB said that we wanted them to do repair for labor only and therefore Green Country was not at fault. We only questioned them about doing it. We never told them that they only way they could do the repair was if we supplied the part. Not matter what I say...BBB just doesn't get it.