FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - On February 1st, BBB of Northern Indiana will launch improved versions of its BBB Reliability Reports™, which include a more detailed A+ through F letter-grade replacing the previous ratings scale of “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.” These new letter-grade are prominently displayed on business reports to help consumers more easily and quickly identify and compare the reliability of businesses.
“Consumers want more than marketing spin or a few comments about a business posted on the Internet. Given the tough economic conditions, they literally can’t afford to make bad buying decisions,” said BBB of Northern Indiana’s CEO Michael Coil. “These ratings reports provide detailed insight into a business’s track record and are based on our time-tested standards, in-depth research and the millions of consumer complaints filed with BBB.”
BBB’s new letter grade concept was first developed by BBB Colton (Los Angeles), and has been test marketed effectively by Colton and several other BBBs (New Mexico, Santa Barbara, Asheville and West Palm Beach). That original concept, with modifications recommended by a national BBB committee, is the basis for the approach and is part of BBB’s ongoing commitment to making it easier for consumers to find trustworthy businesses.
“BBB’s proprietary ratings formula takes into account 16 weighted factors, using objective information and actual incidences of a business’s behavior that have been verified and evaluated by BBB professionals,” said Coil. “Ultimately, a letter-grade rating represents BBB’s degree of confidence that a business is operating in a trustworthy manner and will make a good faith effort to resolve any customer concerns. Specific issues affecting a business’s rating are described in detail in our Reliability Reports.” Those 16 Ratings factors are:
1. 1. The type of business and its business model
2. 2. How long the business has appropriate competency licensing
3. 3. Whether the business has appropriate competency licensing
4. 4. Total volume of complaints filed against the business
5. 5. The number of unanswered complaints
6. 6. The number of unresolved complaints
7. 7. The number of serious complaints
8. 8. An overall complaint analysis
9. 9. The number of complains with delaying resolution
10. 10. Government actions against the business
11. 11. Any advertising issues found by BBB
12. 12. The extent of background information available to BBB for evaluation
13. 13. The extent to which BBB is able to develop a clear understanding of the business
14. 14. Whether the business has honored any mediation/arbitration commitments
15. 15. Whether the business has attained BBB Accredited Business status
16. 16. Whether the business has had its BBB Accreditation revoked
Rating factors also take into account BBB’s opinion as to whether business models and industries operate in violation of the law, misrepresent products and services, and are likely to generate trade practice concerns and/or have high levels of customer dissatisfaction.
As part of its strategy to build trust in the marketplace, BBB also changed the way businesses affiliated with the organization were designed, from “BBB Member” to “BBB Accredited Business.” The “Accredited” designation highlights the fact that businesses have been evaluated by BBB and contractually agreed to meet and uphold BBB’s high standards for integrity and reliability when dealing with consumers.
“Consumers want to do business with reliable companies, brick-and-mortar and online,” added Coil. “BBB has been providing information people can trust for nearly 100 years and combined, BBB Accreditation and letter-grade ratings are valuable new resources consumers can start with when they are looking for trustworthy businesses. BBB of Northern Indiana saw a 100% increase in inquiries in 2008 over 2007, and a decrease of 5.7% in complaints.”
Both BBB Accredited Businesses and non-accredited businesses in BBB’s database will receive a letter grade as part of their report. BBB provides reports on more than four million businesses nationwide, all online and free of charge at the BBB web site.
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