In an embarrassing move that shines light on how little checking is done by some Better Business Bureau’s before accrediting a business, a California blogger revealed tonight that someone has managed to get a fake business with the name of the terrorist organization Hamas accredited by the bureau in return for a fee.
BBB Reliability Report for
Hamas
A BBB Accredited business since 07/12/2010
Rating Explanation
Company Rating A-
Our opinion of what this rating means:
An excellent rating. A company with this rating may not rate higher because of a greater number of rate-lowering factors, but we do not consider them to be factors that would likely adversely affect consumer transactions.
The blogger, a businessman who uses the name of “Jimmy Rivers” to keep his identity secret from the Better Business Bureau for fear of harassment or retaliation, published the following three columns tonight, including the one about Hamas:
BBB Roundup, a BBB Watchdog also has the story:
http://bbbroundup.com/LeadStory.html
HAMAS JOINS BBB WITH A- GRADE
http://bbbroundup.com/bogusbusinessbureau.html
BBB CAUGHT SELLING GRADES TO BOGUS BUSINESSES (THOSE THAT DON’T EVEN EXIST)
http://bbbroundup.com/moregoofygrades.html
STARBUCKS HAS AN “F” GRADE FROM THE BBB? WHY? THIS STORY EXPLAINS WHY
To my surprise, the Hamas “business” which claims to provide “educational programs for troubled youth” from a nonexistent address, is still on the bbb.org website as of this morning. I guess the $425 buys you real credibility with the BBB.
Hamas was taken down later today, but I doubt the BBB will refund the $425.
Rivers has been on the forefront of investigating the Better Business Bureau’s letter grading system. When I was at the Courant we worked together on some investigative columns.
Tonight’s blockbusters take his investigation to an even higher level.
Rivers is a former journalist, now businessman, who started his blog www.bbbroundup.com as questions were raised by consumer columnists and advocates, including myself about the letter grade system that replaced the simple pass/fail system.
“So, where were these standards when the BBB accredited and welcomed the terrorist group HAMAS as a member?,” Rivers asks in his column.
“Now in case one might think this an isolated instance, be assured it’s not. A group of angry and frustrated businesses across the United States and Canada have decided to fight back. The registering of these BOGUS BUSINESSES has been ongoing for quite some time. The HAMAS registered with the BBB does not actually exist, except as a member of the Better Business Bureau. Here’s another Bogus Business that was awarded BBB accreditation from back in June of this year. Whatever happened to the review and acceptance that’s supposed to be done by the local Board of Directors of the BBB?”
“When I first started my investigation I found pretty early on that they were a corrupt and flawed organization. Never in my wildest dreams did I comprehend how fully invested the Better Business Bureau was in greed, hypocrisy and arrogance. The fact that anyone can call up the BBB and wave a credit card in front of them and get an “A” grade is just plain evil. It certainly exposes their grading system as being totally useless.”
“Unfortunately, it is the consumer and the small business who suffer from the BBB’s greed. My take is that the BBB should be shut down. Barring that, they need to immediately pull all grades from their websites and put right all that they have done wrong,” Rivers said.
It will be interesting to see what the Better Business Bureau has to say for itself Tuesday.
