12. Our mission is to promote and foster the
highest ethical relationship between
businesses and the public through voluntary
self-regulation, consumer and business
education and service excellence.
13. 115 BBB’s in the US, plus 14 BBB’s in Canada
Non-profit 501c6 tax exempt plus our
501c3 charitable branch
We are supported by over 390,000 businesses
14. Complaint Resolution
We resolve over 1 million complaints each year
Almost 2 million Lemon Law complaints have
been resolved through our BBB Autoline
15. Information on businesses
Each month, consumers visit our website 6
million times to check out companies
We rate companies A+ to F based on 7 factors
16. Information on charities
We evaluate and provide reviews on charities so
that donors know they are giving wisely
Thousands of national and local charity reviews
17. Advertising Review
BBB sets standards and evaluates national and
local advertisements
Ensures that consumers can trust what the
advertisement claims
18. Consumer Tips and Scam Alerts
We share our knowledge with you
Thousands of tips on hundreds of topics
Scam Alerts focus on the latest rip-offs and schemes
19. BBB Accredited Businesses have agreed to our
Standards of Trust
Build Trust
Advertising Honestly
Tell the Truth
Be Transparent
Honor Promises
Be Responsive
Safeguard Privacy
Embody Integrity
Good afternoon. My name is Kimberly Hazen, I’m the Regional Director for the Better Business Bureau here in Madison.
We’re fairly new to Madison, adding this regional office less than two years ago and we’ve been operating in Wisconsin since 1939. However, the BBB has been around for 100 years.
If you’re about my age and you ask your parents or grandparents about the BBB (my grandfather is the one in the bear-skin coat), I would bet they know us pretty well. And although many things have changed in 100 years, the need for the BBB has not and I’m going to tell you why.
First, I’d like to start with a little history lesson. Let’s go back to the early 1900’s. Imagine yourself as a worker in this Appleton business office in 1908. The consumer climate at this time was less than perfect. And although the Food and Drug Act was just passed in 1906, the general marketplace was far from trustworthy and safe.
This is the type of advertising folks were seeing. If you can’t read the slide, it says, “Fat the enemy that is shortening your life BANISHED! How? With sanitized tape worms. Easy to swallow.” In the upper corner you see, “No Diet, No Baths, No Exercise, No Danger.”
It was this blatant disregard for truth in advertising that demanded action.
Enter Samuel Dobbs, one of the first presidents of the Associated Advertising Clubs of America and president of the Coca-Cola company. About this time, he was listening to a trial where the United States Attorney was attacking Coca-Cola for unscrupulous advertising. In Dobb’s amazement, the attorney for Coca-Cola calmly stated their defense, “Why all advertising is exaggerated. Nobody really believes it”. Dobbs was outraged.
So in August 1911, after much preparation, Dobbs started a two-year trek around the country preaching the need for better advertising and better organization to combat dishonest advertising. By 1912 Vigilance Committees, later called Better Business Bureaus, began popping up in cities around the country. The first of these was in Minneapolis in 1912.
By the 1920’s the fight for truth in advertising had moved to a new battleground. The BBB took on what was called “Bucket Shops” – fake brokerage houses that took money from unsuspecting investors and never executed the trade orders. These illegitimate brokerage houses shook the confidence of American investors and the stock market suffered. This spurred a new wave of consumer education.
And the slogan “Before you invest…Investigate” was born. To this day, the message of the BBB remains…make sure you know exactly what you’re buying, what you’re paying, and from whom you’re buying it from.
This BBB message states “If you don’t know the merchandise, be sure you know the merchant”. Good advice then…good advice still today.
The message of “Contact the BBB” has also not changed. Notice the “It costs you nothing” line. This is still true today.
The BBB offers our services to the public…for free.
So let’s fast-forward a few decades. As you can tell, things had changed a bit with the sophistication of the advertisements, but the need for substantiation hadn’t. Over time, even as the marketplace changes, the role of the BBB really hasn’t. It’s ALWAYS been our job to promote a more trusting marketplace.
So here’s where my BBB commercial comes in. (Read mission aloud) This is a fancy way of saying that we want to make sure people can trust who they’re doing business with.
And here’s how we work. BBB’s work independently with our umbrella organization, the Council of Better Business Bureaus. We are a non-profit, member-supported self-regulatory organization.
What we do. We’ve all heard the line, “I’m going to call the BBB on you”. And really, that’s not such a bad thing – for business and consumers. We help them resolve their differences…to the tune of 1 million resolved complaints each year. BBB Autoline specifically handles “Lemon Law” complaints.
To help you PREVENT filing a complaint against a company, check them out with the BBB before doing business with them. Our rating is based on many factors including the company’s complaint history, type of business, time in business, licensing and government actions, and more.
When you’re solicited by a charity for money, you can find out how much of each dollar you donate actually goes to the program or service. For example, if the charity is using 90% of your donation for fund-raising and management, you might reconsider your gift.
“Make money at home?” “Lose 10 pounds in a week?” These are the type of advertising claims that we can’t wait to get our teeth into. The BBB started with monitoring advertising 100 years ago and we are still making sure advertising claims are substantiated.
From understanding the contract the DJ wants you to sign for your daughter’s wedding reception to hiring a roofer you can trust, we can help. We also provide scam alerts to keep your credit identity safe and your bank account secure.
And this is all made possible by honest businesses who support the mission of the BBB. These companies, accredited by the BBB have agreed to the BBB Standards of Trust (read a few aloud).
More than 30 millions businesses operate in North America, our job is to you find businesses you can trust. We’ve been at this for 100 years…and as long as there is a need for a more trusting marketplace, we’ll continue our work.
Thank you for your time.
